San Francisco Bridge to Bridge Swim

Channel swimmers recommend training in San Francisco Bay. This is fine by me as SFO is one of my favorite cities. SFO is cold--even on a mid-summer's day. You wouldn't think that the ocean temperature is colder in SFO than Vancouver. Think again. the South/Central California coast is fed by a cold ocean current. BC, on the other hand, is fed by the relatively warm Japanese current. At this time, Vancouver waters are 14-15'C. In SFO, Bay temperatures are currently 12-13'C. In addition to colder water, SFO offers rough conditions--wind waves and strong currents. This all makes for good English Channel training. SFO also has a strong open water swimming fraternity--quite a few Channel swimmers live and train here all year round. In my four days of swimming here, I was never alone in the harbour. There are two long established open water swim clubs located in downtown SFO--the Dolphin and South End Rowing Clubs (circa 1873). Both are situated in Aquatic Park near Fisherman's wharf. Aquatic Park is a protected enclosure where swimmers can train without the boat traffic. These clubs are also equipped with warm showers and a sauna! Everyone was very friendly and keen to share their training tips for the Channel.

On day two in SFO, I competed in the 2nd Annual Golden Gate Bridge to Bay Bridge 10 KM Swim. I am happy to report that all 40 swimmers made it safely to their destination. About 50% competed without the aid of a wetsuit--including several intrepid youth between the ages of 14-16. Now that is inspiring! One of these swimmers (Delia) is also attempting to swim the Channel this summer. She is only 16! I had an excellent race--mostly because I followed a current line that did not carry me towards the Oakland side of the Bay Bridge. Others were not so lucky. Thanks to the folks at Aquatic Park for the inside information. The key was swimming in a line closer to the City than to Alcatraz Island.

My third day was spent pool training with the Stanford University Masters Club in Palo Alto. I competed at this facility in 2006 at the World Masters Swimming Championships. This is where I rekindled an old friendship from my age group swimming days (enter Yen Lee). Although we hadn't seen each other in over 20 years, it was as if time hadn't passed....here we were battling it out in the pool like we 13-14 year olds all over again! Coming to SFO was an opportunity to meet up with Yen and his family. We had a great time and the workout at Stanford was fast and challenging.
All long course meters
* 500 m warm up
* 20 x 50 m (odd 25 fly/25 free; even 25 back/25 free) descending in groups of 4 with diminshing rest between each set
* main 2000m set
- 400 m free pull on 5 sec. rest (5:15)
- 400 m free pull on 10 sec. rest (5:10)
- 300 m free pull on 15 sec. rest (3:55)
- 300 m free swim on 20 sec. rest (3:53)
- 200 m free swim on 25 sec. rest (2:34)
- 200 m free swim on 30 sec. rest (2:30)
- 100 m free swim on 35 sec. rest (1:12)
- 100 m free swim (1:11)
* 12 x 50 (odd dolphin kick on back; even choice stroke)

A delicious Sunday morning brunch with Yen's family followed.
Picture above: One of the two 50 m outdoor pools that the Stanford Master's Team fills for its workouts (about 200 members)! No wonder the Americans are a dominant swimming force. There were at least two former Olympic medalists swimming in our lane. From left to right (Yen Lee, Yours Truly, and Coach Tim).