Catfish Crawl South Bay Open Water Swim Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Marlene S.
Redwood City, CA

  (08-03-2009)

"See my complete review and pictures on my blog @ www.accentfitness.net

I would say that it started out like every other race except but it actually started later because I didn't need to get up until 6AM and have been getting up at 5:30AM to make it to 6AM master swim class these past two weeks. Once awake, I had my typically double oatmeal breakfast and warmed Cytomax to go. I stopped by the Starbucks for the grande latte and then headed down to Steven's Creek Reservoir for the swim race. The venue was easy to find and I came across a park entrance where they were directly traffic into the parking lot. Once there, I saw a school bus which was meant to shuttle us to the starting area. So I hopped on it and we headed less than a mile further down the street to the expo area. There was actually a small parking area there and also street parking so if you were there early enough, I bet you could get a spot there and avoid the sometimes dreaded shuttle bus. I never have a probably taking the shuttle bus out but always seem to encounter issues on the return trip (more on that later).

Unlike a triathlon, there's no need for a transition area but people just placed their gear bags all over the place, which was ok since there was plenty of room. The venue had a good supply of port-a-potties and water and energy gels. I did a brief warm-up run and stretching session. One major improvement of this race compared to the last USA Productions event (SVODT) in June was the inclusion of Eileen and Reid Swanson as announcers. They provided ongoing information on the course and setup. It was very helpful!

I got all geared up in the wetsuit and was ready in the water for the 8AM anticipated start. However, minutes before.. they announced that the start would be delayed until 8:30AM because apparently so late comers did not enough time to make the shuttle bus. So I chose to get out of the water and wait on land.

So the second start time approached and it was back into the water. It was a floating start with all participates, men and women of all ages, starting at the same time. I knew I wanted to start towards the front but definitely was concerned about getting crawled over by men. However, no fear so I went for it. I sprinted out on the start and it was definitely a lot less aggressive than I worried about. No one clawed or grabbed me. In retrospect, I probably swam fast enough to avoid that. :-)

The water was warm and pleasant. It was not very clear but it was clean. Note to self for the next swim race is to know ahead of time the exact number of buoys. Somewhere past the midpoint of the swim, it tends to get confusing and I could not remember exactly where I was in the course. But I did notice that at first, there went from being tons of people around and in front of me. But it seemed like that just all disappeared towards the midpoint. I was almost all alone. I guess that turned out to me a good thing but I didn't realize it at the time. I started getting really hot in the wetsuit around the 3rd to last buoy. I definitely see why people were not wearing wetsuit... you can totally sweat in them!

So I approached the final buoy and sprinted into the finish gate. It was nice to get out of the water and not have to run into transition and get ready to bike. I did notice there were only a couple swimmers out of the water so I figured I did fairly well. Another improvement on this race compared to SVODT is that they had the results within 30 minutes. Of course, swim only event timing isn't as complicated as the triathlon timing but it is still nice to have fast results. I learned that I came in 1st in my age group. I was so thrilled! All of my early morning swim workouts have definitely paid-off.

The Awards ceremony was held around 10AM. I received a new prize bag. I do wish that there had been a medal or certificate but hey, who's care, I still won. :-)

After the ceremony, I searched for the shuttle bus but it was no where to be found. I figured the drive had been so short that I could just walk back. Of course, that ended up taking around 20 minutes and by the time I got to the parking lot entrance, the shuttle bus was pulling out.

All in all, a great day and a great event by USA Productions! I will definitely do it again next year, especially since I received a gift certificate for free entry fee because I was a winner. :-)"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

barbara S.
Los Altos Hills, CA

  (07-30-2009)

"This was my second year doing this, and i definitely enjoyed it more last year than this time. Mainly my own personal issues, but also some organizational problems that are becoming the norm for USA productions.
I opted for the 2.4 mile swim thinking it would be a great way to track my ironman training progress. I wore my wetsuit and totally overheated. Really wished i had just worn a suit. The water is fairly clean and the course is well marked though i wish an announcement was made prior to the start going over the course and buoys.

USA productions is under new ownership this year. This was their 3rd event this summer and none of them have started on time. The 2.4 mile swim started 30 min late. Food isn't great and they strictly ration what they serve. I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt- these are all local races that i love doing, but i really hope they get it together- quickly!"

Reviewed by a: Repeat Participant for 2009

Heather Z.
San Francisco, CA

  (07-29-2009)

"This was my first year participating in the Catfish Crawl; I did the 2.4 mile swim in a wetsuit. The water is WARM a little too warm for a full wetsuit but I don’t own a sleeveless and wasn’t sure if I should or shouldn’t wear one. Since I always wear a wetsuit when I swim outside the pool (I swim in Aquatic Park) I opted to wear it.

Stevens Creek Reservoir is a nice place to swim; the 1.2 distance it one lap around the perimeter of the reservoir and the 2.4 is two laps. The course was well mapped with buoys that were easy to spot and close enough together to keep you on course. It was a mass start, no waves. The 1.2 mile race started then 45 minutes later the 2.4 mile race started.

The parking is no where near the race area. The race organizers had a bus that shuttled people from the parking to the race start, but it was only one bus and a lot of people didn’t show up early. Both races were delayed by a half hour to accommodate the late arrivals. Be sure to show up early for this race; you don’t want to miss the bus and the start of the race.
"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009