Two TWIM swimmers got their Independence Day celebrations started off the RIGHT way this year! Jenny Ferries and Dan Underbrink joined about 120 other swimmers for a July 4th Open Water Swim at Martha Lake in Lynnwood, WA. The race was sponsored by Finish Strong Events.
The event kicked off at 7AM with check-in. We got swim caps and our numbers written on our hands. The swim offered four distance options: Quarter Mile, Half-Mile, 1-Mile, and 2-Mile. Swimmers were about equally split between the 1-Mile and 2-Mile distances, with just a smattering of people swimming the shorter options. Jenny and Dan both swam the 2 Mile course. The race started at 8 AM.
The air was cool in the morning (about 60 degrees) and the weather was overcast, but there was no breeze to speak of. The water was chilly at 65 degrees, but Jenny nonetheless swam without a wetsuit – brrr! Dan, being a little more into his creature comforts, was happily encased in neoprene.
Martha Lake is just over a half-mile in length and Finish Strong established a 1-mile course with four turning buoys – twice around this for Jenny, Dan, and the other two-milers. The lake is also motor-free, so swimmers have no worries about boat traffic.
It was a great morning to be out doing open water. We were out of the lake by around 9 AM with all swimmers finishing by around 10 AM. Awards for this event were for top three male and top three female at each distance. Jenny made TWIM proud by capturing third in the Women’s 2-Mile!
This is a fun and pretty low-key event with many first-time open water swimmers in attendance. Jenny was out there to get a prep swim in before Fat Salmon, while Dan’s purpose was a little more ill-defined. “I’m pretty much just an open water nut!”, he exclaimed.
We hope to see more TWIM-folk at this event in future years.
