Ozark Open Water Swim Race Recap

Memorial Day began with a trip to Beaver Lake for the annual Ozark Open Water Swim.  This is an event with three different race distances - 1K, 2K, and 4K.  The morning dawned a little gray and dreary with a forecast for rain later in the day.  For most of the morning the sun stayed hidden behind the clouds which was okay with me since glaring sun can make sighting in an open water swim difficult.

Pre-race selfie!

I selected the 2K race distance which is the distance I've done at this event in the past.  The water temps were in the high 60's to mid 70's so it was wetsuit legal.  Yippee! With lots of TriSlide to protect my neck from chafing I got my wetsuit on and was ready to go.

The race started in 3 waves based on the event distance.  There was about 5 minutes between the waves which really helped spread the field out.  The races were chip timed with a running start and a run out to finish.  As is fairly typical for me, I had some pre-race confidence struggles and seeded myself to the middle/back of the pack.  Once I got into the water though I realized I was being silly and just needed to swim my race and see how well I could do.

This is the 2K group start so I'm somewhere in there to the left side!

The course was a straight out and back.  There were two triangle buoys at the .5K and 1K mark.  Between those buoys were smaller round buoys for sighting.  I tried to swim the buoy line as much as possible.  As I neared the 1K turn buoy, I managed to run into another swimmer on his way back.  It was a fairly uneventful collision and neither of us was really disrupted.  I caught up to some of the 4K swimmers as I neared the turn buoy and that really helped lift my confidence that I was having a good swim.

On the way back to shore, I managed to miscount the buoys....which meant that I began my finish kick a lot earlier than I would have normally.  I had my eye on a couple other 2K swimmers that were swimming to the far right of the course.  I was trying to race them into finish and trying to pick my pace up to stay in line with them.  I got a little discouraged when I spotted the extra buoy that I had forgotten about but told myself to just hold on the pace and finish strong.

For the finish, I tried to swim up to the shore line as far as possible but ended up standing a few feet earlier than I should have.  This meant I had a farther run out of the water but I just lifted those knees up high and raced the guy next to me.  I beat him by maybe 1-2 seconds but it was worth it to have a strong finish!

I ended up 9th of 44 overall in the 2K distance and 4th female.  My time was about 2 minutes faster than in 2012 and my swim distance was spot on for a 2K distance according to my Garmin.  My official time was 32:42 or 1:33 per 100yd.  I was pretty pumped with that pace and with my improvement over my last time at this event.

Celebrating with Triple Threat club members! 

It was fun catching up and cheering on all the other athletes.  The Triple Threat crew did pretty well with podium spots which was fun to celebrate.  There is something peaceful about swimming open water events so it was a great start to the day for me.

Open Water Swimming in the Off-Season

There is something unique to open water swimming and many people think that you just can't replicate it in the pool.  Well, today I think I figured out how to do it.  Here are my simple steps:

1) Find a swimmer who is faster than you.
2) Split a lane with said swimmer.
3) Ask said swimmer to swim butterfly with a 5 sec. lead-off from you.
4) Watch the wake form and get into it!

See...it's simple.

I came up with this strategy by accident today.  The pool was busy so my swimming partner and I had to share a lane for our workout.  He's faster than me and can swim a lot more of stroke during the workout.  Even with a 5 second lead-off, I still felt like I was struggling in his wake a few times during the workout.  Though I apparently paid that back to him a few times when we would have the timing off for our flip turns.  As I was going into mine, he was coming out of his which meant he got to deal with my wake for a chance.

For our workout we did the following:

Warm up swim - 600 yds
Set 1 - 500 yd Ladder
His version: 25 fly, 50 back, 75 fly,back,breast, 100 IM, 100 free, 75 fly,back,breast, 50 back, 25 fly
My version: 25 free, 50 free/back, 75 free,free,breast, 100 pull, 100 pull, 75 free,free,breast, 50 free,back, 25 free
Set 2 - Pull 250yd to 300yd
Set 3 - 6 x 50 yds 3 on 60 sec and 3 on 55 sec
Cooldown swim - 100 yds

This year has been a great swimming year for me.  I did have a few months where I swam less than I would have liked as I adjusted to a new work position but I think that I've got that balanced back out now.  I'm looking forward to another great year for swimming in 2014.  As 2013 comes to a close, I have to thank one of my sponsors, TriSwim products, for the awesome support this year.  My hair and skin has felt great all year and I have TriSwim to thank for that.  No green hair for this girl...TriSwim gets the chlorine out and keeps my skin itch-free!

We've got a new swimming hole!

Growing up I heard stories of my dad and his brothers spending time every summer at the swimming hole.  My dad grew up in Nebraska and is one of five boys.  Of course the stories when told by my dad and uncles appeared larger than life to me as a kid.  My sisters and I didn't have the same type of stories since we didn't have a swimming hole...but we did have swimming pools!

As a kid and adult living in a more city setting, the local community pool became my swimming hole.  Recently I got the chance to preview the newest city pool and water park in Rogers, AR.  The Rogers Aquatics Center was funded in 2011 by a bond issue voted on by city residents.  It will open on Saturday, May 25th and will be open Monday - Saturday 11-8 and Sunday 12-6.

The Rogers Aquatics Center is more than just a city swimming pool...it is a full fledged water park.  It offers double racing slides called the Tree Top Drop, a swirling bowl slide called the Super Flush, two flume slides called Hawk's Nest Falls, a lazy river, Toddler play area, and the Otter Holler play area...plus the Ole Swimming Hole and Cement Pond.  There are so many activities to do for all different ages.

The park

Racing Slides

Lazy River

Well shaded Toddler play area

Snack Stand

The park holds about 1100 people at a time and the city is committed to making sure that all guests have a great time.  There is a great snack bar with quick service food options.  The locker rooms are full of beautiful wood ceiling details and have plenty of shower stalls and restrooms.  There are even power outlets by the mirrors...a little pet peeve about one pool that I go to is that there are no mirrors by the power plugs.

The Cement Pond is a multi-purpose pool with two springboard diving boards.  It can be set up as a six-lane 25 meter lap swimming pool as well.  The center will have a youth swim team and may even host some small kids swim meets during the summer.

The best news about the Rogers Aquatics Center is that through this Saturday they are offering a half price punch pass for purchase.  There are separate fees for Rogers residents and non-residents.  The tickets are sold based on height above 48" or below 48" since you must be above 48" to do some of the bigger slide attractions.  Children under 36" are free for admission.

Half Price punch passes can be purchased through Friday 10-4 and on Saturday 10-12.  The pass card can be split among family members so you can use it as 10 visits for one person or a family of 5 could use one card for two family visits.  You can get your hand stamped for re-entry and use just one pass per day.  For a resident, the half price punch pass will cost around $42.50 or just over $4 per visit to the park.  For non-residents, the price is just $49.50 or just under $5 per visit to the park.

I hope to see you at the Rogers Aquatics Center swimming hole this summer! I'll give you a little warning though...make sure you readjust your suit before you get up out of the racing slides since they are wedgie inducing slides! My family and I had a blast playing in all the areas of the park and we can't wait to go back once it is open.  I bought my punch pass on Monday...I couldn't pass up the savings opportunity and I know that I'll be at the water park for some summer fun!

Follow the Rogers Aquatics Center on Facebook for more information about special events throughout the summer season.