Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

What goes around, comes around in the open water.

12 years ago, Bob Placak woke up at 5:45 am ready to drive to the Lake Berryessa Open Water Swim in northern California that annually draws several hundreds of masters swimmers. Placak had been competing in Lake Berryessa since 1985.

But his wife Graciela had other plans for the long-time masters swimmer and founder of the Tiburon Mile. “She informed me that instead of going to Lake Berryessa, we were going to have a baby. So we headed off to the hospital instead.”

Placak’s 11-year-old son Robert swam the one-mile event at Lake Berryessa last year for the first time. “Robert swam it with his 3 brothers and me so Berryessa holds a special place in the hearts of our family.”

Yesterday, son Robert and father Bob both swam in Lake Berryessa, both stood on the awards podium. “He swam the one mile and I competed in the two mile.” He finished third in the 11-12 boys division, while Bob won his 55-59 age group by a comfortable 3.5 minutes while finishing sixth overall.

Lower photo shows Robert receiving a bit of pre-race advice on the course navigation from his father.

Lake Berryessa Female Overall Combined Masters Results
1 Susan Preston (54 years) 46:43.30 (2 mile) + 22:05.45 (1 mile) = 1:08:48.75
2 Laura Val (64) 49:30.40 (2 mile) + 23:03.10 (1 mile) = 1:12:33.50
3 Kimberly Elsbach (53) 50:35.75 (2 mile) + 23:30.65 (1 mile) = 1:14:06.40

Lake Berryessa Male Overall Combined Masters Results
1 Trevor Gillis (40) 43:49.90 (2 mile) + 20:04.20 (1 mile) = 1:03:54.10
2 Chad La Tourette (27) 44:06.30 (2 mile) + 20:09.95 (1 mile) = 1:04:16.25
3 Wyatt Butler (23) 44:13.30 (2 mile) + 21:33.70 = 1:05:47.00

Complete results are posted here.

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