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| It was light by the time that we arrived at the transition area. Things were very well organised but quite crowded due to the limited space on the pier. Body marking was smooth and I headed over to check my bike. Once again, no flat tires overnight. I did a last minute gear check, helped Nicole pump up her tires and then headed off to find a place to chill out and get ready for the day. A pod of dolphins was spotted just off the pier and some of the elite swimmers headed out there to warm up with the dolphins. What an amazing way for them to start their day. Around 6:40 a.m., I wandered over to the beach and stood on the sand. The nervous energy was intense and surrounded me. It was clear that a number of people were gripped. How was I feeling? I felt well rested and a bit worried about the swim because I always have a tough time at the beginning. I was alert, well hydrated and full of energy. I made a decision not to do any warm-up. I wanted to force myself to go out slowly. With about four minutes to go, I saw that there were about 750 people in front of me and made the decision to enter the water. I started about 25 meters back from the start line. I positioned myself just left of centre, ten feet back from the crush that was happening in front of me. The actual start seemed to take a long time to set-up but that could have been more nerves than reality. BOOM! We were off. My strategy paid off big time. Instead of people swimming over me, I was doing the swimming. Not over people, but about four minutes of zigzagging. Jim had told me that everyone in Hawaii is experienced and the swim is really clean. It was a heavenly start. My first aerobic open water start. Fantastic. Having talked to the swim director at the expo in the days prior to the race, I stuck with his recommendation of heading away from the buoys for the first 800 meters or so. This let most of the field move to my inside and avoided the squeeze that often happens. The water in Hawaii is so clear that you can see at least 30 feet, maybe more I can't judge distance underwater. The temperature is perfect. Cool and relaxing. I focused on my stroke and swam. There were lots of people around but when I got behind someone their bubbles prevented me from being able to see the coral and the fish. I was so caught up in the beauty of the moment that I made a decision not to draft anyone and enjoy the swim. The sun was coming through the water, it wasn't crowded and I was in the Hawaii Ironman. It was a very special first half-hour and I am grateful for the memory. Fifteen minutes into the swim, I knew that my body was responding well. I was also checking out many of the people around me. Two individuals stuck out in my mind. One was an amputee that was swimming in front of me. He had a small flipper on his leg to help balance the swim. That was a pretty cool swimming set-up. The other was a paraplegic who was wearing a red neoprene "skirt" to keep his legs up. It didn't look very aero but it kept his legs up. Next Page |  Just after body marking.
Pre-swim. I'm the guy in the white DeSoto skinsuit at about 2 O'clock. |
