The start of this year's Boston Light Swim coincided with a significant drop in recorded water temperature and a 12-hour spike in off-shore wind directly into the swimmers' path producing horrendous conditions.  The eleven solo finishers battled 3'-to-4' waves throughout the race.  The caliber of swimmers was high with two (Bill Wilson and George Hunihan) scheduled for the English Channel challenge in September and four more planning for next year.  The finishing times reflected the conditions with Ray Gandy finishing first at 3:29:48, followed closely by Joe Sheehan (3:30:48), Mallory Mead (3:35:19), and Sebastian Neumayer (3:36:29).  Clara Bennett (3:54:10) finished fifth.  Then came Elaine Kornbau (4:22:12), Tony Zamora (4:24:28), George Hunihan (4:39:54), Bill Wilson (5:12:56), John Sullivan (5:19:21), and Mike Gemelli (5:19:47).  Eleven of the 16 starters finished.  The two 3-person relays from Groveland, (Steven Puopolo, David Miles, Dan Racki) and (David Sweeney, Scott Fitzgerald, Bob Somma), finished at the same time in 5:31:05.  The tabulated results are here.  The race was, by far, the most grueling in the modern era, and the finishers deserve a mighty harbor of credit.

Two swimmers have contributed race information. Bill Wilson wrote an account of his race. Dori Miller has posted pictures of Ray Gandy's swim and of the finish here.

Safety is all-important for the race, and the conditions tested all aspects of the race plan.  Boaters as well as the swimmers were challenged in these conditions.  All permits were acquired, and the U.S. Coast Guard monitored the entire race and were in half-hourly contact with the Race Committee.  Boats carried swimmer numbers this year.  In spite of these precautions, we had difficulties.  Kellie Joyce's kayak (ferried to the start on the safety boat) could not navigate and took on water immediately, forcing Kellie to stop.  The smaller boats were battered by the waves while the larger boats found maneuvering in the wind a challenge.  Our communications need to be improved, as the finish judges did not know the final competitor, Dave Evangelista using a wet suit, was still on the course at the 6-hour cut-off.   He finally finished with the Coast Guard and one finish judge still present.  Next year, we resolve to require all competitors to have adequate escorts, to require hourly contact between each boater and the safety boat, to require timely notification of a swimmer quitting, to have boaters display larger swimmer numbers, and to allow more transit time to the start.  This year's conditions were extreme, challenging our preparedness.  We thank the US Coast Guard for their diligence, and the boaters for their tenacity and perseverance.  The swimmers deserve credit for mastering these stormy conditions, but the success of this year's race was a tribute to all participants.

The Results

The Conditions

Expectations based on the forecast were for 10-20 knot winds, but we got much more.  Gusts up to 44 mph were recorded at Logan Airport.  A smallcraft advisory was in effect.  In addition, the direction (300-330 deg) was optimally (and cruelly!) designed to generate waves almost on the entire course.  As the map shows, only in the brief lee of George's Island, approaching Long Island, and near the end of the race did the waves abate.  Otherwise, the swimmers were bucked continuously by waves, essentially across or against their path.  With little shelter from the islands due to the NW wind, waves built up over almost the entire course.  The crossing from the Long Island Bridge to Thompson Island was particularly abusive, taking well over one hour instead of the usual 30-40 minutes.

Another way to view the race is to show how conditions deteriorated on Saturday.  The plot shows the how the water temperature was dropping from around 65 deg F to 60 deg F during the race while the wind that had risen to a sustained 25 knots from the NW generated large waves.  While the recorded wind 12 miles out at the buoy abated somewhat during the race, the Logan Airport winds remained high ("Breezy") with sustained winds in the 25-30 mph range throughout the race and gusts up to 44 mph.  Given the direction of the wind, almost the entire course had little upwind land to shelter the swimmers.  This was especially true in the area between the Long Island Bridge and Thompson Island, which was variously described as a washing machine, a roller coaster, and hell.  Even around the tip of Thompson Island, where usually the end is in sight, there was sufficient upwind space to generate significant waves.  Only when nearing the finish did the land provide sufficient cover to dissipate the waves.