Last Saturday, we completed the Bear Lake Monster Swim Race. This consists of 3 events:
- 1/2 mile
- 1 mile
- 10K (Solo and Relay options)
We had maxed out the race with just over 80 swimmers spanning the various events. I got there 10 minutes to 6am which was fine. The gate doesn't open until 8. I was able to fill the three buoys and get them tied to anchors in preparation to getting them deployed along the course.
We modified the course slightly such that the start instead of being in the very middle of the southern break-wall, we got in at the north west corner right there next to the park entrance. The short course swimmers would then swim out to the closest trampoline float, and then head south similar to what we had planned.
When I got in with the Seadoo, I got the anchors and two buoys set based on the GPS I have on the watercraft. I put the first buoy in at .25 miles from the start, and then proceeded on to put the next one in at 0.50 miles from the start. The swimmers may have ended up doing just a tad more than the 1/2 and 1 mile, but not much more. It's hard to navigate a wobbly jetski and try to get a heavy concrete anchor in without tangling up the other one floating behind.
I got back to swimmer check in and there were a couple hiccups, but nothing major. Good thing I ordered a few extra caps. I announced the course for the swimmers at approximately 7:50 and we got the race off only a few minutes past 8am. Eric, Joelle's husband handled the timing and did a good job given that we are doing all the timing manually, no chip times like in a foot race or anything. One thing I did get feedback on from some swimmers is that we chose to give them all a yellow cap, which matches the color of the buoys. I didn't even consider that. Next year we will make sure they get orange caps, or green. Something that doesn't blend in with the buoys when they are trying to sight and have a bunch of round caps bobbing right in front of them. Oops!
When I saw the last swimmer round the 1/2 mile buoy I collected it on the PWC and just followed them back to the finish collecting the other buoy as well. Made for a quick retrieval of the buoy whilst ensuring they were looked after.
The start of the 10K relay was at 9am and that went off, and then soloists about 10 minutes later.
I had to get one of the kayaks that I had brought (of the two) on to my trailer along with the deflated buoys. I was finally able to get out on the water to watch the 10K swimmers about 45 minutes after the start.
The water was super flat for the first couple hours. It was partly cloudy, and a really beautiful day.
The problem for me is that on Friday morning I had got my phone in the pool accidentally, so it was acting really weird. It would shut off automatically every 3-4 minutes and then reboot back on. I was unable to receive or make calls. But texts were fine. Made communication with Joelle and Eric impossible. The finish was supposed to have a yellow buoy and we had failed to get that buoy to them. So when the first couple swimmers arrived there was no buoy, just a big blue finish arch which they weren't expecting. I didn't know about the arch until I had sent the swimmer email a couple days before. I had hoped that they explained the finish procedures to the swimmers while I was working with the final short course swimmers. But there was some frustration definitely felt by the first couple finishers of the 10K, so I went out and tried to tell everyone what to look for at the finish and how to trigger a "finish", since there wasn't a yellow buoy to tag.
Frustrating, yeah, but not a total deal breaker and shouldn't have ruined it for anyone. I spent the last couple hours escorting the final swimmer who swam the entire distance except for maybe 200 yards swimming breaststroke. I saw a little freestyle mixed in, but it didn't last more than 10 seconds here and there. Don't know the story there. There is a reason why Captain Webb had a 21:45 finish time in the English Channel. Granted, front crawl hadn't really been a thing in 1875, but if it had been he probably would have picked that over breaststroke. It really is a goofy stroke, and for long distance? That's gotta hurt.
Anyway, everyone finished and we got everyone out of the water safely. There was one girl who had her paddle board support pull her more than 50% of the time. That paddler deserves a medal right there. When I first saw that I went up with the PWC and asked if they wanted in a tow to the finish. Cause pulling a swimmer is a DQ for sure. But they said, they'll just get there on their own. I was like "Fine, just flag me down if you need anything". And sure enough, they made it, but without a finish time.
It felt good to be able to provide this race for the swimmers. I just hope we can get a little more help from volunteers and make it a little better next year. I sent out a feedback form to the swimmers to see what we can do better and who is willing to step up. I got a few responses already.
Looking forward to next year.
Here are a couple swimmers posting their experience with the race:
