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| Pete and Zan looking good at 6AM |
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| Me and another Canuk Joanna |
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| Waiting for the start canon |
Us and 90 other people managed to complete the 4 km swim from Al Fahal Island to Ras Al Hamra beach! It was a fantastic event - well organized, lots of volunteers (kayakers, boat drivers, race check-in'ers, timers), the sea cooperated for the most part, and everyone was very enthusiastic about the challenge ahead.
We knew we could do the distance having done 3.8 km during the previous Ironmans we have done, but hadn't gone this far in salt water, or battled a current, or had to suppress thoughts of creatures lurking below looking for lunch! But, it wasn't too bad - other people were faster and slower, so they were mostly likely to get eaten ;)
We stopped twice for water to flush out the salty taste, thanks to our kayaker, Tom who carried the water and took pictures. He also kept us on course to the beach as the current was 1.2 knots (~2 km/hr) and was quite strong around the bay. It wasn't really that noticable until 1 km out from the beach, then it seemed every time I looked up, I had drifted another few meters downstream. Everyone had this issue and came into the bay at a sharp angle, just having cleared the outer rocks. One fellow wasn't so lucky, he ended up in the refinery bay (next bay over) and had to swim back around. I'm sure the water wasn't very pleasant to swim in with all the tankers floating around...
The quickest times for both men and women, were put up by students at the American British Academy swim team - 1:07 and 1:17. The last swimmer received a warm welcome on the beach as he strolled in at 2:02. We were somewhere in the middle, 1:34 and 1:41 for myself and Adam. I was especially happy for the people who swam this distance for the first time. Lots had only completed 2km or had done all their training in the pool.
Another great race, all for the t-shirt and hard earned breakfast!
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| Looking towards RAHRC |
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| At the half way point |
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| Adam leaving a big wake behind |
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| Zandre, Donna, Tom, Adam, Janelle |
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