We were fortunate on this day that the water was about as warm as it ever gets in the bay - a nice cool 64 degrees. There was also practically no chop at all in the bay and little wind, and the swim was timed to be between a strong ebb tide and the ensuing strong flood tide. Any current that we may have experienced was generally not noticable. These conditions were the best you can possibly get for an Alcatraz swim, and the organizers were very happy for that. They were concerned that with so many foreigners swimming this event, they would have a hard time communicating with them if they needed to help with some course corrections during the swim. Although the race organizers regularly do these events with up to 500 swimmers, they were more concerned with the 140+ swimmers we had for this crossing.

The swimmers loaded onto the Blue & Gold ferry to take us from Pier 41 over to The Rock. The pre-race briefing took place on the boat before we got underway. The ferry took us around the island from the west side over to the east side, where it slowed to a stop. Since the swim was non-competitive (and not even timed), there was no concern about getting everyone corraled in one area for an in-water start. Instead, we all jumped off the boat from doors on either side of the boat three at a time and just started swimming. It was like an old WW2 paratrooper movie with everyone lining up at the door and jumping out when their turn comes.

I entered the water in the 5th group of 3 from the far side of the boat. The initial shock of the cold water wasn't too bad. I didn't bring my wet suit with me because I just didn't want the extra bulk in my baggage, so this was going to be a cold one. I started swimming and headed toward the lead boat, a small yellow Kodiak inflatable. I wanted to be near the front so that I could just follow the lead boat and not have to worry about sighting the shore line. I knew that I would have a hard time distinguishing the landmarks on this busy shore line, so I would do anything to stay in sight of the lead boat. In order to do this and to get warm at the start, I started out swimming harder than usual for an open water swim. The cold started to sink in after a little while, but it wasn't too bad. There was no problem moving, no cramping, and no disorientation from the cold. The water wasn't very choppy at all and I just followed that little yellow boat the whole way without worrying at all about where I was relative to the shore. Before I knew it I was close enough to the shore to see the yellow buoy that marked the entry to the protected water of the Aquatic Park. Near the entryway was the only part of the course that was noticably choppy. Once again, any time you get near rocks, it will be choppy. Once in the protected water area, it was like swimming in a big pool. A few hundred yards later, I was walking up on the beach. No problem. In these conditions, anyone could make this swim. Maybe some day I'll do it again under different conditions.

There was coffee, sandwiches and chowder available at the finish area. My brother-in-law Greg came down to the finish area with his Irish Setter Sputnik. He missed the finish because I told him the wrong time for the swim, but got there not too long after I got in. It only took me about 30-35 minutes.  Sputnik had a blast for a while chasing a ball into the water. He loves the water and is a very good swimmer. Maybe some day he'll do the Alcatraz swim. We then walked up to the fisherman's wharf area and stopped for some Dungeness crab. Yummy. This was a great way to end my stay in the bay area. Now I'm on my way back to the water polo beer garden for the final finish.

By the way, I generally don't recommend doing back-to-back open water swims. Even though I didn't really race either one, my neck and shoulders are fairly stiff after two days of open water swimming.