Ride the Tide

By Mike McGrath

How do you go from swimming 2.4 miles in 64 minutes one year to under 49 minutes the next year? It’s like that old joke: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? PRACTICE.

But practice what? Do you swim 5-6 times a week piling up the 10,000-12,000 yards? Not if you’re almost hitting the big “six oh” like me. Do you weight train like a body builder? Not if you’re 5’8”, 135lbs, and you have arms more like Olive Oyl than Popeye; I could easily pose for artists drawing stick figures.

About 400 swimmers competed in the Low Country Splash held in Charlestown, SC this past May 31^st. The Splash was held in the Cooper River with a tide estimated at 1.5mph. Some would call that turbo boost; I call it a godsend. The salt water temperature was about 76 degrees—very comfortable.

At 8:00am a horn signaled the race start. I began stoking as slowly as I possibly could and as close to the far right buoys marking the course in the middle of the river. Last year I started fast and got out of breath. Also, I swam close to the shore and had to dodge docks when I headed a little left. My thinking was that in the middle of the river the current is strongest and everyone swims close to shore so I had the outside “lanes” to myself.

The wind was against the swimmers and created a light chop. What to do? Swim harder? I don’t think so. Whine about it? No. Swim through it? Not stick man. Then it came to me: Relax your arms. Yes. Get into a rhythm. Yes; the rhythm happens if you let it. I didn’t consciously think of swimming 30 or 35 strokes per minute. It’s a “not doing” thing for me. You get comfortable in the water, you breathe in and out, and suddenly a rhythm occurs. Last year it never happened.

Time passes. The rhythm pushes me on more than will power. I look up every once in a while to check direction and  remember to keep my toes pointed—last year I dragged a toe anchor. I think about the two 2-mile swims I did in the channel; they felt easy—not because I swam so great but because I swam relaxed and thought “ride the tide, ride the tide.”

The huge Cooper River bridge appears in front of me and I pass under the correct archway. One mile to go. I had to swim sideways last year to get under the right arch and that cost me time and made me breathless.

Something scratches my right rib. What was that? A jellyfish? Seaweed? No. It was a course monitor in a kayak trying to get my attention to move to the left. I tell her I am on course to the left of the rightmost buoys. She is concerned because everyone else is swimming on the left side. She leaves me alone.

All right, I’ll admit it: I lost focus in the last quarter mile. The wind picked up. I got tired of the waves slapping me in the face and swallowed some water. The big pink balloons at the finish beckoned me. I swam past the balloons and stopped my watch: 48:41. Wow, almost 16 minutes better than last year!

I finished 4th in my age group about a minute or so behind the winner. The 60-64 age group winner finished roughly 5 minutes ahead.. Next year I have my work cut out for me.

Mike McGrath resides in the beach town of Wilmington, NC with Jean, his wife of 36 years.  As a kid he swam competitively at the Y and breaststroke in high school.  He took a brief (20+ year) sabbatical from swimming to learn to run marathons (including the Boston Marathon), but resumed swimming in the late eighties to do triathlons.   He likes to read and write, spoil his grandchild, and play golf when he’s not working at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.   Although sixty, Mike won’t believe he’s old until his 30-year old daughter beats him at any endurance event or his 31-year old son beats him at golf.

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