Manhattan Island Relays

Yesterday I was again a volunteer paddler for New York Swim in the Manhattan Island Relays. I paddled last year for the Greenwich Masters-  Adrian, Anton, Sean & Sam - and they asked me to paddle for them again last year. I was quite honored. They actually came in first place last year. We had a beautiful day. Offloaded our kayaks on Liberty Street right below the new Freedom Tower and into "North Cove". 

Kayakers waiting for swimmer with Jersey City waterfront in background

Kayakers waiting: Freedom Tower in the background.

This year the race began at Pier A which is right below South Cove and right above the Miss Liberty ferry.  We had a start time of around 9:30 am timed for the tides to help us up the East River and down the Hudson River.

All swimmers waiting for the start

Our support boat: Adrian, Sam & Sean and the captain

 The timing was perfect with a fast ride up the East river to Hells Gate. There was a little tide running down the Harlem River but it was not bad. The first leg of the relay is to the Williamsburg Bridge where the 2nd swimmer begins, then the Queensboro bridge where the third swimmer begins and finally the foot bride to Ward's Island where the forth swimmer begins.  After that they switch every 30 minutes. Once they reached upper Manhattan & the Bronx the tide in the Harlem River was pulling them north out to the Hudson. The longer we were in the Hudson the stronger the tide grew so that by the time we reached 125th St. I was moving about 5 mph without paddling. It was a great ride.

Waiting to make the switch

The new swimmer taps the leg of the finishing swimmer

The Little Red Lighthouse below the George Washington Bridge

Grants Tomb & Riverside Cathedral

 All the way down the Hudson we were neck in neck between 1st & 2th place with another team.
Here you can see the two swimmers between myself and Manny, the kayaker for the other team.

 We finished with a great time in 3rd place. Congratulations to Sean, Anton, Sam & Adrian who swam a great race. Hope to see you again next year.

Our team with the finish line (that big red buoy) in the background.