On Saturday I competed in the Second Annual Great Ohio River Swim Race held in Cincinnati Ohio and put on by the good folks at Cincinnati Triathlon.
I still was not feeling like I was in great form for this race as I was still working off a few extra pounds put on while in Mexico. I didn't really rest for the race and I just figured I would give it a go and see what happened.
According to the race officials the course is about 900 meters long. It is a "V" shaped course and starting on the Ohio side of the river and finishing further down river on the Ohio side.
For equipment, I went with my Team Aquaphor issue tri-shorts and a pair of clear Speedo Vanquisher goggles. And of course I used Aquaphor on my ankle(for the timing chip), neck and between my legs to avoid chaffing.
I started off very conservatively as I was unsure what role the current would play in the race. To my surprise, I got to the first buoy in second place with another swimmer just ahead of me. On the way back to shore I could feel the current playing a much bigger part in the race. I had to sight often and make a conscious effort to make sure that I would not over shoot the finish. On the way back I did not really see any other swimmers. Part of me thought that was good and that I had taken the lead but I was also concerned that I had picked a bad line and that I had missed a group. In the end I came to shore in 8:46 in first place overall. It was a great feeling as this was the first open water race I had done where I was the overall winner.
My buddy Kip also swam and he did very well with a 19th place finish. Nice job Kip!
As always I owe a big thank you to Courtney who got up early and supported me all of the way. She is the best!
Here are a few photos care of Michael E. Keating from Cincinnati.com. They are the photos posted in this blog.
