On November 13th morning, the sound of an air horn morphed into the splashes of 58 swimmers to start of the inaugural Snapping Tortuga Swim Series. As competitors ages 13 to 64 churned away from the shore to race against themselves and the clock, they faced either 2.5K or 5K challenges at Seven Coves in Lake Conroe, Texas while enjoying 68°F (20°C) water temperatures and excellent water quality.
The warm (80°F), partly cloudy day resulted in a fast swim by overall 5K winner, 16-year-old Kara Treacy of Corpus Christi, Texas who finished in 1:08:25.44.
When asked about her win and experience at the inaugural Snapping Tortuga, Kara explained, “I’m always on the lookout for a great open water swim and this is a swimmer’s race. The course was designed by swimmers to help competitors do what they came to do – swim fast! And, I’m honored to go down in the history books as the first winner of the 5k Snapping Tortuga.“
Since the first swim is in the books, the organizers of the Snapping Tortuga Swim Series look to the future. Created to offer a safe, fun, and exciting open water swim competition that would serve as a staple for open water swimmers of all ages, the Snapping Tortuga Swim Series will continue in 2012 with a swim scheduled for April 15th and additional dates to be added in May and June. A 500m swim will also be added for the Junior and Masters divisions.
Planning for the future of one of the fastest growing sports in the U.S, the Snapping Tortuga Swim Series Race Director, Tim Floyd said, “In the tradition of great open water swims across the country, we set out to add a fun, exciting, and safe event to the Texas open water swim landscape. With great confidence, I know that’s just what we created. We look forward to future races and more swimmers taking part in The Snapping Tortuga.“
For more information about The Snapping Tortuga Swim Series, click here.
Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source