Tampa Bay Marathon Swim 2014

RonCollins

The entry form for the 17th Annual 24 Mile Tampa Bay Marathon Swim is now available at http://distancematters.com Hope you can make it to our event next April 19th, 2014. If not, please feel free to pass along the info to someone who is considering swimming as a soloist or relay.

Also, we are booking training/qualifying sessions here in Clearwater/Tampa, Florida for November - March. Our water temps usually hover around 60F during the winter, so contact us if you would like to plan your cold water acclimation training or qualification swim with us in the coming months.

Thank you,

Ron Collins
www.DistanceMatters.com

caburke

Fellow swimmers, I've participated in this race several times both as a solo and on a relay and assure you that this is a great event. It’s a beautiful swim around bridges, downtown, nature preserves and sand bars. The race is well organized and the entry fee is a bargain compared to other comparable events. I hope to see some of you in 2014.

timsroot

I'm very seriously considering going for it. I even have pre-approval from the wife

heart

Coming back, this time with friends! I have unfinished business with the Gandy Bridge.

evmo

Tampa Bay is a test. Not as famous as MIMS or Catalina, but very much their peer. Highly recommended.

evmo

The start list for the <a href="http://distancematters.com">TBMS</a&gt; (coming up in 3 weeks) has been posted. A few Forum members in the mix! Good luck to all.<hr/>
Solos

Samantha Simon, 24F, Janesville, WI
Lisa Hertz, 28F, Winter Haven, FL
Thomas Bell, 45M, Wyomissing, PA
Kevin Joubert, 41M, Towson, MD
Gabriel Viti, 50M, Highland Park, IL
Thomas Hintz, 48M, Marshall, IL
Willy Blumentals, 41M, Secaucus, NJ
Bridgette Hobart, 51F, Lake Hopatcong, NJ
Carl Selles, 67M, Aurora, CO
Ann von Spiegelfeld, 52F, Tampa, FL
Dan Fritz, 50M, Chicago, IL
Arnie Bellini, 54M, Tampa, FL
Bart Cobb, 59M, Tampa, FL
Genevieve Mackwood, 54F, Ottawa, Ontario
Brian Lanahan, 38M, Charleston, SC
Steve Faulkner, 52M, Barrie, Ontario

Relays

Bull Shark Beach Open Water Swim Club
Big Donald Lutton, 44M, Miami, FL
Andrew Lutton, 49M, Tampa, FL
Christopher Beach, 44M, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Bubba Drody, 45M, Coral Gables, FL
Juan Cue, 54M, Tampa, FL
Scott Linebaugh, 53M, Tampa, FL

Delmarva Dogfish
David Speier, 58M, Bishopville, MD
Jennifer Underwood, 31F, Salisbury, MD
Bill Snyder, 64M, Princess Anne, MD
Jeffrey Benner, 54M, Salisbury, MD
Charles Potterton, 38M,Salisbury, MD
Bruce Anderson, 61M, Salisbury, MD

Kona Kaizen
Vince Schaper, 49M, St. Paul, MN
Hadar Aviram, 39F, San Francisco, CA
Cynthia Thomas, 65F, Houston, TX

SYSM Shark Bait
Fernette Ramnath, 48F, Englewood, CO
Terri Goodman, 54F, Sarasota, FL
Marty Rauch, 49M, Sarasota, FL
Ray Becker, 53M, Sarasota, FL

swimmer25k

evmo wrote:

Tampa Bay is a test. Not as famous as MIMS or Catalina, but very much their peer. Highly recommended.

TBMS is probably my all-time favorite race. Stripped down with no BS. I've always felt that TBMS should be added to the Triple Crown to complete the Grand Slam of Marathon Swimming.

caburke

Actually…things went quite well last year. The boat you see in the photo was a 17’ deck boat with four large adults on board and no working bilge pump. It should have never been used for support. This boat was not furnished by the race organizers, it was brought in by one of the swimmers.

Surprisingly, the boat went down around mile four yet the swimmer it was supporting still went on to win the race. It was a great display of the cooperation amongst marathon swimmers.

evmo

Good luck to all the Tampa Bay marathoners this weekend, and may the tides be ever in your favor!

Kevin_in_MD

Evan, It isn't the tides, it's the 18 mph forecast winds we'll be worried about.

jcmalick

Great job to all the participants of TBMS! Very tough conditions as anyone that was there can attest and only 5 solo swimmers out of 16 starters! Winds were out of the west and created swells of 2-3 feet that increased in intensity as the day went on to 5-6 FT! The first solo swimmer coming in in 12 hours attests to the conditions working against the field! Huge shout out to the crews, boat captains, kayakers, volunteers, race director (Ron), and safety personnel!

Kevin_in_MD

Yeah, as one of the many who didn't make it, those 5 that did are some kind of tough.

swimmer25k

TBMS is the best marathon swimming race out there, hands down.

swimchica623

I finished at 12:46.... it was a really fun but challenging race!!!! @jcmalick was an amazing kayaker!
My friend Ann finished last year and this year and thought this year was harder in some ways (I think it took her a tiny bit longer this year)... mostly because it was unrelenting...lots of chop the whole way.
It was such a great and fun event, well-organized, any glitches dealt with immediately, and it was amazing to see so many dedicated, accomplished marathon swimmers all in one place!
I highly recommend this event, just make sure you are ready, because it's not an easy one!

heart

Well done, @swimchica623!!!

As many of you know, my race experience was somewhat different than that of everyone else, as four hours of it were spent being evacuated and later at a St. Petersburg hospital with an IV, watching daytime TV. Good times, folks, good times. But you know what - this is just one more day we got to swim. And, I went for a half-hour dip in the bay this morning before heading to the airport, and SWAM WITH A DOLPHIN. Which, alone, was worth the trip.

This has evoked many thoughts about the role of racing in my life, and I'm going to get checked up before I decide what to do with the rest of the season. But I enjoyed meeting everyone, and am cheering for everyone in the race - starters, finishers, crew members.

RonCollins

Samantha Simon Claims Victory and Tames a Choppy Tampa Bay Marathon Swim

Samantha Simon, a 24 year old marathon swimmer from Janesville, Wisconsin endured a breezy and choppy day to lead the field, with only 5 of the 16 solo swimmers able to complete the course. Her time of 12 hours, 18 minutes was more than three hours longer than her time from 6 years ago.

Samantha Simon's first marathon swim was in Tampa Bay in 2008, when she was just about to graduate high school as an 18 year old. Not only did she complete that challenge in 8 hours, 59 minutes, she also went on to successfully complete swims of The English Channel (13 hours, 11 minutes), The Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (8 hours, 10 minutes), and The Catalina Channel (9 hrs, 22 minutes) in 2010, at age 20, to become the youngest person to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.

Carl Selles, 67, become the oldest ever to swim the 24 mile length of Tampa Bay. Another record was set by Arnie Bellini who finished course in 16 hours, 17 minutes to establish a new endurance mark for the event. Of the 4 relay teams that started the event, three teams were able to finish the swim, with the Bull Shark Open Water Swim Club finishing with the fastest time of the day, 10 hours, 8 minutes.

Official Results - Solo Swimmers

Samantha Simon, 24F, Janesville, WI - 12 hours, 18 minutes
Lisa Hertz, 28F, Winter Haven, FL - 12 hours, 46 minutes
Carl Selles, 67M, Aurora, CO - 14 hours, 21 minutes
Ann von Spiegelfeld, 52F, Tampa, FL - 15 hours, 22 minutes
Arnie Bellini, 54M, Tampa, FL - 16 hours, 17 minutes

Official Results - Relay Teams

Bull Shark Beach Open Water Swim Club - 10 hours, 8 minutes
Big Donald Lutton, 44M, Miami, FL
Andrew Lutton, 49M, Tampa, FL
Christopher Beach, 44M, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Bubba Drody, 45M, Coral Gables, FL
Juan Cue, 54M, Tampa, FL
Scott Linebaugh, 53M, Tampa, FL

Delmarva Dogfish - 11 hours, 16 minutes
David Speier, 58M, Bishopville, MD
Jennifer Underwood, 31F, Salisbury, MD
Bill Snyder, 64M, Princess Anne, MD
Jeffrey Benner, 54M, Salisbury, MD
Charles Potterton, 38M,Salisbury, MD
Bruce Anderson, 61M, Salisbury, MD

SYSM Shark Bait - 11 hours, 49 minutes
Fernette Ramnath, 48F, Englewood, CO
Terri Goodman, 54F, Sarasota, FL
Marty Rauch, 49M, Sarasota, FL
Ray Becker, 53M, Sarasota, FL

jcmalick

Here is a video that I produced (I am a Malick afterall...think Terrence Malick that directed "Thin Red Line", "New World", "Tree of Life", etc) of the 2014 event focusing on Lisa Hertz @swimchica623! Enjoy and although challenging conditions, a great event!

Leonard_Jansen

@jc - Nice video and nice to "meet" @swimchica623, if only virtually.
Honest, to God, you are ubiquitous - if NASA even gets serious about the space program, all they need to do is find a way to convince you that there is water on another planet and you'll find a way to get there.

-LBJ

swimchica623

There is water on Mars, isn't there? Cold enough too?

jcmalick

Beam Me Up!!! Although weightlessness in a space ship getting there would be cool too and I'm sure there are many similarities between space food and a marathon swimmer's feed!