Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
Open water swimmer and guide Brian Suddeth completed the first butterfly Oxford-Bellevue Sharkfest Swim this weekend.
One of America’s premier butterflyers, the 54-year-old Suddeth swam the 1.5 km course in the Tred Avon River along Maryland’s eastern shore in Oxford, Maryland in 42:33 against a headwind.
Suddeth recalls his unprecedented bioprened butterfly swim in the Sharkfest Swim Series on America’s East Coast, “While there was a false ping of a Great White named Mary Lee in the Chesapeake Bay on Friday, I only got bitten in the foot by a piece of shell at the starting walkout. The chop wasn’t bad at all and the water temperature was measured at 75ºF (23.8ºC) which felt fine.
The issues were the strong headwind that we all were fighting and the wakes from boats hitting us diagonally from the right, pushing us off course. They had a good strobe on the end of a jetty for us to aim for, but I swear they kept moving that jetty farther away.
The wind and waves made me use much more upper body than I’m used to in my fly swims, so my shoulders, triceps and even thighs are hurting more than usual today.”
Top 10 Results:
1. Chris Adams, Wetsuit (38 years) 16:49.7
2. Michael Hepp, Wetsuit (25) 17:47.7
3. Nick Burley, Wetsuit (60) 18:42.0
4. Morgan Oehler, Bioprene (15) 18:52.0 [first female]
5. Isabella Back, Bioprene (15) 19:04.2 [second female]
6. David Loewensteiner, Wetsuit (37) 19:12.4
7. Mikaela Boley, Bioprene (27) 19:20.8
8. Susanna Bruce, Bioprene (13) 19:29.9
9. Cole Riggins, Bioprene (14) 20:07.5
10. Jeremy Morris, Bioprene (43) 21:03.8
The rest of the results is here.
Copyright © 2015 by World Open Water Swimming Association