The Open Water Swim race is a 1500m event. The swim corral will be located on Main Beach in front of the Boardwalk bandstand. Swimmers will start in waves, heading clockwise around the Wharf and exiting the water at Cowell Beach. There are two buoys at the end of the wharf that swimmers must swim around and keep on their right hand shoulders. If you do not swim around them disqualification may occur. There will be divisions for men and women. Racers receive an event T-shirt and a swim cap. SANTA CRUZ — Under overcast skies and a light sprinkle, competitors emerged from the chilly Pacific Ocean at Main Beach on Sunday morning. The moist sand beneath their feet and thoughts of a dry towel and warm clothes were comforting, as was the hot cocoa and coffee that awaited them. The 2.5-mile Cruz Cruise open water swim — the USMS Middle Distance Open Water National Championship — wasn’t exactly a polar bear plunge, but the athletes’ relief was obvious when they stepped out of the 61-degree water and stumbled ashore. “I can’t feel my hands,” said Saratoga’s Lisa Hazen, as she crossed the finish line. She said the sensation — or lack of — began midway through the race. “It does make for a very long race,” she later said. The second event of 2022 Santa Cruz Open Water Weekend wasn’t for the faint of heart. Dozens of swimmers endured a one hour and 15-minute delay due to an early morning marine layer and issues for an assist boat setting its anchor beyond the end of the Santa Cruz Wharf. Athletes socialized, smiled, and did their best to stay warm before entering the water. Once they did, their goal was the same: Get out as soon as possible.
In the “no wetsuit” division, Trevor Gillis of Los Altos/Mountain View Aquatics Club (LAMV), was the fastest to accomplish that objective. He did so in 48 minutes and 3 seconds. Kaname Onishi, of Osaka, Japan, took second in 48:55, and Santa Monica’s Adam Shaaban, a sophomore at UC Santa Cruz who competes for Santa Cruz Masters (CRUZ), was third in 50:39. Like many of the competitors, Gillis also competed in the 1-mile Rough Water Swim on Saturday, when the water temperature was a degree warmer. His body held up fine. “Listen man, I’m 47, so at this point the pain comes with the territory,” he said. “I’m used to it. I’ve done these a lot.” For many, the feat was more important than their finishing time. “That’s the beauty of open water,” Gillis said. “The conditions change from moment to moment, even so, one year can be totally different from another. They can place the buoys differently, water conditions are different … sometimes the race is different, so you’re pushing yourself in different parts of the race.” Valerie Thorp of CRUZ was the top female finisher in the “no wetsuit” division, posting a time of 57:18. Hazen of LAMVAC, took second in 58:35, and Stephanie Couch of Menlo Masters was third in 1:00:24. Thorp described the water temperature was comfortable. That said, she was out of it faster than most. “I think I had some good kicking at the end,” she said of her second time around the wharf, “just knowing it’s the last leg. Hazen, competing in the race for the first time, was happy to be in the water after being shelved by injuries in recent years. A time or two, her nerves were tested. “I hit a couple things and all of a sudden I’m like, ‘Why is somebody coming up on me?’ And then I realized there’s nobody around me,” she said. “So it must’ve been some foreign body in the water. There was a nice stream of kelp I went past.” Adrian Cameron of UC43 was the fastest male among swimmers wearing a wetsuit. He finished in 49:32. Cameron, from Austin, Texas, isn’t used to swimming longer events, but he showed well for himself nonetheless. “It’s a bit of a mixed bag” he said of race goals. “We’re all split up by age groups, you don’t know how old the guy is next to you, when you’re in the water, and then there’s the wetsuit and non-wetsuit divisions, so you’re kinda doing your own race. If there’s somebody next to you, you race them. Otherwise, you swim within your own self.” Hilary Vance of Mountain View Masters, was the fastest female among swimmers wearing a wetsuit. She finished in 1:06:03. Amritha Surya of LAMV took second in 1:08:21, and Dara Goldsmith of Las Vegas Masters, was third in 1:10:53. Swimmer entered the water at Main Beach, swam around the 2,745-foot long wharf to a pair of bouys set up 100 yard off the shore of Cowell Beach, and then returned around the wharf to the finish line. Along the way, some of them swam past seals, schools of anchovies on the west side of the wharf, and kelp. Others who swam too close to the wharf also worked their way around fishing lines. Anglers were instructed by race personnel to refrain from casting out for an hour, but some of them elected to not follow the orders. “A few fishing lines to keep it interesting, but I didn’t get hooked, so, all in all, a good day,” Gillis said. Gillis also won 1-mile Roughwater Swim around the wharf on Saturday in 17:39. San Francisco’s Allison Arnold took second in 18:12 and Venezuelan Marcos Lavado (18:25) took third. Adrian Cameron (17:39) of UC43 was the fastest swimmer wearing a wetsuit Saturday. Courtney Monsees (18:25) of The Olympic Club took second and Andrew Baker (20:21) of OEVT was third. TOP FINISHERSCruz Cruise (USMS Middle Distance Open Water National Championship) Can you swim at Santa Cruz Beach?The most popular open water swimming beach in Santa Cruz is Cowell Beach, located on the west side of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. This small cove is generally protected from the wind by tall cliffs and the setting is idyllic.
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Santa cruz rough water swim 2022
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