Osprey Open Water Swim Race Recap...

This past Saturday, Melanie and I headed to Ocean Springs MS for the OSPREY open water 1 and 2 mile swim race, aquathon, and 10k. 

I was swimming the 1 mile and Melanie was running the 10k. I had never done just a swim race. I usually am the swimmer in a tri relay, so this was going to be my first actual open water swim race. I was super excited to see that we would be swimming in the beautiful Mississippi Pass in Ocean Springs, it is gorgeous.

As you can see behind us when we got there they were setting up the bouys for the 1 and 2 mile swim. the water was so calm and right at about 65 degrees. Perfect swimming weather.

We met up with my friend Chris who was doing the 2 mile swim race. He looks like he is going to slap me but I think he was blocking the sun, I think? LOL

The OSOSPREY has 4 options; the 2 mile swim, 1 mile swim, the aquathon (1mile swim and 10k), and the 10k road race. Having 4 options to choose from was hard. I had decided to just do the 1 mile swim mainly because I am still having problems with swimmers shoulder and didn't want to aggravate it anymore. Melanie was going to run the 10k because she had 6 miles on her training schedule for Saturday, so she raced it. 

The swims were starting at 8:15, so they had a mandatory athlete meeting at 8am. They went over the course and how we were supposed to enter and exit the water. 

They also made it very clear that the race should be very safe and they had a ton of water craft in the water. Kayaks, boats, and jet skis covered the entire course. I never felt unprotected in the race. When your swimming in open water,  its always comforting to have a few extra eyes to look out for animals, boats, and other water issues. 

We met up with Coach Anita and Damaris at the start, As you can tell the race was wet suit optional. I decided to wear my wetsuit pants and long sleeve tri suit. It was perfect. Anita wore a full sleeve, Chris wore a sleeveless wetsuit, and Damaris wore just her suit. The water was perfect for pretty much anything. 

They lined us up by race number for safety reasons and recorded and counted everyone that went in the water. I have never seen this done before, I thought it was great. We kind of looked like a military line entering the water. LOL!  We had to walk out to the start at the yellow cone for an in the water start.

For the 1 mile swim, we had to swim all the way down to right before the bridge and back. For the 2 mile swim, they had to swim to the bridge, go left to the other orange cone, then straight back to the yellow cone .

After swimming you had to make the long run/walk/crawl in the sandy/muddy bottom water out and run to the finish line. Damaris coming out of the 1 mile swim...

And Chris coming out of the 2 mile swim...

Celebrating our finish. the water was perfect, the weather was perfect, couldn't of asked for better conditions.

I went and checked the official times and was surprise I came in 3rd overall female. NICE! Coach Anita came in 1st with an amazing time of 24:55. She was flying. 

Melanie also got first in her age group in the 10k. It was an amazing day for everyone.

We headed up to the after party in the park. They had bbq, beer, and great music for everyone. It was just such a fun morning.

They started handing out the awards after the 10k finishers were done. It was exciting because all of us placed. Chris won 3rd in his age group for the 2 mile swim, Melanie 1st in AG in the 1ok, Anita 1st overall female in the 1 mile swim, I was 1st in my AG fro the 1 mile, and Damaris was 3rd in her AG for the 1 mile. The day couldn't have been better.

I cannot tell you how amazing this race was. It was very organized and I will def be doing this race every year form now on. If you are looking for an open water swim race or need to practice for tri season, the OSPREY race is def one that you need to add to your calender. 

And to my friends Anita, Damaris, Melanie, and Chris, you guys are amazing friends, training partners, and athletes. You guys inspire me daily. LOVE YA'LL

HAVE YOU EVER DONE AN OPEN WATER SWIM RACE?

IF NOT, WOULD YOU DO ONE?