Fred Knight's Account of the 2003

Table of Contents

Short Version | | | Overall Results | | | Race Stats | | |
Details of the Swim | | | Swimmers | | | Account of Allison Riley's swim | | |
Boaters | | | Comments on the Race | | | Acknowledgments | | |

Short Version (back to top)

Overall Results (back to top)

Race Stats (back to top)

Conditions were similar to last year: low to moderate wind, manageable waves, partly cloudy skies, and okay water temperature.  During the race the wind swung to the west and quickened, creating changing wave conditions.  During this time, the sky was completely overcast, but, in the latter half of the race, the sun came out. Waves were moderate but were worse past George's Island.  As expected boat traffic generated choppy conditions after the Long Island Bridge.  Overall, the wind and waves were not particularly strong.  The current was as expected, in the direction of the swim throughout the race.  The time to the Long Island Bridge was a little longer than last year, possibly due to a slightly slower current.

Water temperature was recorded throughout the race by Team Walden.  These temperatures are similar to last year and a couple degrees higher in the second half of the race  Only three days earlier, Rick Osterberg, Doug Bosley, and Will Riddell had measured 58^o F at the start.

Time	Location	Water Temp	Comments
9:20 am	Little Brewster Island	62 oF	Same as last year.
10:20 am	George's Island, Rainsford Island	64 oF
11:40 am	Past Long Island bridge	66 oF
12:10 pm	Thompson Island	67 oF	Felt warmer than last year.
1:09 pm	finish, M Street Beach	67 oF

Details of Team Walden's Swim (back to top)

Because my shoulder is bothering me and because my Walden-Pond swimming buddies were interested in my suggestion to join me in a relay, the three of us prepared for a relay this year.  Mike Gates and Mike Hurley are long-time afficionados of swimming in Walden Pond.  Mike Gates has been swimming there for a decade---before it became a popular training ground for triathletes.  So we kept a good training regimen through July to prepare for a relay.  The drawbacks of not mimicking the Boston Light Swim conditions would become apparent during the race.  The Pond rarely has chop, let alone waves, and the water temperature, which had reached 78^o F by early August, did not prepare Mike and Mike for the Boston Harbor.

Pre-race  All of the boats arrived at the starting location at the west end of Little Brewster Island by 9:15.  Our boat drivers Jenny and Mike had scouted the course on the way out.  By tradition, I broke out a new swimsuit for the start, waiting until 9:20 to ready myself with white cap and Vaseline in my armpits.  So eager were Doug Bosley, Will Riddell, and Vic Maldonado that they were in the water before the 9:30 start!

Swimmers (back to top)

Boaters (back to top)

Comments on the Race (back to top)

Overall the race went very well.  Contrary to the past few years, finding boats was not a problem.  John Werner even had a separate boat for the reporters.   The real-time posting of the winner's progress to the web was good---easier for spectators to watch via the Internet.  We'll hope for this next year as well.  We still need to get information out earlier, so we have set next year's date already: Sunday 1 August 2004.  At the dinner, swimmers seemed satisfied with the information given.  I emphasized needing sighting lines and looking backwards as you motor out to Little Brewster Island, especially for the end where the handball courts aligned with the tall apartment building worked for me.  The weather cooperated, and all boats were at the starting line early.  Better publicity may attract more participants; keeping the website going will be a good location from which information can be distributed.  The new start time (5.5 hours before high tide to catch the current throughout the race) remains a good idea.  Next year we'll go back to starting early in the day (7 am) as well.  All in all, a very satisfying race.

Acknowledgments (back to top)