This was a bucket list challenge: a three-mile swim across the Hudson River. The Lighthouse Swim begins in Nyack, NY and exits in Sleepy Hollow, NY. I literally learned to swim long distance to do this event. But between hosting a bar mitzvah, breaking a foot, and bad weather, I had tried 5 times to get to the starting line. THIS was the year I was going to DO it.
Lucked out two weeks before the event: as I was leaving the pool at the JCC in Tarrytown, the aptly-named Sara Swan (whom I hadn’t met before) asked if I was doing the Lighthouse Swim, and said she and some other friends would be training in the Hudson during the 10 days the JCC pool was closed. So, I met with her, Alex(andra), Jason Poure (who didn’t do this event but was training for the New York 70.3) at beaches on the Hudson five or six times to get acclimated.
Good opportunity to experience bad things: at the end of one swim, my calves cramped and I had to “limp” my way in with breast stroke — so I had to prepare for that possibility.
Weather reports predicted torrential rain for the night before the Swim (which would have created nasty water from the runoff) and thunderstorms in the morning (which would have canceled the event, for fear of giving new meaning to “diehard commitment”) but neither occurred. And for the first time in 14 years, I got on the bus and it actually took us from Sleepy Hollow to the dock in Nyack! Chatted with some Serious Swimmers, including Dale all the way from Kansas City (“…Missouri! We hate Kansas!”).
I knew that after 40 minutes, I’d be cold, and I expected the 3.2 miles to take me 2:10 hours (based on my mediocre speeds during our open water training days: 2:23 min/100 yards). So I wore a wetsuit (along with only 10 others of the 80 swimmers). Dan Fingleton, terrific marathoner from the Hastings Running Group, had volunteered among the kayakers – and we had a kayaker for every two swimmers. (“Couldn’t get much safer, Mom”.)
I waited on the dock and we went in waves – “slowest first”, but without any estimated pace. Sara and I walked up in the fourth wave, and we slipped off the dock into the warm water (73 degrees or so).
Started up strong, but decided that this was something I was going to survive, not race. The goal was to get to the other side without cramping or at least without needing assistance. The sight buoys anchored along the route were pretty frequent and helpful. More so were the two rows of kayakers — so I could have just sighted looking at the kayak next to me (whoops! If I can see this guy, I’m turning my head too much!). At one point, one of the kayakers was in between the rows of the other boats so I couldn’t see the buoy, and I must have made some noise because she eagerly said “do you need some help?” And I said, “no, I want you out of my way!”
One at a time, my right foot cramped; then my left calf; then my right calf. Each time I caught it early, didn’t give in to the temptation to do breast stroke (I had learned that made it worse) and instead focused on my abs; somehow, that forced me to stop kicking from my knees, and the cramps went away.
In the last third — where I could see I was next to the last two towers of the Tappan Zee Bridge (I refuse to call it the Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge!) — I stopped to shout “Woot woot!” Because I was in the middle of the Hudson River, that’s why. Just before the end, I could SEE the lighthouse, OMG, almost there! and started going straight for the beach, but the kayaker next to me said “they want us to go north to that buoy” so I grumpily followed directions, and a good thing — others who went “straight” for that inflatable finish line ended up being pushed down river by the current and had to swim north again. One guy had to be pulled in, because a barge arrived, and he was too close to get out of the way safely.
Bottom line: I finished it!
Final time was 1:24 (and final distance was 4,000 yards, or 2.3 miles, rather than 3.2 miles as I had expected), 2:07 min/100 yards — faster pace than I expected. Very happy to have achieved this one — and now that I’ve done it, I’ll can do it again, with lesss trepidation.
And ten minutes after the last swimmer got out, it started to rain — hard enough to eliminate visibility!
I also swam to raise money for Feed Westchester. The support from some VERY generous friends put me among the top fundraisers (for which I received an insulated coffee mug labeled THE LIGHTHOUSE SWIM). PLUS I won a raffle (I never win raffles!) and won a free month at the JCC in Tarrytown — where I had met the core group of these friendly, strong swimmers.