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We waded into the water after 8:30 a.m. (which we later learned was poor timing because it coincided with the tide coming in, from the NYC mouth of the river towards the north\u2026). The water is lovely and comfortable, and I\u2019m feeling strong but surprised that it takes a while to get to the first of 8 buoys, because I was not yet aware of that tidal current. All of us are dragging safety buoys, and most of them are orange, so it\u2019s hard to see the second marker that\u2019s also orange and the sun is in my eyes. I can\u2019t seem to keep up and don\u2019t want to follow the crowd anyway, because they don\u2019t seem to be aiming for the buoys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The journey to Buoy #3 is REALLY taking a while (I later learn it took me over 20 minutes to do some of the 500-yard intervals, but I\u2019m ignoring my watch while swimming, patient and persistent), and when I get to the buoy I have to make a huge effort to get around it and not get snarled in the line, and I don\u2019t think my Garmin has yet to vibrate and register the second 500 yards! I can\u2019t even see the next buoy with all the glare, and a kayaker is in my sight line and I curse and he asks me if I\u2019m okay, and I\u2019m fine, I\u2019m NOT going to rest on the end of a kayak, but I can\u2019t rest at all, the current will drag me off course if I don\u2019t try to keep moving. I never make it all the way south to the 4th or 5th buoy \u2014 or even see the 6th or 7th! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kayakers are great but giving conflicting advice, which is assuring until I realize no one knows where to direct me with this current. One of them says to shoot for shore (I see a long rectangular building that\u2019s reflecting the sun) and another says to swim towards the tower span of the bridge, and a third says to not bother making the buoy because the current is pushing me north (\u201cNo shit!\u201d I say and we both laugh.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bridge doesn\u2019t seem to be getting any closer, and I ask yet another kayaker whether I\u2019m the last person, and he says no (and there\u2019s no use in looking back for anyone else, I dare not stop), and then the leg cramps start creeping in. At my practice sessions this year, sometimes when I decided to \u201cgo fast\u201d, my feet or calves or thighs cramped up so much that I had to jump out and can hardly walk the next day. But now, each time the tension start to creep in, I make myself slow down, relax, just keep swimming, just float, a couple of breast stroke kicks, and the cramps dissipate. And by the end of the swim, I\u2019ve counted eight close encounters with leg cramps (the way I\u2019ve counted runners I pass on a race), and I am NOT resting on a kayak, nor pausing to get a gel out of my safety buoy, that\u2019s a surefire way of losing to the cramps, even though it\u2019s probably been more than the 1:15 hours that my initial nutrition covers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And suddenly a Zodiac rubber boat pulls up \u2014 it\u2019s the marine unit from my town\u2019s volunteer fire department \u2014 and they say I have to get in the boat, an unscheduled barge is nearby and that thing is coming close! And I think that I blew it, that I WAS the last swimmer, but they pick up 5 other swimmers and bring us around 250 yards closer to shore and away from the channel, and zoom back out to pick up more swimmers.(Later, the captain tells Alan Golds, that the current was very, very serious.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/racereportblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bc93f0f0-8eaf-42dc-bed7-fdde6f688d6e-768x1024.jpeg\")
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