Aquathlon Part I

My third event of the day was the aquathlon. 1.5k swim and 5k run. For me those are pretty even distances. Meaning I should spend around the same amount of time swimming as running.
After finishing the 3k swim I got my new body marking, my chip and my bib. I set up my running stuff at the designated transition area. I'd never done an event with a transition before so I didn't really know if it made a difference how I laid things out.
The start was in water about knee deep. We were swimming the same course I had already covered three times that morning. I think there were only three people, including me, swimming without a wetsuit. The water temperature had measured at 74 earlier in the day. We walked out to the starting point and they told us one minute to the start. About thirty seconds later a dog on the beach barked, doing a pretty good impression of an airhorn. We all chuckled but no one actually started early. At the actual minute mark they blew the airhorn and we were off.
My arms actually felt pretty good on the swim. I know I was not swimming at my fastest but at least it didn't feel like a struggle. A lead pack took off and I quickly lost track of them. Just after I rounded the first buoy I found myself swimming shoulder to shoulder with a wetsuited swimmer. We stayed even for a long time while swimming for the second buoy. I could tell that his stroke was faster than mine, though. Eventually he fell behind, or I pulled ahead. I passed one more swimmer after I rounded the second buoy. Mostly because I was swimming straighter. I think I spotted her again as I was rounding the fourth buoy. I actually tried to pick up the pace on the finish of the swim.
I'm pretty sure no one passed me on the swim. The only people ahead were the ones who took off right at the start.
I ran up on shore and to the transition area. I tried to throw on my shirt but, of course, it stuck to me and it was a bit of a wrestling match to get it on. I pulled on some shorts as I sat down and messed with my shoes. Wifey told me my transition took two minutes. I know that with practice and some forethought I could make it quite a bit faster. On the other hand I took off on my run with a little bit of sand in my shoes as well as in my shorts. Over a long enough run that would be a problem.