2017 King Wolf Swim
A couple of posts ago I laid out my plans for this summer. King Wolf was unfortunately not one of the swims I had scheduled. Part of that was the fact that it is not part of either swim series I participate in and also there was originally supposed to be a Canaqua swim the following day. A few cogs moved in different directions than anticipated. The Canaqua swim (it was to be a new entry) was unfortunately cancelled and the open water swim I did 10 days ago felt so terrible that I knew I needed to get something challenging under my belt. Next weekend is a double header weekend and I didn't like the idea of having gone so long without a quality swim. Fortunately King Wolf had room.
This pic is nice because you can see the white landmark that we used for sighting on the first half of the swim. I know - it looks gloomy and grey but in reality it was nice, warm, and flat. The night before we were worried about weather and indeed the 10km swimmers had a wee delay while they waited out thunder. Those of us who chose to only do the 5km had no weather issues at all. It was in fact a nicer swim than last year which if I recall was quite choppy.
As I was a late entry I had to rush to sort out logistics. Fortunately my former teammates Stu and Erica currently reside in Kingston and were willing to put me up for a night. I chose to travel to Kingston immediately after work Friday so that I wasn't driving all morning just to get out and swim. The other thing I had to sort out was a kayak. This took a bit of goofing around but by Friday morning we had it all sorted.
Many of the swimmers picked up their race package the night before. Many of us didn't. All of us had to get our feet marked with our numbers.
The mood was light. The 10kmers were already well on their way which I believe gave a sense of security. Once we were all numbered and teamed up with kayakers and color coordinated it was time.
If you read my post from last year you may remember that there was some question as to whether the swim would continue or if that was the last season. The former race director was making her way to the east coast leaving a void. Much was left up in the air. Thankfully King Wolf had a hero by the name of Nadine Bennet step up and assume the position. King Wolf would continue. I will say right now that she did a fantastic job.
I could tell by the look on her face that she had a full load but was still managing. Sorting 60 some odd swimmers, 70 some odd kayakers and boaters is no small thing. I mentioned color coding before... this was one of the new things introduced this year. I quite liked it as it made it much easier at the start to find your kayaker.
I was in the final wave (yellow) but I was also in no hurry. There were no points involved here so I was here for a good swim and to get my distance up. My kayaker was a lovely young lady named Olena who truthfully made my life much easier. We sorted out almost immediately to keep her on my right so that I only needed to sight off of her. This worked great - except at the end. More on that in a minute.
At one point in the swim the water was fairly shallow and I came to a full stop. I could see not far below me what appeared to be part of an old roof. I swam a good length of it just to have a better look and even had Olena back up so that she could see it. Not something one would normally do in a race.
Now for the sore spot for me. I do not mean this as an attack on Nadine. If you were to ask all 60ish swimmers and 70ish watercraft people what they would do differently you would get 130ish different opinions and likely only 2 would be in agreement. So - this is opinion and maybe mine alone. Simply put - I do not care for the back half of this course. You are supposed to hang right (marginally) and try and find these two bollocks called Goose Island.
See them? It's hard to see them even when you are standing on them. It's impossible when you are in the water just passing the white roof landmark (1st picture). Even our poor kayakers have a miserable time finding them unless they have done the course before. The purpose for this (I assume) is two fold. 1 - it increases the distance to a full 5km. 2 - it forces you to avoid swimming in the path of the ferry which is on the far right of this picture - or if you are swimming on the far left.
Once you locate these peach pits and make your way around them you in theory just swim on in to the finish. Unfortunately for both me and Olena we couldn't find it until we were right on top of it. It got to the point where I was shallow enough (in the wrong spot) that she had to go on my left to avoid hitting things. Part of the issue here is that the landing spot is quite small as everywhere else is private property. There isn't room for a lot of hoopla.
Now that my belly aching is over - here is are actual shots of the finish.
As I said - not a lot of room.
Once we were done there we made the short journey down the street to Wolfies on the Water which is a part of the General Wolfe Inn. Website - https://goo.gl/9gsrPW and Facebook - https://goo.gl/tZ9fCV.
Here were we given a hearty breakfast brunch (for all participants) and this is where we sort of debriefed, relaxed, socialized, and some even drank.
Stuart and Erica made their way over to make sure I survived and we were served by the Marvelous Michelle and her Minions.
They had the glamorous task of serving regular customers as well as making sure the buffet was running smoothly (and stocked) AND running across the street where all the behind the scenes work was going on. They did a great job and everyone left with a smile.
All swimmers were given a mug and a handmade finishers medal. Mine was the green version for a second time swimmer.
Once we had shoved our faces and had some time to digest we made our way back to the mainland on the ferry. I quite enjoy these rides and it makes me wonder if I would really enjoy a cruise.
The rest of the day was uneventful. Just the journey back home. But it did give me time to reflect on what potentially could have been a much different reality.
This swim almost got lost in the mix. People would have missed it this year and then it would have become a "remember when" event. With Nadine assuming the race director role the sails once again have full wind. This is legit event. Do I think it should be part of a series - ya, I think it should be part of a series. It's my opinion but if you look at Swim The Suck in TN - they have a hard cap on their numbers and sell out in MINUTES when their registration opens in February. This eliminates last minute scrambles (like my own) and makes it a sought after swim. Again - just opinion. The point is we have a great swim in a neat spot.
Again - a super huge thanks to Nadine and all the support staff. I hope that your heart for this event carries on.
Until I touch the wall.....
Michael Kenny
Masters Swimmer
Cambridge Mavericks
Marathon Open Water Swimmer
2015-16 Global Swim Series Champion
Contact Info :
F : https://www.facebook.com/swim.diesel
I : https://www.instagram.com/swim.diesel
T : https://twitter.com/SwimDiesel
E : m.j.kenny@swim-diesel.com
+ : google.com/+Swim-diesel
B : 53724F20
This pic is nice because you can see the white landmark that we used for sighting on the first half of the swim. I know - it looks gloomy and grey but in reality it was nice, warm, and flat. The night before we were worried about weather and indeed the 10km swimmers had a wee delay while they waited out thunder. Those of us who chose to only do the 5km had no weather issues at all. It was in fact a nicer swim than last year which if I recall was quite choppy.
As I was a late entry I had to rush to sort out logistics. Fortunately my former teammates Stu and Erica currently reside in Kingston and were willing to put me up for a night. I chose to travel to Kingston immediately after work Friday so that I wasn't driving all morning just to get out and swim. The other thing I had to sort out was a kayak. This took a bit of goofing around but by Friday morning we had it all sorted.
Many of the swimmers picked up their race package the night before. Many of us didn't. All of us had to get our feet marked with our numbers.
The mood was light. The 10kmers were already well on their way which I believe gave a sense of security. Once we were all numbered and teamed up with kayakers and color coordinated it was time.
If you read my post from last year you may remember that there was some question as to whether the swim would continue or if that was the last season. The former race director was making her way to the east coast leaving a void. Much was left up in the air. Thankfully King Wolf had a hero by the name of Nadine Bennet step up and assume the position. King Wolf would continue. I will say right now that she did a fantastic job.
I could tell by the look on her face that she had a full load but was still managing. Sorting 60 some odd swimmers, 70 some odd kayakers and boaters is no small thing. I mentioned color coding before... this was one of the new things introduced this year. I quite liked it as it made it much easier at the start to find your kayaker.
I was in the final wave (yellow) but I was also in no hurry. There were no points involved here so I was here for a good swim and to get my distance up. My kayaker was a lovely young lady named Olena who truthfully made my life much easier. We sorted out almost immediately to keep her on my right so that I only needed to sight off of her. This worked great - except at the end. More on that in a minute.
At one point in the swim the water was fairly shallow and I came to a full stop. I could see not far below me what appeared to be part of an old roof. I swam a good length of it just to have a better look and even had Olena back up so that she could see it. Not something one would normally do in a race.
Now for the sore spot for me. I do not mean this as an attack on Nadine. If you were to ask all 60ish swimmers and 70ish watercraft people what they would do differently you would get 130ish different opinions and likely only 2 would be in agreement. So - this is opinion and maybe mine alone. Simply put - I do not care for the back half of this course. You are supposed to hang right (marginally) and try and find these two bollocks called Goose Island.
See them? It's hard to see them even when you are standing on them. It's impossible when you are in the water just passing the white roof landmark (1st picture). Even our poor kayakers have a miserable time finding them unless they have done the course before. The purpose for this (I assume) is two fold. 1 - it increases the distance to a full 5km. 2 - it forces you to avoid swimming in the path of the ferry which is on the far right of this picture - or if you are swimming on the far left.
Once you locate these peach pits and make your way around them you in theory just swim on in to the finish. Unfortunately for both me and Olena we couldn't find it until we were right on top of it. It got to the point where I was shallow enough (in the wrong spot) that she had to go on my left to avoid hitting things. Part of the issue here is that the landing spot is quite small as everywhere else is private property. There isn't room for a lot of hoopla.
Now that my belly aching is over - here is are actual shots of the finish.
As I said - not a lot of room.
Once we were done there we made the short journey down the street to Wolfies on the Water which is a part of the General Wolfe Inn. Website - https://goo.gl/9gsrPW and Facebook - https://goo.gl/tZ9fCV.
Here were we given a hearty breakfast brunch (for all participants) and this is where we sort of debriefed, relaxed, socialized, and some even drank.
Stuart and Erica made their way over to make sure I survived and we were served by the Marvelous Michelle and her Minions.
They had the glamorous task of serving regular customers as well as making sure the buffet was running smoothly (and stocked) AND running across the street where all the behind the scenes work was going on. They did a great job and everyone left with a smile.
All swimmers were given a mug and a handmade finishers medal. Mine was the green version for a second time swimmer.
Once we had shoved our faces and had some time to digest we made our way back to the mainland on the ferry. I quite enjoy these rides and it makes me wonder if I would really enjoy a cruise.
The rest of the day was uneventful. Just the journey back home. But it did give me time to reflect on what potentially could have been a much different reality.
This swim almost got lost in the mix. People would have missed it this year and then it would have become a "remember when" event. With Nadine assuming the race director role the sails once again have full wind. This is legit event. Do I think it should be part of a series - ya, I think it should be part of a series. It's my opinion but if you look at Swim The Suck in TN - they have a hard cap on their numbers and sell out in MINUTES when their registration opens in February. This eliminates last minute scrambles (like my own) and makes it a sought after swim. Again - just opinion. The point is we have a great swim in a neat spot.
Again - a super huge thanks to Nadine and all the support staff. I hope that your heart for this event carries on.
Until I touch the wall.....
Michael Kenny
Masters Swimmer
Cambridge Mavericks
Marathon Open Water Swimmer
2015-16 Global Swim Series Champion
Contact Info :
F : https://www.facebook.com/swim.diesel
I : https://www.instagram.com/swim.diesel
T : https://twitter.com/SwimDiesel
E : m.j.kenny@swim-diesel.com
+ : google.com/+Swim-diesel
B : 53724F20