To swim or not to swim?

Chesapeakeman registration just opened up, the best little iron-distance race in the country, which is held just 45 minutes from my house.

I'm torn. I was hoping to do the almost-half-iron triathlon that they have held with it in the past, but that's not being offered this year. They are still having the 2.4-mile swim and the 2.4/112 mile swim-bike Aqua Velo.

The last two times I was in the midst of them, I said I never wanted to do a 2.4-mile swim ever, ever again. After an hour in open water with a long way yet to go it doesn't seem like so much fun any more. Sigh.

But according to local triathlete Jude Apple, "Peak high tide is at 6:04AM and it is a relatively high one at that (1.7 ft above mean low water). This means that from about 6:15 on you will have a westward (downstream) current. . . . you should have a "tailwind" the whole way."

So. . . . maybe I'll think about it again if I have really good swims at Columbia and Eagleman. Fortunately this gem of a race hasn't been discovered by the multitudes yet and registration won't close too early to decide to enter. Then again, I can always volunteer, right?