Day 1 Done

Very Early start

The day finally arrived after a wonderful evening Hosted by The SCAR organisers at the local Mesa Country Club. We all met there at about 5.30, kayakers and swimmers to collect our Swag bags. Different ones for swimmers and Kayakers. This event, albeit only being in existence for about 4 years now already garnishes interest from some pretty heavy hitters in the world of marathon swimming; from people who are using this as their first entry into marathon swimming to locals who are here for a 2nd time to the international Swimming hall of Fame graduates. You name it, they are here.

After a lovely dinner, we had a bit of an introduction to the event from Kent followed by a whip around of who’s who of Swimmers and their next event post SCAR and also an introduction to all the kayakers. We all realise that this game would not be possible if it were not for the dedicated support crew that in many cases are non-swimmmers who give of their time freely to support us.

For many, after the event it was back to the hotels to prepare feeds for the following day and also pack the bags that were needed for the day – and some last minute shopping at the local Walmart – my lovely new swim shorts and a crop top seemed to fit in perfectly and I would not be surprised if I make an appearance on the Youtube Series of “shoppers at Walmart”

I got to bed at about 10pm and was wide awake at about 2 am. I then proceeded to fill my time with Admin tasks as I could not sleep. My mind was awash with the general Hum drum of ‘What If’ scenarios and sleep was pretty elusive. At 5.40 am it was time to pack the cars and get off to the start point, which is about 30 min drive from our hotel.

Preparing for the Day

It was time to lather up with sunscreen, Balmex, Sudocrem (products of choice in this game due to their High Zinc content. Standard Sunscreen alone does not really cut the mustard when you will have the Sun beating down on your back for 3 – 5 hours) Let’s not forget the vaseline to prevent chaffing.

We were seperated out into waves and the plan was as follows. Swimmers and kayakers take a 20 – 25 minute high speed motor boat to where the kayaks are. Then the Swimmers get on another boat and carry on down the lake for a further 5 – 10 minutes to where they jump in and start. You know you are in for a bit of a slog when it takes that long just to get to the start of the Race – in a pretty quick speedboat. the swimmers then start the swim and the kayakers paddle down the river to meet up with their Swimmers and then turn around for the rest of the swim.

The water temperature was surprisingly cool when we jumped in at the dam wall, even for us Brits so for the Americans it must have been positively frigid. As the boats cannot get to the Line of Buoys that protect the wall, you JUMP in- Diving is strictly prohibited – but there were a few who laugh in the face of dictat so I Dived off the boat any way. I think the african nationals are getting a reputation in this swim. Once in, there is a short swim to the aforementioned Buoys and once you are all touching them, the start commences.

The water is very clear so you can see a lot of what is underneath you. I ended up in the leading 4 who broke away – So much for taking it easy in this swim and trying to save myself for the big one. The swim itself was pretty uneventful. We caught up with our kayakers and soldiered on to the finish (which was the dam wall at Saguaro Marina) twisting through the Canyons and swimmming across the lake trying to find the best line to the end. I fed at about an Hour. If it was not for my kayaker telling me to feed, I would have carried on. She is very right. I am one of these people who would rather not feed as it is a waste of time but in these circumstances, although it may waste time, IT IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE so Audra, thank you for forcing me too feed. Historically I feed VERY little and today was no exception; I had only  about a quarter of the Energy drink I had prepared for this swim.

Along the way The scenery was stunning with canyon walls rising about 10ft from the water and dotted with the occasional beach. the lake itself was shared with a fair few fishermen and quite a few boaters – from kayakers to fairly large pleasure craft. With regards to swimming, generally the rulling is stay inside of the white buoys – boats are not generally allowed inside these. With us each having our own kayakers, we zigzagged from one side to the other to get the best line along the tisting shorlines Until we reached the upper dam wall.

Over all I came 12th out of 42 with a time of 3 hrs and 43 minutes. Now it is time to pack and get ready to check out of this hotel so we can check into another one further down the lakes tomorrow.

I will now ask my kayaker to give you her rundown of the day:

Audra – What a day! As many of you know, this is my first long distance kayaking experience and today was the longest kayak I have ever done. To say I was a bit nervous was an understatement, but the feeling faded quickly once we were out on the water. Not only was it a beautiful day, but the scenery was stunning. There were rumours of bald eagles and bighorn sheep but I confess, what with keeping an eye on Graeme, trying to take some GoPro footage with a recalcitrant Hero4 (bloody technology – took 32GB worth of the inside of my bag! Sure is dark in there!) and paddling, it was a bit full on! Let’s just say, I managed to paddle my way along reasonably well and I only managed to run over Graeme twice (he seemed oddly upset by this). I’m feeling ok and ready for another round tomorrow to sharpen my er, skills.

 Finally, let me say that I have a profound respect for swimmers, and watching the event happen with a ring side seat has only reinforced that respect. Fellow kayakers, thank you for the encouragement, you’ve no idea how much it helped!

Its to bed now – SCAR folk, see you tomorrow!