For all you Florida swim veterans. On an average day in Panama City, how choppy is the swim and how is the surf entering the water?
I have done a few races in PCB and what I can tell you is that it is dependent on the weather. The Gulf is not as deep and therefor the winds have a greater effect on the sea state. FWIW last year there was a nice north wind that kept the seas down to about 1-2 ft. On the other hand at the Gulf Coast 1/2 in May it was 2-4 ft chop out to the first turn!
I did IMFL last year and I thought they said the swells were 4-5 ft. The surf usually isn’t bad at all though. I’m a below avg swimmer and I swam 1:20 last year. I’ve done Gulf Coast 3 times and 2 out of 3 had pretty bad swells. For whatever that’s worth.
Allan,
I lived in PC last fall from October through December while attending Navy Dive School. Needless to say, I spent a LOT of time in the water there. I was also a catcher at IMFL.
Your other poster is correct, it is really dependent upon the weather which will affect both chop and temperature.
However, even on the worst days, I rarely saw waves in excess of 5 feet (much to the chagrin of the local surfers).
Unlike Hawaii, you’ll find that the toughest part is that it’s a bit choppy and the visibility isn’t that great.
I’d plan on a swim time 4-5 minutes slower than your best (assuming you normally swim around 1 hour).