Sharkfest Swim Experiences/Suggestions?

[K55_91411]

I'm trainning for the Sharfest this July.

I am 46 now and I did the Ironman in Hawaii 20 years ago and the swim threr was a piece of cake. I
think my time was 1hr 8min. I did another Triathalon a few years later in cold water without a
wetsuit and though I had a good time it was quite difficult. I assume the Sharkfest will be quite an
experience in that both the current and the quality of the competition will be quite strong.

Training wise I am swimming 1500 yards very other day. I will bump it up to 3000 yards by April. I
plan on swimming in the Wetsuit division and will augment my workouts with open water training at a
beach north of Malibu called Zuma sometime in May or June.

I would love to hear other people's experiences or advice. Current questions I have:

I primarily breathe on my left side, will the chop be coming from that side? Is 3000 yard workout
swims good enough training for this intense 2640 yard race? How does the race start; do they drop
you off from the boat and you swim to a starting line? When getting on the boat should I be first or
last on? Advantages to each? How bad is the free for all? Did you have fun; tell me about it?

 

[Jason O'Rourke]

k55_91411 <[email protected]> wrote:
>I'm trainning for the Sharfest this July. I primarily breathe on my left side, will the chop be
>coming from that side?

the current will likely be slack to mildly pushing you left to right. I can't predict what that
means for swells. I've only done the other route, which lands closer to the Golden Gate Bridge.

>Is 3000 yard workout swims good enough training for this intense 2640 yard race?

I think so. More critical is wetsuit swimming, and rougher water training. It may be useful to
practice sighting in the fog - you may not see the shore well. I actually had a similar experience
with the Malibu Tri - lead to a crappy swim time.

>How does the race start; do they drop you off from the boat and you swim to a starting line?

Most events unload the boat towards a start line, then start it a few minutes later. You can
probably board at any point, as there will be people like me waiting too long. Last year it
backfired when the Challenge started just as I cleared the bow.

Trical starts the event when you jump off the boat, but that's unusual.

>When getting on the boat should I be first or last on? Advantages to each? How bad is the free for
>all? Did you have fun; tell me about it?

It's a great view if there isn't fog.
--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com