Courtesy of Viral Hog captures the ultimate escort boat on video.
When open water swimmers, stage swimmers, relays, channel swimmers and marathon swimmers do their adventures in the open water, they almost always use escort boats.
Guided by GPS, a knowledgeable pilot and a supportive crew, the escort boat is the guide to and lifeline of the swimmers in the open bodies of water.
Everything is fine, usually, from shore to shore or from Point A to Point B in a point-to-point crossing. The swimmer stays near the boat, swimming parallel to the boat and stopping as necessary for feedings and guidance. The pilot and crew can keep a close eye on the swimmers, maintaining a suitable level of safety.
But there are two times in these crossings and linear swims when the pilot and crew can be far away from the swimmers: at the start and at the finish.
Viral Hog captured the ultimate escort boat – a boat that can literally crawl up on the shore: see here.
Think about the advantages of this kind of escort boat:
1. The crew can get up on shore and provide support to the swimmer both at the start and finish.
2. The swimmer does not have to swim into shore at the start or back out to the boat at the finish – the swimmer can be dropped off and picked up right on shore.
3. The swimmer’s gear (clothing, goggles, swim cap, lanoline, feedings, mobile phone) can be brought right on land.
4. The crew does not have to get wet.
5. Photos and videos can be taken right at the start and finish by the crew and swimmers.
6. Kayaks and paddle boards can be easily put on the boat from land.
7. Supporters with physical disabilities or wheelchairs can join in on the swim and board the boat with fewer problems.
8. Swimmers and crew can get right off the boat and head back to the hotel from the finish instead of having to go back to port or harbor.
9. Lights and camera crew (for dramatic finishes of unprecedented swims) can be brought on shore to illuminate the area around the start and finish more easily – especially at night – rather than shining a spot light on shore from the boat idling off shore.
The boat offers is a new way of thinking about starts and finishes in the open water.
Copyright © 2015 by World Open Water Swimming Association