Tried to post this earlier, but ran in to "tech issues". Here you go, $700 is going to get you a real thrill next year!

can take that off the bucket list

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2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

There's a $50 discount for the swim wave that has yellow caps.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Does this actually concern anybody? It's the ocean. There are sharks out there. In a race as huge as Escape from Alcatraz there will be enough swimmers to scatter them, right? I won't be doing it next year (not a fan of the huge price bump) but my perception of the event hasn't changed because of the video.

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/10327392

Actually, given that you can hit 50 mph on those downhills, and given that shark attacks on humans, as opposed to seals, are fairly rare, i think the bike is more dangerous than the swim. Many of the resident hardcore OW swimmers in the Bay area train out of the Dolphin Club which is right in this area. These guys/girls routinely swim 1 to 5 miles out in that area, without wetsuits in 50-58 degree water i might add, and AFAIK, they do not have shark attacks with any sort of regularity. So, i would advise being more cautious on the bike vs worrying about a shark getting you on the swim.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

"Many of the resident hardcore OW swimmers in the Bay area train out of the Dolphin Club"

SERC members may object to that statement...

I used to swim with the rival blue-collar South East Rowing Club (no wetsuits, every morning for over a year) and as far as tales go, a swimmer encounter with a GW happens once every 15-20 years or so, rather sporadically. Apparently, sharks don't like brackish water in the Bay, so most of the time, they stay outside of the GG Bridge. Sightings are more common up north near Stinson Beach or out near the Farallon Islands.

Sorry, no disrespect intended to the South East Rowing Club. Only reason i mentioned the Dolphin Club is b/c i swam out their facility some years ago. I just happened to stumble upon their club when just bumming around the area; i was visiting a friend from HS and had no car to reach a pool so swam in the Bay out of the DC for about 4 days there. I could stand about 30 min in the water (57-58 when i was there in November) so i could go one loop of that little bay and maybe out to the end of Fish Wharf, but couldn't stand it to do two full loops. Maybe if i had stayed there for a few months, i could've built up the cold water acclimatization to do 2 loops. Fun times:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Very interesting, thanks for your long term insights and knowledge. Is the SERC facility right near the DC in that same area??? I just happened upon the DC but did not see the SERC. However, I def know the SERC name from seeing lots of their swimmers at the USMS nationals.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Ahah, no worries. Both clubs are located next to each other and feed off a friendly rivalry.

30 minutes in 57ish is pretty good with no prior acclimatization. If by fun times you mean shakes times then I agree!

Yes, SERC is the red/white building just left of the DC (blue/white) - I mean the buildings are stuck next to each other. Traditionally, DC has more white-collar members (lawyers, managers, etc...) whereas SERC has more firemen, police, carpenters, etc... ...and the rivalry is friendly. About 10 years ago, there were probably more triathletes at the DC, but maybe more daily swimmers in the bay from the SERC, even though both had their share of the other. I didn't know too many members of the DC, but everyone at the SERC were always friendly.

Most of the swimmers in our morning group had done round-trip Alcatraz dozens of times - you have to be a relatively fast swimmer as the tides change quickly in the Bay - I've never done the round-trip personally. It looks like they still do the morning swims.

In that photo is the venerable Bob Roper, who I think still has the record for the Golden Gate Swim. He used to come every morning. There were times when he would pilot me and perhaps one other swim during those morning swims... ...it usually takes a week or two of swimming in the Bay to acclimate yourself to the temperatures - then it's like heaven - the salt in the water helps buoyancy and raises the apparent temperature (ie fresh water at the same temperature feels much colder). Whenever I go back to visit SF, I make sure I drop by to say hi and head down to the Cove next the SERC for a dip.

EDIT: Oh, and make sure when you do go for a dip, you borrow the sauna and the showers at the SERC - otherwise, it's going to take at least half a day to get your core temperature back up to normal... ...and there's no shame in coming in early if you don't feel that great during a swim - there were many times that I had to resort to Plan B - u-turn back to the sauna!

Oh i was definitely shaking and i remember going into the sauna afterwards and not thinking it very hot. Looking at the thermo, it was around 180 degrees F, but it felt like a comfy room temp!!!

By "fun times", i mean it was just really cool to swim out there and make it around the whole 1-mile-ish loop w/o the wetsuit. After i did that, i was "accepted" into the club and a bunch of guys said they didn't think i could make the whole loop, what with being pretty skinny by their standards and with nothing but "pool swimming experience" at that time. So, i just thought it was a very cool experience, even if i was very cold while doing it:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

You know i've thought the salt water felt warmer than fresh water but i've never really looked into it; glad to hear this is well established. I will def use the sauna and showers to warm up afterwards:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

The scariest thing other than the cost is that people are still shooting video in portrait mode!

Like! I was thinking the same thing about the portrait mode.

I have friends doing the DC vs SERC the original Escape from Alcatraz this coming Saturday, just one week after the incident. This is the message on the race page: "We are aware of the shark event at Alcatraz Island on Saturday and will continue to monitor the situation. At this point we are moving forward with the event as usual."

I would not want to be the slowest swimmer out there (or got to learn to punch the shark in the nose when the time comes)....

It's gonna be thrillin to be swimmin....

This.

A bunch of triathletes descending on stupidly expensive bikes and we're worried about sharks?

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

some guy was training for this a few years ago and was attacked and killed by a great white. He wasn't in the bay he was somewhere else but still scary.

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2019 T-Rex Tri Series

Sharks do prefer seals. Triathletes dress like seals.

You are more likely to die taking a selfie than by a shark.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...c0c5e4b0fde8b0d09cbe

True but if you're gonna swim with the Dolphin Club or SERC, you gotta man up and swim in your Speedo, no wetties for those guys:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."