The swim went ok. The lake temperature was ~15oC, so quite warm for the time of year. I positioned myself near the front for the mass start and, when the hooter finally went off we got going. With ~380 people competing for space, the beginning of an open water swim always involves a bit of “biff”. Within ~50m I got a real crack in the face from someone’s elbow. This made the next 100 or so metres very uncomfortable. Luckily I didn’t lose my goggles but I felt sick and really didn’t want to be there. This passed and I then settled into a rhythm and just got on with it. I do now have a bit of a black and bloodshot eye to prove that triathlon is in fact a contact sport.
Before too long I was clambering out of the water and running up to transition, feeling nice and relaxed. The new wetsuit came off really easily and I made my way to the bike leg without any problems. Time for swim and T1: 22:12. To hit the 2hr goal I needed a 20min split so a bit behind but in the top 20% so doing well compared to last years races.
