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| Picnic Bay Start. Photo: Karen Uhlmann |
This was a good challenge
An 8k swim across Cleveland Bay from Magnetic Island to Townsville
Conditions were tough, with a big wind swell, although the tide and wind direction were in our favour
A few nervous swimmers at the start, some attempting their longest ocean swim
The timing of this swim in July was perfect - A trip away to Tropical North Queensland in mid winter. Warm water 23c - no wetsuits required for Southerners. And a good race to train for out of season.
Good effort by the Townsville Open Water Swimming Association. This event was well run. A professional race briefing, A relaxed start on Magnetic Island, Friendly volunteers at the finish, Water safety boats and a chopper all the way, Festivities in the surf club afterwards
Hi folks, great to see this blog. The water at Magnetic Island looks truly delicious. I am based in Chicago and have been doing a few open water swims here in Lake Michigan (Big Shoulders, Triathlon, etc) as well as long swims in Lake Superior during vacations there (no wettie!!!). During the summer I try to swim a few times a week in the lake. Just wondering what the difference between swimming in fresh water & salt water might be. I know that salt water = high buoyancy = faster time, but wondering if anybody has done both and would like to comment. A gang of us here are contemplating the Bosphorus swim next year, and any comments on that would also be welcome.
ReplyDeleteSandy, the added buoyancy of salt water allows the body to be slightly higher which reduces drag = faster times. Another plus is that we can handle colder water in salt than fresh. I have not seen any research on this temperature effect but it seems to be a fact. If your group are still contemplating swimming the Bosphorus I can also recommend the 4.5km Dardanelles swim from Europe to Asia in late August warm water. See recent oceanswims report.
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