The Arundel Breakfast Club

Round Bay

I stumbled across the Arundel Breakfast Club during one of my random online searches for info on the Bay Swim. They're a group of open water swimmers in the Annapolis area who train together for all kinds of open water events, including the Bay Swim.  Many of them swim the Bay every year, some going back 20 years.  

But the Bay is mere child's play for some of these people.  Six of them relayed the English Channel--swimming from England to France and back in 21 hours! They've swam around Manhattan, done St. Croix, Bermuda, Narragansett Bay....the list is long. In other words, there are plenty of reasons for a back-of-the-pack-first-time-Bay-Swimmer like me to be impressed--and even intimidated--by the ABC. 

So I was a bit nervous about joining them for a swim in the Round Bay area of the Severn River. Except for exchanging a couple of emails with swim organizer Maureen, I didn't know any of them... And I would be showing up by myself (as usual) and just hoping they wouldn't leave me floundering in their wake! I would definitely be out of my comfort zone, but I wanted to go because Maureen had said that after the swim they would be talking about the Bay, over breakfast of course. 

Pre-Swim Briefing
We lined up on a small beach in the gorgeous Round Bay neighborhood. Briefer Guy pointed to a kid who must've been about 17 years old and said we would all be following him. He came in 2nd in last year's Bay Swim. That's 2nd OVERALL. I noticed that he was the only swimmer not wearing a wetsuit.

Briefer Guy then described the "course":  swim out to the post, make a hard right, swim to the something-neighborhood....something about a boathouse, yada yada, look for the beach next to the jacked up sailboat....then aim for the tot lot.... back to the post... 

Tot lot?? What??     

I overheard a woman in a pink swim cap inform the kayaker that she would be the slowest swimmer out there. Great, another slowbie like me! I'll just try to stay with her! 

Severn River

And We're Off!

So off we go. I have no clue where this post is that we're supposed to be aiming for, so I just started following everyone out into the middle of the river. After a couple of minutes I finally see the post. I also notice that EVERYONE, including Pink Swim Cap Woman, is waaayy ahead of me!  Sigh.   

As I approach the post,  I notice that Pink Swim Cap Woman is cutting corners! She turned way before the post!   

Clever. I mean, it's not like we're in a triathlon and have to follow the rules! 

I made a sharp right and started heading in some vague direction, guessing that the neighborhood we're supposed to swim to must be the land up ahead. Pretty soon I had a kayak escort.  I couldn't seem to find Pink Swim Cap Woman, so I asked Kayak Woman what to aim for.  She said something about a sailboat...but then suggested I instead aim for the boathouse. That way, I could intercept everyone else as they swam the long way around. Perfect!

As soon as I angled for the boathouse, I spotted Pink Swim Cap Woman and followed her. Eventually we swam right into the pack! While they headed back out to the post in the middle of the river, Pink Swim Cap Woman and I stayed closer to the shoreline and intercepted the pack again as they swam the final stretch back to the beach. We totally cheated! But the timing worked out beautifully and I still got a good workout. I have no idea how far it was or how long we were swimming because I forgot my watch. Whatevs.

Breakfast Time!
We had a huge spread of bagels, pastries, fruit, yogurt, egg casseroles, coffee, and juice for breakfast. I made the rounds, trying to chat with as many people as possible and get their take on the Bay. Here are some of the highlights: 

Kathy:  Kathy is my age and will be swimming the Bay for the 10th time this year. She was fretting about not putting in enough hours of training. When asked about her training regime, she disclosed in a hushed tone that she had "only" been swimming 5,000 yards 3 times a week and 4,000 yards twice a week, with a long open water swim on the weekend, of course. Random guy chimes in that he's"way behind" her, "only" swimming 4,000 yards 3 times a week!

Seriously? I opted not to offer up that I've been putting in a whopping 2200 yards twice a week, if that, along with a long pool swim on the weekend! I'm oh so not worthy!! LOL 

Sue:  Sue is Pink Swim Cap Woman! She made it across the Bay on her first try in 3 hours, 11 minutes. On her second try she got pulled before the 3 mile cutoff due to the hellacious current. Sue is an inspiration. She just keeps chugging along.


Ed:  Ed was wearing a Nanticoke River Swim shirt. 
        Me: Oh, so you did Nanticoke?
        Ed:  Yeah. You?
        Me:  Yeah. What did you think of that current?
        Ed:   What current? There was no current. 
Turns out Ed was one of those fasties who was heading into the finish as I was heading out on my second loop. He was so fast he missed the current altogether!  LOL People like Ed will never live in my world. 

Random Guy:  I ask for advice and Random Guy advises me not to believe anything the race director says during the pre-Bay Swim briefing.  

Wait - what??! 

In fact, he said to do the opposite of whatever the race director says to do! If the race director says stay to the right --I should stay to the left. If he says the current is coming from the right, it'll be coming from the left.

Huh? And just when I was about to dismiss this guy as misinformed, 3 other  people chimed in and agreed that the race briefing is always wrong!  That's comforting. 

But my favorite piece of advice came from Old Guy. Old Guy has been swimming this bay for 20 years. He's seen everything. His words of wisdom:  At some point in the swim, take a time out to pause.....flip over on your back and just soak in the view:  the bridge spans towering above you....their magnificent steel supports....the birds cruising across a blue sky.... 

Yeah, that all sounds great. It must be nice to be so unconcerned about cutoffs that you have time to float leisurely on your back and soak it all in. If I ever do this race again, I'll enjoy the scenery from a face-up position. This time around, I think I'll just keep my head down and swim!