It was a beautiful Saturday morning at Anaeho’omalu Bay within the Waikoloa Beach Resort as 300+ swimmers gathered for the annual Cinco De Mayo, 1-mile, ocean swim. I’ve never participated in this particular open water swim but have swam in the bay for Lavaman Triathlon several times in the past so I was familiar with the territory. The reef in “A” Bay comes all the to the shoreline so the race director gave direction for everyone to swim 150 yards or so to where several paddle boarders were gathered.

I was prepared for a beach start and had already lined up on the inside of the mass of ready swimmers. I was caught off guard as the entire group jumped in the water on his direction in front of me and began swimming out to sea! By the time I made it to within 50 yards of the start line-they fired the gun and everyone took off in one huge white water “ball”. Oh well-my best laid plans to swim a fast first leg to the yellow buoy, 1/2 mile out, were now interrupted by 250, determined swimmers.

Once I re-calculated my position I decided to swim far to my left and jet up the side of the slower group directly in front of me. Drafting was impossible as most if not all of the swimmers surrounding me were moving much slower. So much for my plan to draft and save energy on the first leg. Moving to the left worked! I passed a majority of those in front of me-120+ swimmers or more-and swam directly under the anchor rope of the rigid inflatable boat that held the large, yellow buoy.

Once I completed the turn around the boat, I immediately spotted the large palm trees at the finish line in the distance 1/2 mile away. I had marked the large palm trees at the finish line in my mind when I arrived at “A” Bay that morning to assure I could easily determine where to swim once I was 1/2 mile off shore.

I put my head down staring straight at the bottom and told myself to stay in perfect rhythm with long and strong strokes. As my swim coach Dave Prutow constantly reminds us, “don’t climb the ladder!”. Which translates to, do not allow your elbow to drop but instead enter the water with your elbow high allowing plenty of “purchase” on the water with your hand and forearm. This allows you to push the column of water behind you maintaining contact pressure until you recover the arm, elbow high for another stroke. Easier said than done especially when you are tired!!

I spotted plenty of fish and turtles to keep things interesting as I swam as fast I could toward those ever present palm trees on the horizon. As I approached the finish I could hear swimmer’s names and where they were from being broadcast so I knew I was close. I passed a couple of swimmers that were out of gas and sprinted across the beach to the finish with plenty of fuel in the tank……

We have a core group of 5-6 swimmers with others participating when they are in town or training for a swim as part of a multi sport race. Of the 5 core swimmers in our group-Noe, Susan and Kai all finished first in their age group and some of the first out of the water. I always feel “slow” compared to their abilities in practice but its always a good challenge to try and keep up!

Do you want to make swimming part of your fitness plan? Join us M,W,F at 5:00 pm at the Mauna Lani Sports and Fitness Club for our Masters swim group. Monday’s are reserved for stroke drills to make swimming easier and much less of an effort than an inefficient stroke. Wednesday and Fridays feature workouts designed for speed and strength but coach Dave plans these based on the abilities of those that take part that particular day. Come join us for a great workout and swim skills that will last a life time. As coach Dave says, “Swimmers are SPECIAL.”

Written by Rick Oliver on May 14, 2018
Posted in: Hawaii Life | Tags: ALS, Cinco De Mayo, swim, Waikoloa Beach Resort