And rough it was! Many WH2Oers and friends of WH2O competed in the 77th annual La Jolla Rough Water Swim Meet on Sunday, September 9th in La Jolla Cove. It was sunny and gorgeous outside and the water temperature was a comfortable 70 degrees. And fish were actually visible in the water! There were garibaldi (the bright orange fish), kelp fish, and schools of small minnow-like fish in addition to kelp. Along with many age-group competitions, there were master swim events of one- and three- mile races. It seemed like there was a cast of thousands out to swim at this meet that was first held in 1916! 614 men and 437 women competed in the one-mile race. 527 men and women competed in the three-mile event.
Amy Dantzler started the day off right! The marine layer evaporated and the sun came blaring out just moments before the start of the Women’s One Mile event. The race start was broken into two groups (under 40 followed by over 40); Amy led her group from the start. She was dressed very stealth-like in her dark gray full-body suit and cap—all the more difficult for competition to spot her in the water! We lost site of her as we tried to track the race and then got confused when the announcer cited someone else as being in the lead (this writer kept saying the announcer was wrong; when Amy takes the lead, no one takes it away from her!). Amy started in the second group, but by the end of the race, she was in the mix with the first group, which only further added to the confusion. It took a long time before the results were announced, but Amy did win her group and got a very impressive 2nd place among all women competitors! Way to go Amy!
Tim Burke, Matt Knight and Bill O’Brien competed in the Men’s One Mile race. The fastest swimmer (Fran Crippen, 22, of Mission Viejo) finished the race in 18:47. The last one miler crossed the finish line in 1:02:44. The level of competition was very high-- Larson Jenson, the 1500 Free American Record holder was third in the event! Our Bill finished 18th overall and 2nd in his age group. Matt also made top five in his division.
What’s really amazing is that Amy, Matt and Tim followed up the one mile race with the three mile race not too long after!
The Three Mile “Gatorman” event is considered the premier event of the meet. It’s a long way across the cove to a pier and then you have to swim back! No matter how you do it, one way will be going against the current! The swim out seemed reasonable enough (although word has it that the lead group were a bit off course as some thought the race was to Catalina Island). Even though there were over 500 people in the race, once past the initial start, it doesn’t seem like there’s many people around. But as the pier started to loom-large and the turning buoys zoomed into view, everyone crowded in and the realization that a race was apace came back into focus! Boy was it ever choppy coming back! And navigation was tough because the sun was in the sky over the finish line. The outline of a distant high-rise hotel was all that was possible to cite on for most of the way back.
The Gatorman was won by the same Fran Crippen who won the mile earlier in the day. The winning time for the Gatorman was 54:10 with the last (527th) swimmer finishing in 2:06:00. The event was a mix of Master and Age-Group swimmers (13 years is the minimum age). Six of the top ten finishers were under 18 years of age. Brian Olver was first WH2Oer to cross the finish line. Brian took 30th overall and finished 2nd of 24 people in his division. Amy Dantzler was 52nd overall, the 10th fast woman finisher and 2nd of 17 in her division. Other WH2O competitors who finished in the top five medal count included: Gregg Ogorzolec (66th, 5th/58) and Tim Burke (97th, 4th/42). WH2O finishers included Jerry Shandrew, Bryan Libit, Matt Knight, Dan Adams and Rocky DeAngelis. Notable friends of WH2O at the meet included Alex Kostich (4th overall and 1st/28 in his age group) and Kevin Pearsall.
It was this writer’s first Gatorman. The race was amazing! The experience was incredible! At the 2-1/2 mile mark I developed a cramp and my arms started to feel like rubber. At the 2-3/4 mile mark I could finally see a finish line, which seemed to relieve the cramp and give me strength to see the race to the finish. The water was so choppy coming back I seemed to be taking on water (like a boat in rough water). I ran across the finish line and disposed of all that extra water before joining my mates for the recap! What a relief! Everyone acknowledged the water was choppy and the event was tough, but everyone was thrilled for having accomplished the course and seemed already energized to do it again next year.
