The promised photos

Here's a photo dump that I've been meaning to post.

The Clean Harbor Swim (aka 1.2 miles of saltwater and potential shark attacks):

Here's a very detailed map of the course:

The red X is the start and finish. So, we had a water start and a water finish. This means that before the race, all of the swimmers line up between two flags in the shallow water, and once the whistle blows, you fight for swim space and the right to breathe.

I'm not joking about the breathing part. My first open water swim was a disaster. I inhaled and swallowed a lot of water during the start, and I almost got kicked in the face.

Moving forward - to put the course in perspective:

You can see the first set of buoys between the boats:

And this photo shows you where the second set of buoys were located with respect to the first set:

I tried to take a photo of the entire course from shore, but you couldn't really see the second set of buoys from the beach.

This was Austin and me before the race:

 Look how happy we are!

This is us after the race:

Austin and I were really tired and hungry. Jon's the only one that looks genuinely happy. Probably because he didn't swim.

This is my brother's white coat ceremony:

 He's going to be a REAL doctor! Not the fake, not really useful kind that I am going to be!

And more proof that Richard and I are siblings. No one believes that we are related. According to my older sister, my parents found me in the dumpster, which explains why I don't look like anyone in my family. But I think we look somewhat related in this photo.

The last open water swim of the season is in two weeks. The one-mile race is called the Sharkfest swim. The irony is not lost on me. Wish me luck!