Dear all,
Almost a month has passed since the swim that never was. And you might wonder what happened there.
Well, the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim was interrupted shortly after it started.
I swam more or less 2.5K in very challenging conditions, before it got canceled.
In 35 years of history it had never happened, which is both memorable and extremely frustrating. And why it took me almost a month to put these few words together.
The 60 Km/h wind was a pain both for us swimmers and for the boats and kayaks and was eventually the deciding factor that stopped the whole thing.
A kayak capsized and the waves turned out to be too high for the accompanying crew, so that safety was not granted to all swimmers anymore.
The 20 or so minutes from the moment I was taken back on my boat to the moment we were back at the harbor, were both tense and hilarious: tense as some swimmers were difficult to account for, hilarious as I made jokes with some very kind fellow swimmers on the deck of our small boat.
What I can say is that from my own point of view, I felt great in those 2.5 K…and it is not a joke.
The water was 20 degrees which felt perfect. It was raining, yes but as every open water swimmer knows, swimming in the rain is great.
I had thought about the fact that the first 6k would have taken longer given the super strong wind blowing exactly opposite to our direction, and I had already planned to drink less liquid maltodextrin since I was drinking water anyway at that stage.
But well, it was too risky and end of story.
If you click on this link you see a couple of impressions of the conditions on that day (you can also spot me if you look carefully).
Here below you have instead a report from the local TV, which gives more of an account of the conditions (and of the chaos that unfortunately developed in that tense half hour or so).
https://tv.telezueri.ch/zuerinews/chaotische-szenen-beim-zuercher-schwimmmarathon-152856517
If you read this, I would like to thank you for your support in whichever way it has been expressed.
I felt very special when I realized that so many people wanted to be updated on the actual swim, while so many more asked about it in the following days too.
When Martin crossed his arms on the boat (i.e. told me that the swim was over), I felt powerless and frustrated. But well, those 35 odd minutes simply convinced me that next year I will make it.
And if the weather is anything as it was the day before, i.e. Saturday august 5th ( see photo above) it is going to be a treat!
As a matter of fact the organization assured us that all swimmers from this year`s edition will be given a starting number for the 2024 edition. Silver linings, I would say.
So all in all, my training will go on or, better said, it will start all over again, the fight against cancer is also not going to stop either. We will keep in touch.
I wish you all a very good September.
Peace
