Wednesday, September 02, 2009

'Alcatraz Sharfest Swim' as filmed by 'Team Hydro!'



I was sent this YouTube this morning by a friend of mine who recognized me. I don't how they did, I look like a penguin like everybody else


Every year, 1,000 San Francisco swimmers participate in SHARKFEST: Escape from the Rock. They take a ferry to Alcatraz, jump off and then race back to shore. The water is cold and full of sharks and sea lions...but amazingly everyone makes it back to shore!

This is the story of Team Hydro, a group who swims Sharkfest to raise money for the non-profit Hydrocephalus Association - a relatively unknown disease that affects over one million Americans.

[Link]

Ironically enough I am actually in the video doing butterfly at the 11-second mark. When I jump off the boat the water is so cold and hurts so bad I do butterflyfly so my face goes in the water for the fast shock and then out of the water till I finally get use to it.

7 comments:

Hadar said...

I'm so glad you said that! I did the same swim, with Swim with the Centurions, last Saturday - and at the beginning the cold was so bad and constricted my chest so much that I ended up swimming breaststroke at the beginning.

Thanks for inspiring me to do an Alcatraz swim!

Tony Austin said...

I felt your pain! Here is what I recommend: Swim 400-yards or so in Aquatic park before the race.

It sort of warms up your muscles and it prepares you for the shock when you have to jump into the water.

You also know how long it will take for the cold to go away when you do jump off the boat.

Also, be the first one to jump off, this way you have longer time to get use to the water.

Hope to see you next year in June. :-)

Thank you for the nice words.

Swimming for ME said...

Oh I am so nostalgic watching this. What a fun morning that race was this year. I'm gonna have to do this again. Thanks for sharing the video.

TedBaker said...

Great video!
I'd have to say everyone who participated in the event won... Who had the fastest time and what was it? How long did it take you, Tony, and how does that time compare to your time for the same distance in the pool?

Tony Austin said...

That you all for the nice compliments.

I am primarily a sprinter so when I swim the 1500 I usually do it simply for team points and I do not push myself. (25.6 for the 50 free SCY. - Shooting for a high 24 next year.)

Four weeks ago I swam a 1500 LCM in 23:33 - (I swam in 14-events that weekend so that race was a warmup only. I only swam it at a moderate pace.)

My best Alcatraz time is 32-minutes for a 1.5 mile swim. I usually swim in the middle-high 30's

My worst showing there was 1:12 and I was in trouble; severe trouble, I aspirated water and was sick for a month. I was coughing for days.

I decided after that day to find out about this thing called "masters swimming."

I joined SCAQ, learned how to swim correctly and now I am swimming faster than I was in high school - (1:08 for the hundred SCY free versus 57.16 as of last spring. I am still getting faster too.)

This year I swam it in 40 minutes and I was really angry about that, the current dragged 300-meters off course and I should have prepared better in the morning.

Next year, I will be following the tides more closely and I will choose where I start more carefully.

The fact that I am a newer swimmer probably explains why I like tech suits. I don't have the legacy or the history without them.

Edward said...

the tidal currents are the killer out there. I sail in SF Bay and there can be a 4-5 knot (5+ MPH) current going either way. The other problem is that as you get closer to shore you'll also get eddies going the other direction. even slack tide doesn't help since the eddies are always going on.

I can email you some links on where to study those eddies.

Tony Austin said...

Please, please, please, and don't forget I said please! And many more thank yous!

I will post it too so it wont's be considered Alcatraz espionage

I got 3/4s-to-shore and I was grabbed by a current that pulled me towards Pier 39 before I could even react.