Hi all,
Here are a couple of great stories from H2O magazine (thanks Simon! http://www.h2openmagazine.com/) about the new races that Zary Evelyn and the gang have been putting on in Barbados this year! Sounds awesome… I think this might make a great road trip for some adventurous LOSTies in the next year!!!
PS. Congrats to my old friend Erica Moffett, I bet the weather was a bit nicer than the time we spent in Dover waiting to cross!… she won the women’s race!!!
Cheers,
Rob
From Beginner to Barbados in one season
Jim Egan | Guest Writer | H2Open | Thursday 31 October 2013
I only took up open water swimming this year because I just can’t face the idea of playing golf. Not yet anyway. But it was clear back in January that a knee injury from cycling was going to keep me off the bike and away from running all season, so I had to find something new. Had the time really come to resign myself to the golf course?
The ever reliable motivation of peer pressure came to my aid in February when a friend goaded me into entering the Jubilee River Swim on the Thames in June. I had mildly expressed interest in doing a 2.5km relay leg if we could find another couple of team members – he swiftly upped the stakes to us both doing the individual 10km. 10km?! Swimming?! Unthinkable. But thanks to the open air oasis of the recently re-opened and renovated Charlton Lido in south east London it only took a couple of months steadily increasing training in the early spring for the prospect of completing the 10km to shift from being ridiculous and fanciful to something that might be just about doable. The day of the Jubilee River swim came in the first weekend of June. I loved it.
Up next, the 14km Henley to Marlow Bridge to Bridge. Now that was hard. Spectacular, but very hard. Hitting ‘the wall’ while swimming isn’t all that nice. But, as is the way with these things, Sunday evening’s “never again” somehow turned into Monday morning’s “what next?” And then one of life’s magical little coincidences came along in the form of a fortnightly newsletter from H2Open offering free entry to the Barbados Swim Festival in October. Magical because we had only just booked a dream family holiday to Barbados and would be on the island for the day of the race. One email later to the organisers in Bridgetown and I was signed up for the 5km.
So as summer gave way to those darker, chillier mornings there was little hardship in continuing to get up for my now regular pre-work lido swims – staying fit through the autumn for a race in the Caribbean needs no further motivation. And the Swim The Bay race in Barbados itself? Think pinch yourself perfect conditions. Crystal clear waters, sandy seabed studded with starfish, dazzling groups of tropical fish darting around in front of us and at least half a dozen turtles looking up from below, bemused by our ungainly thrashing about in comparison to their effortless grace. Henley and Marlow both have their undeniable charms, but this was something else. Back on dry land, the morning’s racing was quickly giving way to a full-on Caribbean beach party and we were given a warm, genuine welcome – as long as one didn’t mind too much the locals bragging about how they get to swim the same bay every weekend. It was an incredible end to a first season of open-water swimming – thanks to H2Open for promoting the event and thanks to Zary & Kristina for a truly unforgettable day.
– See more at: http://h2openmagazine.com/features/beginner-barbados-one-season/#sthash.tD21NfaY.dpuf
Racing with turtles in Barbados
Simon Griffiths | H2Open Editor | Thursday 31 October 2013
The Barbados open water festival, which took place last weekend in Carlisle Bay, featured a 1.5k and a 5k swimming race as well as stand-up paddle boarding and kayaking. While there was some competitive racing at the sharp end of the field, many of the swimmers took their time to enjoy the surroundings.
“Trying to race but being surrounded by the turtles and fish was just incredible but also very distracting,” said one swimmer.
Conditions were relatively good in the spectacular Carlisle Bay considering the severe weather conditions experienced two days before the event although currents were slightly stronger than normal in the usually placid Bay. Swimmers attended from across the US as well as the UK, Columbia, Canada, Venezuela, Finland and Trinidad. 150 swimmers, varying in age from 6 years old to 83 years old, lined up for the start in brilliant sunshine at 9 am in front of the Copacabana Beach Bar. They then swam a loop between the Boatyard Pier and Esplanade.
The top performers were Christian Marsden of Trinidad, Barbadian Alexis Clarke, Ryan Williams of the US and Erica Moffett, also of the US. These four swimmers claimed victory in the 5k men’s and women’s and the 1.5k men’s and women’s races.
Swimmers taking on the 1.5k challenge could choose to swim “just for fun”, in which case swim aids (such as flippers) were allowed and no times recorded.
Special mention must be made of the charismatic and energetic Robert Beach, 83 years old, hailing from St Petersburg, Florida who completed the 1.5km swim in 36 minutes and 40 seconds. This was Beach’s third open water event in October, each one in a different country. In contrast, Maya Cummins, only six years old, completed the 1.5 k swim in 1:42:14 while swimming alongside her father. After the race she told her mum, “I am just so proud of me.”
The next “Swim the Bay” and “Barbados Open Water Festival” is scheduled for November 2014. Find out more at www.swimbarbadosvacations.com
– See more at: http://h2openmagazine.com/news/racing-turtles-barbados/#sthash.YCeqXVNl.dpuf