Tiki Swim Race Report

When we put together the ONE Masters Swim team back in July, we found an event called the Tiki Swim, in Oceanside, on September 30th, in California, that we were very interested in attending.  While assembling the team roster, we started to take indications of interest from people on this event.  We had a bunch of “maybe”, a bunch of “no”, and just a few “yes” Once our Facebook page was created (ONE Masters Swim Team), I posted the event and sent out an invite.  Slowly, but surely, we picked up a few more “yes” responses every few weeks.

After getting a final head count, we were able to secure accommodations through Branden Turley’s (teammate) time share contact.  Those accommodations were, get ready for it, for a 6 person villa and a 4 person hotel room at the Pacific Palisades Resort in Carlsbad, for a whopping grand total of…..$80.  Yup, that’s right, $80 to be able to check in Thursday and leave Sunday.  $80 total.  Not per person, not per night, and not even per person, per night!!!!  Unfortunately, due to work and family, Kristi and I had to make a “turn-around” trip out of it by leaving Saturday morning and returning after the race on Sunday.  It was definitely going to be a lot of driving (between 12 and 14 hours) for a quick one night stay and a 1.2 mile swim, but we were OK with that.

The morning started when we picked up Nicole (teammate that lives about 3 miles from us) and headed out around 5:15AM.  We arrived in Carlsbad close to 12:30 and were completely famished (we only snacked on the way there).  After getting situated, we decided to head down to the Karl Strauss Brewery that was on the resorts property with John Dean and his wife Cyndi.  We promptly ordered up a few of their brews and just about the best plate of nachos I’ve ever had.  Hey, it was my cheat day, so I had at it!  After a few more teammates rolled in, and after a few more brews, we all headed down to Oceanside to pick up our race packets.

As we made our way over to packet pick up, we noticed that the US Navy had a number of different vehicles on display on the beach.  The most intriguing of the lot was a HUGE hover craft and a Humvee with a bad ass warning sign on the back.

Packet pick up was pretty quick, so we decided to grab some lunch at a place called the Lighthouse Grill.  After lunch, we decided to head down to Carlsbad so the girls could do some shopping and the rest of us could hang out and relax.  Ultimately, the girls met up with us and we all hung out for a bit before heading back to the resort.  Back at the resort, four of us (Me, Kristi, Garey, and Cindy Blair) made an executive decision to head back to Karl Strauss for a bit.  Some more beer, a few appetizers, and the best dammed mac n’ cheese I’ve ever had, we rolled back up to our room for some shuteye.

The first notion that I had been eating like garbage all day came around 3:00AM when I was awoken to the deep rumblings in my stomach.  After what seemed to be an eternity in the bathroom, I made my way back to bed, but never did get fully back to sleep.  Then again, at 5:45, the grumblings were back, but this time, everybody was starting to wake up for the days events.  We wanted to roll around 6:30, so when the grumblings came back yet again, I had to make another stop around 6:20.  I felt like garbage, but I quickly found out that Garey was too.  At this point, we were able to pin it on the bacon, sausage, and ham mac ‘n cheese!  Oh so good, yet oh so evil!  Well, at least I was getting it taken care of now, because once I had my wetsuit on, I was locked and loaded.  Needless to say, my breakfast consisted of absolutely nothing!

Upon arriving at the venue, we slowly took our time checking out the course, taking pics, and just soaking up the atmosphere.  That’s when we noticed the waves.  They were HUGE!  They didn’t intimidate me at all because I grew up boogie boarding / body surfing every summer when I was a kid.  I knew exactly how to attack ‘em, but it still added that element of excitement to the race.

Wetsuits on now, we all gathered around the starting point on the beach to listen to the race director cover specifics about the race.  Before we knew it, the countdown started.  3….2….1….GO!  He blew into a conch shell and we were off.  The candy corn shaped/colored buoy that was our first target went out of sight as quickly as it came into sight.  The only time we could see it offshore was at the crest of every wave.  Once in the trough, you were going on instinct.  Surprisingly, I was able to get into a pretty nice rhythm between waves.  As a wave approached, I would duck under, arch my back, and poke my way out the backside.  While it was tiring, I seemed to pull it off fairly effortlessly.  Once past the waves, I was able to keep eyes on that first buoy, but now there was a new problem.  Between the waves and the current, I was WAY off to the right, I mean WAY off.  I needed to head back into the current to get around that first marker.  My stroke was very strong at this point, so I was able to cover the distance fairly quickly.  I knew I was out front, but since I got off track, I didn’t know how far.  Once I made the turn, I could see a few yellow caps (the 1.2 mile participants) close by.  I got into cruise mode and started to work.  While my swimming felt strong, my sighting did not.  I counted 3 different occasions where I had to actually stop, lift my goggles up, and take a look around.  On a few more occasions, I simply looked for any colored cap nearby and hoped that they knew where they were going.  We pass the harbor inlet and make a turn to head back east.  Now the sun was making it next to impossible to sight at all.  At this point, I have a feeling that it was the blind leading the blind.  I found a yellow cap right in front of me that seemed to be moving pretty quickly, so I settled in behind them and, again, hoped they knew where they were going.  We veered off course a bit, but not too badly as we made the second to last right hand turn (the last being when we stood up on the boat ramp to sprint to the finish).  At this point, it was a straight shot to the last buoy and I could give it some gas now.  I closed in on the person in front of me, but I could tell they were moving pretty good.  In fact, once I got to within a few feet, we were matching stroke for stroke.  Eventually, I ran out of real estate just as we turned that last buoy and stood up.  The quick sprint up the ramp stopped the clock at 32:23….4 seconds behind the 2^nd place overall finisher in the 1.2 mile swim.

Ultimately, I’d say that I am pleased with this swim and the result.  After going way too far right in the beginning, stopping 3 times to take off my goggles and look around, and veering off course at the end, I still put down a good time!  This was a great trip, a great event, and I had a pretty good swim too.

 The participants:  Branden, Garey, John, Me, and Nicole

The participants and their support crew Garey, Cindy, Jodi, Andrea, Branden, Me, Kristi, Nicole, Cyndi, and John:

Me and the Humvee:

Some last minute support from Kristi:

Just before the blowing of the conch shell to signal the start.  That's me there in the wetsuit:

And I'm off!:

Take a look at those waves!  Look closer, can you see the candy corn buoy?

Me trying to close the gap on 2nd place:

3rd place overall and 1st in the 30-39 wetsuit division:

Podium finishers!  3rd OA/1st AG, 4th OA/2nd AG, 7th OA/3rd AG, and 6th OA/1st AG:

A clean sweep of our division!