LOSTies and those after final Global Swim Series points made up a large proportion of those at the Caledon Quarry Swim II on Sunday, but there were also some really speedy young swimmers from coach Barrie Shepley’s C3 team. (check out the results on GSS!)
We had the unusual case on Saturday of having warm water in Lake O (73F/23C) and only 17C air… but it was nicer weather than we got on Sunday at the Quarry, where the air was only 12C and the water was 71F/21C… I think it was the only time this summer that Lake O was warmer than the Quarry!
But having said that… it was still fun. The Quarry is a nice place to swim and it’s always fun to race against a bunch of buddies and do your best. The water was very comfortable, but the wind really whipped up some significant chop in the far corner where the waves bounced off the walls! I was telling some other swimmers about my race and they took some comfort in knowing that even an old vet like me took in a few unexpected mouthfuls in that corner!
I was smoked by a few of Barrie’s very fast kids in the 2k, and much like the weekend before at the TCoB’s Pier to Pier swim I was beat by my son… just barely. I wasn’t sure if it was him ahead of me, but on the last half of the last lap I was determined to reel in the swimmer who was 20 meters ahead of me… and much to my surprise, I did! We came around the last turn with 150 m to go and I got a better line
on the finishing arch and was pulling ahead as he headed wide… I was bi-lateral breathing and by the time breathed to that side again he had noticed I was pulling ahead… so he simply cut over and boxed me out! After the race he said “I had nothing… but I still wasn’t going to let you pass me… so I just used some open water strategy and boxed you out!”. Oh well, good fun.
Cheers,
Rob
Here are some of Barrie’s highlights from the race too:
NATIONAL TEAM FASTEST 2K SWIMMERS
C3’S Andrew Yorke has swam in the C3 James Dick Quarry for nearly a decade as a junior athlete, under 23 athlete and pro. Andrew now lives in Guelph as he prepares for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Andrew was in Edmonton last weekend, where his 8th place World Cup Triathlon finish was the best male performance this year. He is in his final taper for next Saturday Sept 19th’s World Championship in Chicago. Andrew’s Guelph National Team-mate was Domi Jaminicky. Domi was just 15th in Edmonton and was featured on CBC just yesterday. Andrew’s CBC race will be this coming Sat 19th from 3-4pm on CBC Sports Weekend (tune in). Thanks to coach Taylor for bringing the top athletes to Caledon for the day.
WARD YORKE SWIMS FARTHER THAN ANYONE
While his son Andrew maybe big-stuff on the triathlon circuit, its dad Ward Yorke who today had the longest swim of anyone in the field going an amazing 11km straight. Ward and his C3 team-mate Geoff Sullivan both started swimming about 8:30am this morning and had amazing end of summer swims. Kudos to both C3 athletes for life-time longest swims.
GREG & BOB ROCK A FAST 10 WITHOUT A WETSUIT
When Bob Hayes heard that Greg Streppel was doing 10k, he got into his car early and drove to Caledon to have a chance to swim with the world-class athlete. Together the dynamic duo rocked just over 2hrs 20min for the 10km without a wetsuit. They basically swam 20min km for the entire 10km. Thanks for being a part of the day.
TIMMS FAMILY STILL ROCKING FAST
Twenty years ago, Toronto lawyer Stefan Timms was one of Canada’s top elite pro triathletes. He raced all over the world representing Canada. It was through triathlon that he met his wife Kate, who was also one of Canada best young triathletes. Two decades later, Stefan and Kate have two beautiful kids and today had the fastest 4km swim (Stefan) and fastest female 1km swim (Katie). With a busy life and kids, its fantastic to see how you can still stay in shape.
CARLOS COSTA INSPIRES
Four decades ago, Carolos Costa lost his legs at 2 years of age. Obviously he has learned to overcome any obstacles in his way. Today he swam the 4km, no-wetsuit in under 90minutes. It was an honour to have Carlos in the field today. Carlos also swam across Lake Ontario in 1993 in 32 hours and 42 minutes!!!
ROB LOSES TO SON DYLAN BY A SECOND
Clearly Dylan Kent has no respect for his elders. Today the man who takes care of the website for the Global Swim Series, took a bite out of his father by a few seconds in the 2km race. Rob and Dylan have been instrumental in creating and developing the Global Swim Series. Kudos to both hard working guys.
AMAZING SUPER-MASTER SWIMS
Five years ago, I had to argue with 66 year old Bob Knuckey to register for a mini-triathlon. He couldn’t swim and didn’t believe he ever would. Last year he won the World 70.3 World Triathlon Championships and was on the podium a few weeks later in Kona. Today he had one of the fastest swims in just over 35mintes. Incredible.
Not to be out done, 81 year old George Milne was just over 25 minutes for the 1km swim.