I raced there this weekend and had a blast. It is a very challenging course and I competed in the mixed category with Jenny Ledford. We ended up 9th overall, but 3 other mixed teams were ahead of us. I think they beat us mostly in the water, and with 4 miles of swimming there was plenty of it. 
https://www.slowtwitch.com/Lifestyle/Images_from_the_2019_SwimRun_Lake_James__7232.html
And that was 4:39 of racing for us. Winning male team 4:01
Great photos. Well done on the finish. Just out of curiosity, why the use of paddles and buoys? 4 miles is a huge distance so I imagine it’s just to keep things moving?
With all that running many folks opt to swim with paddles and buoys because they have to swim with shoes and do not want to kick. But others swim without paddles or without buoys or with neither as it suits them better. Some folks have tested and found they swim faster without, and that makes transitions faster too. But most folks swim faster with and have less tired legs for the runs.
Ah that makes sense. Swimming with shoes would be tough. Pretty cool you have options!