Swmmr Grrl

Nearly as exciting as watching someone swim laps

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Round Christiansborg 2009

1 x 1980 m crawl
1 x 20 m butterfly
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2000 m (53:13)

This year's Round Christiansborg had several uncertainties. A windy day with thunder storms was in the forecast, but luckily we only saw a few drops of rain despite rather threatening skys. The wind was in our backs for the hardest part of the race (harbour) and the water was never so choppy that there were actual white caps.

Unfortunately there were thousands of jellyfish in the water this year. I managed to only get a couple of stings on my forearms and possibly one foot (it was tingling a lot during the race, but it might have been due to the cold). My mental energy was focused on avoiding jellyfish more than enjoying the fantastic scenery this year. The following photos were taken by my son and basically capture the essence of the swim. Cold choppy water (63 degrees) with warmth from a wetsuit and with the focus on the immediate surroundings rather than the big picture.









All in all I think the swim went well and according to the time schedule I had sent out to folks. I debated as to whether I should swim butterfly for the last few meters and as you can see above in the swim program above, I did it again this year.

Here's a photo after the finish waiting to pick up my clothes.


Despite the cold, despite the waves, despite the jellyfish, I'd gladly swim this race yet another time. The oldest competitor (age 74) was in our heat and he has swum it for all 4 of the years that they've been hosting the race. We all applauded him when we heard he was in our heat. We were all so relaxed about everything that it took about 5 seconds before the starting sound went off before any of us actually started swimming.