North Antelope Swim

I met Goody at the entrance to the park at 4:50 pm and we drove out together to the marina at the North End of Antelope.  The water on the surface was 61°, but about 18 inches below the surface I held my digital thermometer and it read 58°.  The sun was shining and there was a slight breeze but nothing major.

I took the SSD and it was full of both of our stuff (Goody's two bottles, my big Gatorade, and then my container which had my phone, ipod (for taking pics), thermometer, and my car keys.  Trying to tread water and empty that thing out without getting water in, was a pain.  I got a cramp in my quad.  Not fun.  I need to get the big size SSD.  Cause I like to have my stuff, but don't want it to be so cramped.  I was hoping to swim out towards Egg Island and then cut in between that island and the northwest corner of Antelope and then swim to the south end of Bridger Bay.  The water level was high, but still not high enough as we started to hit bottom with our hands just as we started to get to the shallow land bridge from Antelope to Egg Islands.  So we decided to turn around and head north for a bit.

I get nervous swimming out there more than half a mile from shore.  The weather was perfect, and the odds of a storm coming out of nowhere is extremely slim.  But I still get paranoid, so I suggested we swim east.  I think Goody was getting bugged with the route changes.  We almost got in our planned 4 miles, but not quite.

Stats:

 3.5 miles in 1:50

I was a little chilled.  With my GSL swim in 3 weeks, I may actually be able to qualify for English Channel after all with that swim.  My start is in the morning on the west side of Antelope so the water will be pretty close to 60 I bet.  We'll see....


It was a beautiful evening!  My lips and tongue did much better this time.  I also didn't have any chaffing at all.  Then again I tried out my 50/50 lanolin/vaseline mix.  I ordered some lanolin online and mixed it up in a baggie and applied it using the baggie.  It worked out perfectly.

Given that this location is only 15 minutes from my house and much closer for Goody as well, we'll be making this the preferred GSL swim location.  The GSL Marina is fine, but its a 3 times further than the Antelope Island Marina.

Here's some pics

Goody was a good partner.  Our pace was right about the same.

This picture does NOT do the view any justice.  It was beautiful!

Looking at the boat docks in the marina with the
snow capped mountains in the background

3.5 miles total