Round the Bays!

This was my first Bays swim, and it was an enjoyable one. I cycled to the start at St Heliers and they kindly put my Bike in the gear van so I had it at the finish. It was a very relaxed start with two waves, and no-one gave a damn that I discarded the orange latex cap for my own yellow silicon one that I could actually get on my head! The swim itself was very pleasant - a small amount of breeze and not too much slime on the face at the finish. Of course the Masters swim wouldn't be the same without the post-swim refreshments and the old dustbin was on hand to boil up a much needed cuppa. Geoff did a great job at moving the prize giving along, and Brent won the wetsuit spot prize as well as first place, covering the 3.5 km in 42 minutes or so.

For me this was definitely a 'swim' rather than a 'race'. Had I not taken the scenic route, and swam halfway to Rangi, I may have claimed otherwise. Unfortunately the marker buoys did not get put out as arranged, so navigation was a bit of a challenge, despite the yacht club being very visible. I certainly over compensated for the advice to stay out and the advantage of catching more current was probably negated by the extra distance I covered! I quickly lost sight of other swimmers and kayaks, and indeed the one marker buoy we had to round about 400 m out from the finish. Getting to the finish at the boat ramp also proved to be quite a slog for a number of people, as we had to cross the incoming tide.

All in all, a very enjoyable swim, but not one for the record books!