KENT ISLAND, Md. – Swimmers who say the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim is difficult are not lying.
It’s not that the swim is 4.4 miles, it’s that it’s a choppy, wavy 4.4 miles.
I lined up on the beach at Sandy Point State Park on Sunday morning with 595 other swimmers for my first Bay Swim, determined to make it to the other side strong and fast.
After getting through the scrum of the mass start — which wasn’t nearly as bad as I anticipated — I headed for the twin Bay Bridge spans, which we swam between until we reached the Eastern Shore.
I felt strong and confident, and the first two miles breezed by in 50 minutes, which was a shockingly good time for me and much faster than the pace I needed to meet my goal of finishing in 2 to 2 1⁄2 hours. But then I reached the shipping channel, and the chop — and current — began in earnest.
Although the swim director had assured the swimmers that there wouldn’t be much current, I spent the second half of the race swimming at a diagonal, trying to keep from going under the southern — or eastbound — bridge span, which would disqualify me.
I kept aiming for the centrally located orange buoys marking every mile, but to no avail. And I swam too close to several bridge supports for my taste.
Despite my speed in the first two miles, I slowed considerably in miles three and four, posting more than 30 minutes for each. That was disheartening, but the waves and current were fierce, and swimming through them was a struggle. At times, my arm did not come out of the water, as swells moved over me. Other times, my arm caught only air, instead of water. And I drank a lot of Bay water.
At the two-, three- and four-mile markers, I rolled over on my back for a couple strokes to enjoy the view and check my watch. The view was pretty — it was a sunny, blue-skied day — but there was more swimming to be done, so I didn’t dally too long.
The swim went by quickly, and I was far from bored. However, I quickly discovered how important it was to keep focused — start daydreaming, and the current whisks you to the southern span.
I was able to pick up my pace and sprint the last 400 meters, once I was beyond the bridge and into the cove near Hemingway’s restaurant, where there was little chop and no current.
I raced to the finish line on the beach, and finished the race running on jelly-like legs over the finish mat.
My time was 2 hours, 12 minutes and 55 seconds, way off the winners: Brian Benda, 38, of Parkton, Md., came in first with a 1:34.34, while the women’s winner was Erin Luley, 20, of Mechanicsburg, Pa., who clocked a 1:42.11. I placed 200th overall, 13th out of 33 women in the 40-to-44-year-old age group.
Not bad at all for a first-timer.
Cathy Gainor is the editor of the Personal Best page . She can be reached at [email protected] or personalbest
@washingonexaminer.com.
