My memories?

Different venues. Beside the Seward Park setting, I have competed in the Silver Lake, Kirkland, Escape from the Rock (Mercer Island), Black Diamond and Beaver Lake triathlons. At Silver Lake, day of race registration was permitted once, so the start was delayed a couple of hours on a very hot day. The run was tough, as the heat drained everyone’s energy. One Seafair Triathlon was held at Chandler’s Cove in Lake Union and I remember swimming through gas and oil on the surface of the water. Drizzle and low water and air temperatures were very common at Seward Park. The coldest swim I ever endured was at Beaver Lake. I’ve never felt comfortable in wetsuits (Hawaii will spoil folks) and I would lose time changing out of one, so I’ve never used them.

In my younger years, the swim was my strongest leg. I would typically finish in the top 20%. When I would try to persuade friends to participate, their inability to swim or lack of confidence in their swimming skills deterred them. I always felt that was too bad: I love so many water sports and activities and to be foreclosed from them would have taken a lot of fun out of my life. I’m no longer in the top 20% but it’s still my strongest leg.

Swimming has also provided the most interesting memories. In the early years, there were no waves; everyone started at the same time. I was clawed, scratched, kicked, and swum over so frequently, I decided to hang back until the swimmers started spreading out and then make my move.

I felt I could always pick out a rookie - he or she swam with a straight arm, and windmill stroke (like Janet Evans) and was oblivious to all other swimmers, lifeguards and activities in the water. Their single-minded focus was tremendous unless you happened to get in front of them. Then they swam right over you. I used a few sharp elbows and kicks to get them to change their paths over the years.

At one event, I could not shake a rookie. She kept swimming over me, would veer off and then come right back at me. It was all unintentional but very frustrating to me - and hurting my time. Finally, one of the lifeguards on a surfboard intervened. He said I could have her disqualified because of her interference. And then he told her, she could have me disqualified too. She didn’t seem to understand what was going on, so I spoke up and said neither of us was looking ‘to medal’ and just wanted the opportunity to finish. The guard backed off and let us proceed, but I felt he got her attention as she relaxed a bit and kept her distance.

There is also one aspect of the swim that always troubled me. At Seward Park, there were two waves in the water at once: the first wave waiting for the starting gun to take off, and the second wave was "on deck", the next wave to go, waiting about 20 yards to the left of the starting area. The second wave would move into the starting area once the first wave took off. I always wondered how many people in these two shallow holding areas had to take one last pee before beginning the swim. Once the horn sounded, I left that thought behind.

Biking was and is my weakest leg. I just never biked much, whereas I’ve been swimming and running consistently since I was about 13. As the saying goes, one never forgets how to ride a bike. I jump on and go. And curse all of the swimmers I passed in the water who then biked past me at great speeds.

My Favorite Triathlon Memories

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