END-WET 2021
endracing
Grand Forks, NDMember
Hi all, there is a lot of discussion in the END-WET 2020 thread, but here's an official announcement that END-WET 2021 will be happening this year.
All information on the website: https://endracing.com/end-wet. Race date is June 19.
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15 weeks away and we've waiting over a year to swim this race... who's excited?!?! Can any veterans of the race help us estimate our finish times? For example, if we swim 2 miles per hour in a pool, END-WET will take ____? Obviously it varies upon flow rate, height of the river, etc. Just trying to get a range.
Super excited to meet a few other marathon swimmers in person. In my town, everyone just thinks I'm crazy.
The range of possible finish times varies by hours from one year to the next. There is a very handy scatter plot on the END racing website that shows the range of finish times each year (or at least there was when I did it a few years ago). Since the cutoff time is around 16 hours, I mentally and physically prepared myself to potentially swim that long. It took me 10 hours and 49 minutes. They put mile markers along the bank for each mile, but I was still surprised when I got to the end and it was under 11 hours. Have a great swim, you’re gonna love it!!
Check out https://longswims.com/events/end-wet-red-river-swim/ for a nice listing of the results. Some people, like Sandra Frimerman-Bergquist, have swum the event multiple years. 2012-2013 was a shorter course, and her time was over two hours faster in 2013 then the previous year. On the longer course, her fastest was 9:21 and slowest 10:44, so lots of variability in the current from year to year, hard to predict the time.
Yes, I am a bit slower than Lakebagger, we did it the same year. I do a little over 2 miles an hour in the pool and was swimming for 13 hours. Great event, I was registered to do again in 2020 and this year but lack of ability to train has led me to ask them to push my registration out 1 more year.
Rivers swim is most crazy swims!
Sea.ocean.lake is ok.but river is diferent!
I swim one time in river.befor so many years 10km in Sevilla.Spain! Was cool! Hot and crazy! This End-Wet looks funy!
On my opinion N1 crazy and hard river swim is Murshidabad.west bengal.India!)
If One day covid19 is on history.i hope try Murshidabad!
Health and good luck to all End-Wet swimmers!
The plots @LakeBagger mentioned are in the course book: https://endracing.com/end-wet/course-book. I'll update them with 2019 data soon.
Here's a quick plot showing finish times for the same swimmer across years.
I am very interested in this event. Any former swimmers in the event willing to answer a few questions about the event for me? Mainly about your training heading into the swim. I have done several events in the 10-13 mile (5-6 hour) range but so interested in making jump to longer swims.
@ddoohaluk-- I'm happy to answer any questions, although everyone is different! END-WET was my transition from the 5-6 hour Portland Bridge swim to longer (20 plus mile) swims and it was a great one to transition on for a couple reasons:
1) the water was not cold (like low 70s)
2) the current was a major morale booster. Even when you stopped to feed, you kept moving
3) the race was well organized, the organizers were friendly and approachable and the other swimmers were just awesome to be around
The summer (and several years) before END-WET I was averaging a comfortable 30k/week. Starting in the December prior, I gradually started to increase the weekly distance to 40k. I'd go 5k Monday-Thursday, a 10k Friday and a 10k Saturday. I averaged 45k/week during March, April and May, ranging from 40-60k/week. The increase in distance came from keeping the other days the same, while gradually increasing my Saturday practices from 10k to 20k.
Some other experienced and skillful swimmers I met at the race had trained 30k/week and they did great, but one said she would not recommend doing it on that little amount of weekly distance. Everyone is different, so trust your body and gradually increase to whatever you are able to do without hating swimming or getting too fatigued or injured.
For people who don't mind reading my lengthy ramblings, more info about training for it is on my blog post https://oregonlakebagging.wordpress.com/2018/06/12/preparing-for-end-wet/ and there is a separate post about the swim itself.
Thanks @LakeBagger! This is exactly what I am looking for. My volume is currently a bit less than where you were at this time of the year (25-36K per week) but I can definitely increase on that as I am also still running and biking (as I am a recovering triathlete). I am sure I can get to the 40-45K mark by April and build from there. Right now I am swimming 4500-5500 per swim but know I can easily start moving some to 10K or plus. Over the summer and fall, I was swimming lots of 8-10K swims. Knowing where your May/June volume was and that your long swims were 20K is super helpful.
I am talking with my coach this weekend so I will be making my decision soon so thank you so much for this. I have 3 Rivers and Swim the Suck on the calendar for later this year but am getting antsy since last year was such a bust. Swim Around Charleston 2019 was my last real event.
I will now head on over to your blog and check out all the details. I will be back if I have any more questions.
@ddoohaluk my aim on my training was to get to a few continuous weeks of the total distance of the swim, so roughly 60km weeks for a few weeks. I have been a believer in the motto of "you can swim in a day what you can swim in a week" as a barometer of my ability to finish and so far it has stood me well
@Copelj26 Thanks for that tip! You are not the first to give me that piece of advice so I am super happy to have another backing of this training methodology. I am confident that I can build to and incorporate a few weeks of 60km in my training. You all are making me excited. I may just be able to do this!
This is all very helpful! Thank you seasoned veterans! I'm grateful for this whole forum. It's easy to feel alone in this sport. And while they're encouraging, even my coach and the master's swim instructor both think I'm absolutely crazy.
@Lsmetter, definitely not crazy, and I bet you'll meet some cool fellow marathon swimmers there. @ddoohaluk keep us posted if you decide to do it--maybe you can even meet Lsmetter there! Doing all that biking and running in addition to a solid amount of swimming should give you the aerobic base you need to transition to more swimming. Just keep your shoulders healthy as you go up in distance and it should be just fine, I would think.
@LakeBagger After reading all these posts and talking with my coach, I am going to go for it. I look forward to meeting @Lsmetter and others there. And @Lsmetter if you ever want to chat or vent about training, please reach out. Looking forward to lots of swimming these next few months!!
@ddoohaluk Yay!!!! Glad our excitement for END-WET was infectious enough to convince you! I look forward to meeting you!
Can any EndWet veterans please help me with a few planning things:
Anything else I should know?
I can't comment on what is better (renting or Uber) (because I live here), but where are you staying? We can shuttle vehicles back from the start to the finish.
You can pack all your feeds in the beginning, or pick up a second bag/drop off empty bottles at the Thompson Bridge checkpoint.
--Beek
Thanks! I am staying at the Fairfield Inn and I think I have decided to rent a car. Just to clarify, if I leave bottles are they gone forever? I would feel bad making my kayaker carry empty bottles but wont want to leave them either...
I am also traveling solo but flying into Fargo so I will have a rental car. Based on the guide book, the race provides transport to the start. Is that not true? Do I need to start stressing about finding a ride to the start? I am stating at an AirBnb near 8th and Washington if that matters.
Per the guide book, any gear left at Thompson Bridge is gone forever. If you want your bottles back, it looks like you will need to have your kayaker bring everything to the finish. My plan is to use junk bottles at the start so I don't mind loosing them mid-way.
@endracing Thanks for your help so far! I have another question. Is it possible to exchange contact info with our assigned kayaker before the race weekend? I would love to connect with them and talk about the swim.
@ddoohaluk we do provide transportation to the start.
We do our best to reunite gear left at Thompson Bridge with swimmers at the finish line. As long as items/bags are labeled with your name we can handle it.
Now that registration has closed, we're in the process of assigning paddlers and will introduce paddlers and swimmers a few weeks before the race.
Thank you!
Thank you @endracing! Just one more question for you, is there a place (either pool or open water) that you could recommend for a pre-race swim on Friday??
The river is available to swim if you have a paddler with you. In previous years folks have gotten together (on Facebook event, if you do that thing) to organize a swim over the last three miles or so of the course from Lincoln Drive Park to the finish line.
Other potential locations are Larimore Dam recreation area (~25 miles west of town, open water), YMCA (indoor), and Choice Fitness (indoor).
Beek
I called the Y and we can swim there for $10.
We did a test swim day before, people met at the final bridge before the end point and swam from there. Not a particularly long swim but got us in the water
You can follow today on https://track.rs/endwet