Quassy pictures

I think this is the start of the 3 mile. You can actually see the whole course going almost all the way across the lake. 

Any swim more than an hour or so will give me some sneezing fits. Looks like I'm about to have one here

Lake Quassy Half Mile

So for the half mile swim I finally got smart and found a better position for the start. I started all the way on the outside so I wouldn't be completely surrounded by other swimmers. This saved me a lot of trouble on the start.
Within a few strokes of the start I knew that this was not going to be a fast swim for me. I think it was the sprint at the end of the one point five. I just felt like I had no strength left in my arms. Maybe I should have tried to push harder. But I didn't. I just eased back until I was swimming comfortably.
I went wide around the buoy and I didn't even try a sprint on the finish. I came in just under 18 minutes. It was the slowest pace of any open water swim I've done so far.

Lake Quassapaug

Anyway here is the basic info on the Quassy swims

Who: Quassapaug Sailing Center 

What: 6th annual Quassapaug open water swimming festival

When: Saturday September 1st 2012

Where: Lake Quassapaug, Middlebury CT

Why: Because summer is not over yet

Mile and a half

A 1.5 mile race seems strange until I figure it is about the same as a 2.5k swim which seems like a pretty common distance. It was the same course as the 3 mile but just one loop. 

The start was crazier than the 3 mile. It took a long time to clear up. I never felt like I was on my own. Someone tried to swim right over me at one point. Its wasn't even at a turn. 

For a pretty long time on the out leg there was someone tapping at my feet. This was driving me nuts. I don't mind if you want to catch a draft. And I know that judging the distance, so you're not just swimming into me, can be a little tricky. But seriously if you're hitting my feet every second stroke you're just being rude. Also I'm still a little worried about my sore foot. So I'm a little more sensitive to toe tapping than usual. 

Pretty soon after the start I fell into a good rhythm. I felt like I was working harder than on the three mile but I was pretty sure I could hold the pace right through.

I was still swimming in a pack as we came to the turnaround buoy. Again I was surprised at how aggressive the swimmers were. Another swimmer came up on the inside right as we got to the buoy and forced me to take a wider path to avoid a collision. 

After the buoy I found myself swimming even with a woman in a blue suit. I kept correcting my course to my left which, no doubt, was crowding her. I don't think she appreciated this. But she should have. The swimmers still coming down the first leg of the course were drifting to our side of the buoys. I barely avoided several head-on collisions. Eventually the blue suited woman adjusted my course, and (thanks to newton's third law) hers, by giving me a shove. 

I held my pace until the end of the race when I tried to push it. I poured on as much speed as I could and I caught up to a pair on swimmers right at the end. And they completely boxed me out. This was frustrating because I really think I could have flown past them if I could just have found a better line.Oh  well. It was still a strong finish and I know I got those two to pick up their pace more than they would have otherwise.

3 mile

The 3mile swim at Lake Quassapaug is two loops of an out and back course. They explained that the yellow buoys are a quarter mile apart. There is a raft just off the starting chute where we could place our water or other drink. I learned my lesson at Lake George so even though this was only 3 miles I placed a bottle of juice out on the raft.
It was a mass start from waist deep water. It was a pretty messy start. I didn't get kicked in the head but it did take a while to get clear of the churning mass. Even when I was clear there were still several other swimmers in view matching my pace. It felt like I got an extra boost on the way back. Just a slight breeze right along the line of the course seemed to be pushing me on my way.
When I came around the raft at the end of the first loop I was pleased find my bottle of apple juice there on the raft. I quickly drained the whole thing and was back on me way.  The second loop didn't seem to go any faster than the first one. But at least it didn't feel harder.
I actually had a few collisions. A guy swam right into my ribcage. I really was not expecting that. On my way back on the last leg of the swim I banged arm to arm with a lady on her approach to the turnaround buoy. Just like the arm to arm hit you'd get in the pool sometimes. I think she was further off course than I was.
Once I was clear of the turnaround buoy there were no more collisions. I tried to pick up the pace for the entire last quarter mile. Afterwards, much to my surprise, got a medal for winning the 30-39 age group.