Boxing Day Swim

That’s Rangitoto Island shrouded in clouds. The picture was taken from the Takapuna boat ramp, and my morning’s mission was to swim from the one to the other. About 5k, which is not crazy long, but is the longest swim I’ve done so far this summer.

If you look past the little waves breaking on shore, you’ll see the water is pretty flat, which definitely makes for a better experience. It rained on us sporadically too, but hey… we were there to get wet.

The swim isn’t really a race, but it’s organized by the local triathlon club, which includes some pretty fast people. We had to choose a group: fast, average, or slow. I picked average, along with about 35 of the 60 total swimmers. Then, at the first rest break about 15 minutes in, we split the average group in two. I was happy to stay in the “below average” bunch, which allowed me to swim briskly but not feel like I was struggling to keep up.

A little more than 90 minutes later, we stepped onto Rangitoto, and then all of us from the Bay2Bay swim club hitched a ride back in Chris’s boat. All in all it was an especially well-run event.

I felt great in the water and even though it didn’t feel like I was pushing, I posted a good time. I must’ve tired myself out more than I thought, because I didn’t get much done the rest of the day!!