First open water swim race for the summer and the year was a 5k-er. The destination – idyllic. Water temp – too hot.
I had wanted to do an open water swim race in Okinawa for a while now – Japan’s answer to paradise. Ishigakijima did not disappoint. A really beautiful island for water lovers. Even managed to round a few friends to join not only the trip, but also the swim.
Headed down on the first flight on Thursday and spent Thursday and Friday sightseeing. Saturday May 30 was race day. It was a scorcher. In the mid-30 degrees, but felt closer to 40. And the water was like a bath. Ugh. Much too hot and uncomfortable for my liking.
The race was held at a beach off the ANA resort hotel.
This waterpark was probably going to be a lot more fun than a 5km swim:
The water was so clean and clear, but oh so warm.
The course was 1.5km and required three laps and a bit to make up the 5km.
Three of us had signed up for the 5km swim.
Aquaholics Anonymous:
The boys were gonna be fast. Was also going to test out my brand new Garmin in my first open water swim race for the year. My goal time was to do it comfortably under 2 hours, anything around 1hour 45 I would be happy with. The last 5km swim race I did back in November without training, took me just over 2 hours to do. But since then I’ve gotten back into the training.
Ready and genki:
And we’re off:
The view from the water:
Scored some action pictures from the race organiser:
Me at the top in the pink cap:
Me again – check out the high kick:
This is cool action shot:
Much of the swim was pretty shallow over reefs.
Coming into the finish:
Yay. Finished!
Pleased to say I swam a time of 1 hour 40min which was on par with my expectations. Not overly fast but not bad for the first race of the season. Got to leave more fuel in the tank this year, as I have decided to do a 10km marathon open water swim.
I got first place in my age group for females, so not bad. Snared me a gold medal. It’s always nice to not go home empty handed. The boys also kicked arse. They took 2nd and 3rd place in the male age group with way faster times than me, both beating me by over 20 minutes.
Well done all round:
As for the swim race itself – water was way too warm. Wetsuits definitely not required. It was also quite a shallow swim, as we swum over reefs. Got to see a few fish. Also a bit of a current, but all in all a decent swim. Course was a little tricky though with many overswimming the course. It was a 2.5km course, requiring 2 laps.
And much to my disappointment, something happened to my Garmin. Must have hit a button as a swum. Timing was pretty spot on, but it didn’t register the whole distance.
It was a fun swim to kick off the season:
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