Thanks to Jerry Shandrew for contributing this report on America’s “premier roughwater swim.”
More than 2,000 swimmers competed over the weekend at the 83rd Annual La Jolla Rough Water Swim along the coast of San Diego, California. Known for its clear pristine water and lots of kelp beds (seaweed), La Jolla Cove was the setting for a grueling 3-mile swim.
Kevin Jackson of USAF in Colorado took the overall title 1:01.29 in the 3 mile ‘Gatorman’ Race from La Jolla Cove to Scripts Pier and back. He was closely followed by Ryan Bullock (1:01.32) and recent USC junior Cary Wright (1:01.36).
This was Kevin’s first ocean swim, having only done an open water lake swim last month for the first time. “I swam smooth and long, and knew that I would have enough coming home as I train at 7,000 ft in Colorado,” stated Kevin.
In the women’s race, Jessica Heim made a 3-peat victory as she won this race in 2011 and 2012 as well. She finished in 1:03.45, which was fast enough for 12th overall.
“I was able to catch some drafting off the guys on the way across the cove and had a nice smooth swim on the way back,” said Helms.
Dubbed as “America’s Premier Rough Water Swim,” the race also featured a 250 yard race for age group swimmers 5 to 12 years old, a 1-mile age group race for 12-18 years old, a masters 1-mile course as well as the famed 3-mile Gatorman Race. Official results can be found here: http://www.ljrws.com
This is, hands-down, the best all ages open water swimming event in the country. It was my 8th year there and I think about the best conditions (air plus water temps) I’ve seen. I can’t think of a better place for a swimmer of any age to try their hand at an ocean race. If any swim parent out there wants to introduce your kids to open water, this is the place to do it.
results aren’t up at the ljrws site yet. Try
http://results.active.com/events/la-jolla-rough-water-swim–4/