NYC Swim dropping shorter races

evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
edited May 2014 in General Discussion
This discussion was created from comments split from: Manhattan Island Marathon Swim 2013.
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  • suziedodssuziedods Mem​ber
    edited May 2014
    From the NYC Swim newsletter***
    Thus, we've come to the difficult decision that this will be the final season for many of NYC Swim's shorter events. This is likely your last call for the Great Hudson River Swim, Governors Island Swim, Statue of Liberty Swim, Brooklyn Bridge Swim, and Stars & Stripes: Aquathlon and Swim under the auspices of NYC Swim (although we hope to work with another organization to keep them going). We love all of these events—not to mention the community that has grown up around them—and will say good-bye to the magical waters they cover with a tear and a smile. Looking ahead, we plan to continue organizing the Little Red Lighthouse Swim as a mass-participation event (and we reserve the right to modify our plans for this event and the others).

    NYC Swim is also planning to continue offering marathon swims, likely shifting the format primarily to solo/individual swims along the lines of what the Catalina and English Channel federations have developed. This will give swimmers more flexibility throughout the summer to realize their dreams.
  • gregocgregoc Charter Member
    No way?!? I did not see MIMS on this list. I hope they plan on keepin it and not just doing solos.
  • swimmer25kswimmer25k Charter Member
    gregoc wrote:
    No way?!? I did not see MIMS on this list. I hope they plan on keepin it and not just doing solos.

    Right on, Greg. The MIMS should remain a race and not a solo effort. Racing a long swim is a completely different animal than a solo effort. Leave it the way it is.
  • gregocgregoc Charter Member
    I've read the full newsletter and it appears Morty is just cutting back on events, but MIMS will remain a race as well as the Little Red Lighthouse. My wife and I are bummed about the Statue of Liberty Swim.
  • jcmalickjcmalick Wilmington, DEMember
    I would gather in 2015 there would still have to be a small race as it is the 100th Anniversary and that's a big deal (for the last few years it's been advertised likely in the anticipation of bringing in some of the record holders...kind of like the Hunger Games Quarter Quell )! Otherwise, I can see why with an event like that you may go from a race format to a solo based on the category (Triple Crown) that it currently is in (also provided the problems following the wake of Hurricane Sandy that still leaves its effects).

    If C3 were to happen again, unlikely unless someone else takes the reigns or I revamp it further down the line, swimmers would definitely need at least an individual escort boat (thus jacking up the price unless done like @gregoc whereby finding your own escort boat and keeping the entrance fees affordable) or the swim would need to be conducted on a solo basis (much easier to coordinate the success/completion of one swim than 10+).
  • malinakamalinaka Seattle, WACharter Member
    With the new 12mi "Brooklyn Coast Line Swim" (sic) added to the list of four MIMS dates (3 solo, 1 relay) this year, plus Ederle and LRLH...that is 7 long swims this summer and a packed calendar even without the shorter events. Sounds like a conscious move away from shorter events. There will be a void in NYC for someone to fill.

    I don't wear a wetsuit; it gives the ocean a sporting chance.

  • loneswimmerloneswimmer IrelandCharter Member
    Sounds like a conscious move away from shorter events. There will be a void in NYC for someone to fill
    .

    A forum member showed me this a couple of months back: Lady Liberty Sharkfest.

    loneswimmer.com

  • lakespraylakespray Senior Member
    Sadly I was going to say they might want to turn the shorter events over to a for profit company, however they may have already moved in. :|
  • bruckbruck San FranciscoMember
    lakespray wrote:
    Sadly I was going to say they might want to turn the shorter events over to a for profit company
    NYC Swim is a for-profit company.
  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member
    Sounds like a conscious move away from shorter events. There will be a void in NYC for someone to fill
    .

    A forum member showed me this a couple of months back: Lady Liberty Sharkfest.

    Holy crap. $150 for a 1.5 mile swim.

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • suziedodssuziedods Mem​ber
    The "shark fest' swims as well as the Alcatraz swims run about that much.
    At least with the South End Invitational you get breakfast, you get trinkets, you get Lynne Cox, you get a t-shirt...
    And if you are doing a cost by distance analytic, MIMS is about the same. $2500 for 28.5 miles.
    EC- ~ $3000 for 21 miles. That's pilot fees alone.
    What I'm getting at is you can't really do a "cost per mile" analytic. Well , you can but it doesn't really make sense.
  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member
    @suziedods, I'm not doing a cost/mile because I think the longer the race, the more I'm willing to pay. I don't mind paying $2500 for 28.5 miles or $3K for "21 miles". But 1.5 miles for $100/mile. Sorry.

    And I do calculus based on other costs too. If that 1.5 miles were here in DC, I'd probably do it, because it would cost next to nothing for me to get there. But to go all the way to NY, hotel, then only swim a 1.5. Nope.

    But I don't blame the organizers! Before anyone yells at me about that. I understand it costs big bucks to run these things. I'm just going to spend my money (limited though it is) elsewhere.

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • The Boston and Newport Sharkfests are "only" $60. I suspect they charge a lot more for Alcatraz and Lady Liberty because they can. The demand is high enough that there are people willing to pay.
  • malinakamalinaka Seattle, WACharter Member
    Enviro-sports, the organizers for Sharkfest as well as Escape from the Rock, are sponsored by Xterra Wetsuits. It will be interesting to see if they maintain the currently high standards set by NYC Swim and CIBBOWS, or if they continue to treat wetsuits as a substitute for open-water experience.

    I don't wear a wetsuit; it gives the ocean a sporting chance.

  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member
    Safety-wise, I hope they don't treat wetsuits that way, @malinaka. I drill that into my triathletes all the time, especially when I hear them say "Well, I'll be wearing a wetsuit so I don't have to __(fill in the blank with some stupid comment)___."

    I don't care as long as races I go to have separate divisions.

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

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