A little over a week ago, I learned that I was accepted into the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim!  So…it is real now.  This is my first step towards tackling (and hopefully conquering) the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.  The Triple Crown consists of the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (28.5 miles around Manhattan), the Catalina Channel (21 miles between Catalina Island and the mainland of California) and the English Channel (21 miles from Dover, England to Cap Gris Nez, France).  As of August 2010, only 41 people are known to have completed the Triple Crown.  Now that I have been accepted into the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (MIMS) – I will attempt my first leg of the Triple Crown on June 18, 2011.

With the hope that I would be accepted into MIMS, I began ramping up my training this fall and, in particular, my open water training.  I’ve done a number of swims in the Rappahannock River where it meets the Chesapeake Bay.  Tomorrow, I’m hoping to attempt to do my qualifying swim for MIMS – 4 hours in 62 degree water or less.  Unfortunately, the water temperature hovered between 63-65 for a few weeks in October, then dropped precipitously to around 55.  While I swam 2 hours in water temps between 57-59 in the Boston Light Swim – 55 degrees for 4 hours is going to be quite a challenge given where I am in my acclimatisation.  We’ll see what happens when we get to Deltaville tomorrow!