The Triangle of Doom is my favorite swim at the South End Rowing Club!

We start at Aquatic Park, swim to Anita Rock, then up to Alcatraz, and then back to Aquatic Park.

It’s held once a year in the Fall, and is kind of a crapshoot. The currents are tough to predict, the weather is hard to predict, and somtimes it just doesn’t happen. I was part of the first successful Triangle of Doom back in 2015 and haven’t swam it since. Last year, I dropped out because the air quality was really bad and I was worried about being outside that much.

This year, the current was pretty favorable. The fog was incredibly thick and you could barely see Alcatraz from land (and vice versa) I was worried we’d have to cancel the swim, but the pilots felt it wa safe enough so we gave it a shot.

2hr51min later, I finished! The swim was long, but I never doubted that I’d make it. I was glad to have finished and had a great time. And a great nap afterwards.

AS a compare-and-contrast, this went much better than last time. Last time, it was my biggest swim ever at the time, and I didn’t bring anything to feed on during the swim. That time, my blood sugar level dropped right in the middle of the third leg, and I felt really down, and stuck. There’s a “river” of current on the west side of Alcatraz that makes it feel like you’re swimming in place and I worried I’d have to get in the boat. This time, Sarah reminded me that the river existed so I could mentally prepare for feeling like I wasn’t making any progres. Overall, it’s a good reminder of how far I’ve come in the last 4 years of open water swimming.