Swim 4 Life Race Report

First, thanks to my sponsors who helped me raise money. They had a good crowd and the event raised over $20k for the Chester River Association and a number of organizations that help AIDS/HIV patients. Also, special thanks to Anathea who served as my race sherpa and pup-arazzi, taking lots of photos.

The Swim 4 Life was held at Rolf's Wharf in Chestertown, MD. We got there about an hour early to get registered and bodymarked. Well, I didn't get marked, but I did get a cap (which I didn't wear). I was #23 (just like Michael Jordan). We did a little walking to warm up. I got geared up in my life vest and headed over the swimmer's meeting. The organizers introduced me and let everyone that know that I would be swimming in the 1 mile event. Everyone was happy to see me and clapped for me. A few folks even wanted to take pictures with me.

The event had 5 waves for the 5,4,3,2, and 1 mile events in that order. We planned to take off a few minutes after the humans in the 1 mile wave. Getting started was a little challenging. I'm used to the pool. Was I supposed to swim to the beach? Oh wait, you want me to swim to that buoy. Woah, that's a long way away. Luckily, Mom brought a toy to keep me pointed in the right direction. But darn, she kept getting in my way. After a while, we figured out a system. We were about half way to the buoy when the leader in the wave was already heading back. Yikes, I thought we better pick up the pace. Pretty soon most of the one milers were headed back towards the beach. I have to admit to a passing thought of ditching Mom and heading back with one of them. We reached the turn around buoy at 38 minutes (we were swimming against the current). Darn, I was hoping the finish under an hour. I was really going to have to pick up the pace. We made the turn around and I could see the beach (with all my new fans waiting for me). We were also starting to get passed by some of the blue caps (2 milers). I wasn't tired and just kept paddling my way towards the beach. As I got near, I heard folks calling my name and of course the cameras were flashing. We ended up at 1:00.50 (a huge negative split!) according to mom's watch.

Afterwards, we hung around a bit, accepted congratulations all around, and posed for a few more photos. Indeed, I was the top dog of the Chester River. I must have had a swimmer's high because I didn't even snooze on the drive home. Anyways, I had a lot of fun. Up next: still searching for my next event

Here are some photos
Working out some pre-race jitters


Pre-race photo with the 1 mile wave


And we're off


Leading Mom back to the finish


Post race celebration


My complete album is here