Today was my final day out at the world championships, and it was time for another open water swim. This one was a non-competitive swim that was offered as one of the social events associated with the meet. It was also one of those experiences that swimmers want to check off their list of accomplishments in their swimming career - an Escape from Alcatraz. The swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco is only 1.2 miles as the crow flies, but the water is cold and often rough, with very strong currents possible.

The Avery stadium pool at Stanford. This is the main short course pool at Stanford, with lots of seating for big meets. It was set at 25 M and used for warm-ups during the worlds meet. It was also the scene of the opening ceremonies.

The Maas Diving Center tower and pool at Stanford. This 25M pool was used for warm-ups during the worlds meet. Note the lack of lines on the bottom or crosses on the walls, which made warmup a little confusing.

The Belardi Pool at Stanford. This is the newer of the two long course pools. Several people commented that they thought it was faster than the Baker pool. It was for me, but I also swam better as the week went on and only swam in this pool on my last day.

The Baker Pool at Stanford. This is the older of the two long course pools - the one that had to be "shaved down" in order to allow for a 50 M course with touch pads at both ends.

Alcatraz island looms in the distance beyond the breakwater guarding Aquatic Park's protected waters.

Swimmers navigate the final stretch of the worlds 3K open water swim through the whitecaps.

Today was the 3K open water swim at the FINA Masters World Championships. There were just under a thousand swimmers entered in the event. I was entering it as a recreational open water swim and had no intention of racing it. It was more about the experience of swimming a new open water race with 1,000 new friends.  The swim was scheduled to start at noon, and after arriving at the Robert Crown park beach at The Alameda a bit before 10 AM it was obvious that I needed to go back to the car and get everything I had there to help keep warm. It was freezing there with the temperature in the low 60's and a cold offshore wind blowing steadily. After checking in, getting my arms marked, picking up my cap and a T shirt and walking out to the water, I bundled up and settled in under a tent to stay out of the sun. The tide was out very far when I arrived, so you could walk about 100 yards out on the muddy bottom of the bay before hitting water. That would change by the time the race started as the tide was coming in several inches per minute. During the wait, there was a good music mix playing and an energetic announcer sporadically giving information about the swim.

Thank God for attrition. There were 3 scratches in the final heat of the 200 breast, which allowed me to squeak into the top ten with a 9th place.  I'll take it any way I can get it.  The 200 was the first event of the day. I woke up at 6 like every other day and ate my normal breakfast and headed to the pool, getting there at the end of the warmup period. Unfortunately, breakfast didn't agree with me this morning and my stomach was upset for a few hours. I delayed getting in for a warmup as long as I could, got in 1500 meters and strolled over to my gear. On the way I heard that they were already on heat 22 and I was in 29. Yikes! I was still wearing my drag suit, so I quickly grabbed a towel and meet suit and pulled it on (not an easy thing to do with a body suit when you're still wet). I made it over to the marshalling area with just one heat to spare before I was in the final on deck chair. That's not the way I planned it.

Randy swims the 100 back at worlds.