2.6 miles (4581yd), 1:29 time, longest open water swim

I met my friends at Belmont Shores in Long Beach. We swam around the Naples Island. This is my first time around and it was a bit daunting because of all the boats around. We started at 7am, so there was little boat traffic when we started. With the long 4th of July weekend, the parking was already crowded! Note to self. My daughter brought a friend and they hung out on the beach, while we swam. I followed Peter and Rob. It was good to have their splashes ahead of me. I was worried about big boats running over me. Under one of the bridges, a dragon boat was headed straight for me. I quickly paddled out of the way, and the rudder guy was really leaning on it to miss me! Whew. The last bridge is low over the water and it was cloudy morning. This made for a spooky under crossing. I swam really fast through there. Every time my hand touched anything besides water, I jumped.

My new wetsuit is great, except for the velcro and neck. I got a bad rub burn. Hopefully, more BodyGlide will resolve the rubbing.

I liked how my arms swung around with out feeling like I was stretching rubber bands. The fit is nice. With the Medium-Tall size, I have coverage from wrists and ankles. That’s a first. Usually, the medium size fits my trunk fine, but my long limbs end up hanging out.

My arms didn’t get tired on the long swim, and my breathing was okay. Success. I tend to breath on one side only during open water, because I have to calm way down to get my breathing and strokes aligned. I was calm enough to breath both sides, but with the rubbing on my neck, I couldn’t breath to my left this time. Rob took a big gulp of seawater and took a break with 1/4 mile out. Rob’s dad came for part of the open water swim too!