I don't know what a "cfs" is, but I hope we get 23,000 of them!

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
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cubic feet per second would be my guess

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VDOT O2 Run Coaching
Team INFINIT Discount Code: RowanJones

Ditto, it's true, zero current

Think about what that would require.

Michael wins...cubic feet per second...it's one of the ways flow/current is measured. In this case, it's the measurement of the release at the dam. (Paddlers also use CFS from gauges to determine the levels of a river for kayaking.)

Let me promise you that you don't really want 23k. There'd be so much crap in the river washing down at that speed it would be dangerous. I can't even imagine how many people would have to be plucked from the river downstream having missed the swim exit.

Even at 6k, which as RD said is next to no flow (that's tangible), there's still enough movement to scoot down the river at a reasonable pace. If I can manage 4.5mi in 1:20 at around 6kCFS....everyone should have PLENTY of time to get down the river.

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AW

Could you feel the current??? I've done a couple of with-the-current races, including one where I went 20:00 for 2000 m, but I did not really notice any current, but rather just knew when I saw the clock that i must have had "some help":)

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

Not really. I've never really been able to "feel" the current push when I'm swimming with it...only maybe note a bit that I appear to be swimming fast in looking at the shoreline & "feel" fast in the water. My basis for that is the 2013 Rat Race where there was massive current (& debris).

I can say that if it disappears in the middle (like the 2013 Swim the Suck) you can feel a difference, but that's only if it changes while you're swimming - so in our case the flow dropped dramatically....it was like stepping off of an escalator or moving sidewalk...of course it took a little bit to realize, but you just felt a little more sluggish out of nowhere. Definitely a wild feeling.

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AW

Its true, I read it also. The kayak didn't move!

Hmmm, I haven't ever had the experience of the flow changing right in the middle of a swim or race, but I can see how that might be more noticeable. I think the whole with/against the current thing pretty analogous to riding an out-and-back course where you have tailwind starting out but you don't realize it, you just think you're feeling good and riding fast, then you get to the turnaround and boom, you see that, actually, you don't feel that good at all:)

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