Well, it was that time of the year again. The 11th annual Nav-e-Sink or Swim Festival took place on Memorial Day Weekend. This was my second year doing this fun 1.2 mile swim race and I ended up having a great time. There is a 2.4 mile option as well (which I was VERY tempted to try) but I ended up chickening out when I did the preview swim the day before. Yeah, I know what you're thinking and it's ok. I'm still pulling a few feathers here and there. Next year, I'll go for the 2.4 miler...in more ways than one. I'll explain this cryptic comment at a later date. RACE PREVIEW
Thursday afternoon before the race, I met a small group of swimmers for a one mile swim in the Navesink River. We met at Victory Park in Rumson (where the race begins) and we swam up the river to the "sandbar" and back again. It was really hot outside and the water temperature was in the high 60's. There were no waves at all and everything felt perfect! Our little group got in and started swimming. As soon as I exited the bay area and entered into the main part of the river, I felt a minor panic attack come over me. The sandbar seemed so far away. I started counting strokes "1, 2, 3, 4, sight" and my panic attack subsided quickly. Counting helped me focus on swimming instead of the baby jellyfish all around me. Yeah, there were baby jellyfish all over the place. Yikes. Mollie and I swam together making our way to the sandbar and trying to stay with the group as best as we could. We reached the sandbar, turned around, swam down-river and back to the beach. 1 mile swim complete! Woo Hoo!
On Saturday (the day before the event) I went back to Victory Park for one more swim in the river. This time, the group was bigger and it was shaping up to be another hot day. I felt a pretty intense breeze when we arrived at the river and I noticed the water had a small chop to it but I didn't think much of it. You know, Thursday was so nice. Tommy came with me on Saturday and hung out to read while the group swam. Again I turned the corner of the dock and found myself in the main part of the river, only this time the waves were really choppy. I was swimming alongside another woman who was doing her first open water swim of the season and was having panic attacks. I didn't want to leave her but the group was pulling away from us. She told me she was going to turn around and go back to the beach area where the water was a bit calmer. I was SO tempted to turn around and go back with her, but I continued up the river instead. I was swimming alone since the group was way ahead of me by this point. A lifeguard escorted her back to the beach area and then came back to stay with me. I swore that every time I rotated for air I got a huge mouthful of water instead. It was coming from my right side and since I don't breathe bilaterally, I got water in my mouth constantly. I had to stop a few times, reset myself mentally and then continue swimming. I tried counting strokes but it wasn't working this time. All I kept thinking was that if the water was this choppy tomorrow, it was going to be a long, miserable race. By the time I reached the sandbar, the group was already heading back. I turned around and followed their lead. Going back was much easier.RACE DAY
Mollie picked me up at 5:30 am and we arrived at Victory Park rather early. We had no problems finding a parking spot on one of the side streets and I noticed the air felt pretty still...thank goodness. I was hopeful that the water would be calm after my miserable swim the day before. And it was! I felt such a sense of relief come over me. I brought a blanket and we set up a small picnic area and relaxed before the race began. The men 1.2 mile swimmers were scheduled to begin at 8:15 am, followed by women 1.2 mile swimmers 5 minutes later. The men and women 2.4 mile swimmers would start 15 minutes after us.
The National Anthem was sung, we lined up on the beach and watched the 1.2 mile men go in. It was the most civilized swim start I had ever witnessed! No pushing, no shoving, no kicking in the face. Beautiful. 5 minutes later the countdown for the 1.2 mile women began. I lined myself up towards the front of the pack. There were a lot less swimmers this year compared to last year. The horn blew and almost all of the women went in calm and civilized. A handful of crazies took off immediately but the rest of the ladies were very calm getting in.Now here is the deal with the Navesink river. You don't want your feet touching the bottom for too long. There's no telling what the hell is on the bottom of that river, but there were a lot of sharp rocks and stones that hurt when you stepped on them. I'm guessing it was low tide because it felt like everyone was walking, walking, walknig into the river and it didn't seem to get any deeper. As soon as I could, I started swimming. I thought "I'm not cutting my foot open on some unknown foreign object if I can avoid it". And the only way to avoid it was swim more than walk.
So I swam my way to the corner of the dock and made the left turn to head up stream. I had plenty of room to swim and no one was too close or swimming over me. Again, everyone was calm and civilized. We headed up the river and passed 3 orange buoys. I felt pretty relaxed and just counted strokes. 1, 2, 3, 4, sight. Up ahead I could see the green turn buoy which was located at the sandbar. I got close to the green buoy and saw everyone standing up and walking around the buoy. I got as close as possible, but then had to stand up and walk as well. I heard someone calling me and it was my friend Mollie. She was laughing that we were walking on water. The water was ankle deep at the sandbar. We walked around the green buoy and even continued for a bit walking downstream. When the water was about 2 feet deep I jumped in and started swimming again. Now we were heading down river and there was a little current pushing us along. Everything around me felt quite Zen-like and calm.
I swam down river, sighting the buoys that would lead me to the finish area. I typically swim away from the buoys because I don't want to get hit or kicked in the face but my goal that day was to stay as close as possible to them so that I didn't have to swim any further than necessary. Up ahead I saw the last turn buoy which lead us back to the beach area. Since I was feeling good and in a rhythm, I tried to pick up my pace a bit. I heard a drone flying overhead and I saw the first and second place 2.4 mile men swimmers pass me on the right. I gave them room and let them do their thing. They would have to swim another lap.I swam as close as I could to the shoreline before standing up. Once the water was too shallow for swimming, I stood up and made my way across the finish line. My time was 42:38. Not a great swim time by any means but I took nearly 5 minutes off last years time, so I was happy. There were several people with cuts on the bottom of their feet and I heard someone complaining about the amount of seaweed at the start. That's open water for you! The medal was meh this year (not as nice as last years medal) but I didn't come for the medal. I came to be with friends and to have a good time, which I did. Three years ago, I couldn't even imagine myself being able to do this since I had no idea how to swim at all. I look at this way; I've given myself the gift of swimming and I can swim in open water. It's a gift I never want to take for granted. Ever.
So that's my tale of the Nav-e-Sink or Swim Festival 2016. Nothing major to report, just a fun morning of swimming with a great group of people.
