Canaqua Sports Presents : Lake Simcoe Open Water Swim [Swim Diesel]
Once upon a time a young Ian Feldman dreamed of running a swim series. Canaqua was born and his 1st event was something called "Celebrate Lake Simcoe". This ran in conjunction with another event taking place at the same time.
4 years later his series has exploded in growth and popularity. This year at the renamed Lake Simcoe Open Water Swim Ian had 80+ participants. This is his baby.
I'm not sure what has changed but this year seemed to be less stressful for everyone. It could be that last year we were worried about a repeat of the events of the summer of 2016. This year was smooth. The only real blip was the wind pushing the lake into our face on the way out to the 1st two buoys but beyond that it was pretty slick. When it was clear that we were all ready (swimmer and crew alike) Ian gave us the rundown and it was off to the races. Literally.
Anybody who went in ahead of time knew the fight that awaited us on the 1st leg. For the most part however people handled it well.
From the pictures it looks pretty flat. Pictures seldom do it justice. Lets just say the return leg was FAST.
The final buoy was in shallow enough water that you could stand. Once I finished my race I made my way back out for a few action shots.
As I've mentioned before - another nice thing about doing the short race is that you get to participate in more than just the swim. My gauge of the crowd was that everyone had a great time. As a race director there is nothing to hear that is much better than that.
From a personal standpoint... there were some things that I need to consider moving forward.
I went wide. TOO wide on the first leg. When I finally decided to take a look at the buoys on my left I was a basketball court away. Silly mistake. Also - swimming once every couple weeks isn't going to get it done. I never felt like I was in a groove with this swim. Perhaps if I had done the 5km I would have but I was knackered at the end of my sprint 1km. But that's on me. In any event - I had a great time. Many great people were there and it is always a joy to support open water events that are "local". Canaqua sports swims 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
K : swimdiesel
B : SWMDSL
4 years later his series has exploded in growth and popularity. This year at the renamed Lake Simcoe Open Water Swim Ian had 80+ participants. This is his baby.
I'm not sure what has changed but this year seemed to be less stressful for everyone. It could be that last year we were worried about a repeat of the events of the summer of 2016. This year was smooth. The only real blip was the wind pushing the lake into our face on the way out to the 1st two buoys but beyond that it was pretty slick. When it was clear that we were all ready (swimmer and crew alike) Ian gave us the rundown and it was off to the races. Literally.
Anybody who went in ahead of time knew the fight that awaited us on the 1st leg. For the most part however people handled it well.
From the pictures it looks pretty flat. Pictures seldom do it justice. Lets just say the return leg was FAST.
The final buoy was in shallow enough water that you could stand. Once I finished my race I made my way back out for a few action shots.
As I've mentioned before - another nice thing about doing the short race is that you get to participate in more than just the swim. My gauge of the crowd was that everyone had a great time. As a race director there is nothing to hear that is much better than that.
From a personal standpoint... there were some things that I need to consider moving forward.
I went wide. TOO wide on the first leg. When I finally decided to take a look at the buoys on my left I was a basketball court away. Silly mistake. Also - swimming once every couple weeks isn't going to get it done. I never felt like I was in a groove with this swim. Perhaps if I had done the 5km I would have but I was knackered at the end of my sprint 1km. But that's on me. In any event - I had a great time. Many great people were there and it is always a joy to support open water events that are "local". Canaqua sports swims 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
K : swimdiesel
B : SWMDSL