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Those who attended the 2015 Tampa Bay Frogman Swim enjoyed near perfect conditions for this year's event.
I had the pleasure of escorting swimmer & former SEAL Bruce Roberts, who made the trip from North Carolina for the 2015 swim. This was his third Frogman, so he knew what to expect, as did I.
As you can see at around the 1:15 mark, there are some kayakers who, while their intentions are well founded, do not have sufficient seat time to offer the support their swimmer might need.

I'm a rank amateur at video editing, but I did manage to put one together to document the event.

Nice vid, Dave. I even make a few appearances in it.

Thanks Rik. Good seeing you guys again.
Too bad the guy bailing 50 gallons of water out of his tandum sit-inside didn't make the cut.

Cole and I were rovers this year, which gives you a totally different perspective. It is amazing to watch some of the kayakers "escorting" their swimmers. Just before the first turn, I heard several tell there swimmers that the next marker was "moving" although it was "moving" upcurrent with no apparent means of propulsion. I finally convinced some of them that the marker was not moving but we were being pushed down by the current.

Everything went well although one kayaker got sick and I had to call in a jet ski, which was there immediately. I also had to keep an eye on several swimmers whose escorts seemed to be out on a Sunday stroll rather than paying attention. But, for the most part, the escorts were doing their job and keeping their swimmer on course.

I was with the Wave 3 group also. I may have been the one that backed out of the way of the your swimmer, but I couldn't really tell. I had just checked on a swimmer whose escort was about 25 yards ahead of them. All in all, it was a beautiful day to be out on the water.

Nice day and a great event. Nice to see a lot of familiar faces.

They need to do a better job on educating some of the kayak escorts how wind and currents work. I really felt sorry for the amount of swimmers that had to swim up current for a ways to get back on course.

The best part of the day was the girl who paddled her cobra explorer with an upside down paddle and paddled her boat the entire way backwards. I did not even think that was possible. She was probably more tired than any swimmer by the time she was done.

From the organizers - thank you VERY much to everyone who took the time to come out and support this event. As you can all see, we REALLY need many more kayakers with experience. We had extended conversations about how to vet people's capability, but it just hasn't been practical.

Todd, "they" would be happy to have your suggestions and help in better educating folks. I look forward to working with you! Clearly, telling them in the pre-event emails and stressing it in the morning briefing was not enough. I'm getting survey feedback saying "Someone should have told us about the tide and current," while at the same time saying they had read and understood the emails, heard and understood the briefing, and were good to go at launch time.

And since I'm among family - this isn't the first pic I've seen or conversation I've heard about this backward rig. Given the life safety nature of the kayaker role, I am surprised (and not a little disappointed) that someone on the beach could not take those two minutes and gently straighten her out. Looks like we'll have to have a kayak inspection next year before the launch.

I stepped into the coordinator role in order to try an improve the safety of the event and the experience for the kayakers. That doesn't mean I can do it alone, or that we don't all have to take care of each other out there. I know some of the wave safety kayakers were disappointed not to be escorting a swimmer. Believe me, I created that role because I believe it is every bit as important as the escort role - and now you see why.

If you participated in the event, PLEASE complete and submit the survey - and be very straightforward about what the issues were. That input is my leverage to make positive changes going forward. Here's the survey link but please only complete it once:

http://goo.gl/forms/VCGhZMYOwu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thank you all again, and here's to improvements for 2016!

Greg

BigFlyReel wrote:
And since I'm among family - this isn't the first pic I've seen or conversation I've heard about this backward rig. Given the life safety nature of the kayaker role, I am surprised (and not a little disappointed) that someone on the beach could not take those two minutes and gently straighten her out. Looks like we'll have to have a kayak inspection next year before the launch.

We didn't notice it until she was on the water and the wave was about to go off. There was a bunch of chuckling but then the wave horn blew.

And kayaks with no hatch covers. One kayaker was paddling his swimmer's Tarpon 16 with no hatch covers. I questioned him and he too felt it was questionable but the the owner/swimmer said he'd be fine.

Rik wrote: And kayaks with no hatch covers. One kayaker was paddling his swimmer's Tarpon 16 with no hatch covers. I questioned him and he too felt it was questionable but the the owner/swimmer said he'd be fine.

One thing I noticed is that some of the worst escorts were people that were brought by their swimmer. It is probably because they were mostly first timers and less experienced kayakers. It would be great if you could pair up first timers with an experienced escort for a few minutes before the start. I think just 5 minutes going over the course and safety instructions and answering questions, one on one, would be great.

dunfly wrote:One thing I noticed is that some of the worst escorts were people that were brought by their swimmer. It is probably because they were mostly first timers and less experienced kayakers.

This is interesting, and something I haven't heard before. That will be a featured component of information sent out to swimmers next year - that their choice to bring an inexperienced support kayaker affects their life safety. Thanks!

Greg

Greg-my experience is a bit different as I have escorted the same swimmer several times. We discussed his preferences before hand and stick to that. He breathes to his left so he asked that I stay to his left so he can see me. I try to stay 5' to his left and he simply follows me. When I start pulling to the left of the buoys way beforehand to take into account the wind/current he simply follows me and never looks up to see where he is going. It works out very well. I like to think he swam in one of the straightest lines any swimmer swam that was out there as I saw many swimmers swimming "upstream" due to their escort not taking into account wind/current.

The "kayak escort" is more than a simple escort, they are their course guide and are there to make sure they swim the course in the straightest line possible. My guide was the big white building furthest to the left as you head across the bay, not the buoys.

I hate to say this but if the weather is worse than it has been the past few years you will be rescuing more kayaks than swimmers. There are some that are simply unprepared for this event if the weather is bad. As it is I saw one swamped kayak this year.

It is never going to be perfect but gathering info like this will certainly help in the years to come.

This was the 5th year for mine so he was well aware of the currents. We spoke beforehand about the currents and he knew that I thought they'd be stronger than last year so he never objected to swimming a line 'up course' early.

Todd and I were in the same wave and our swimmers swam at virtually the same speed so the 4 of us were together the whole way. Even though we planned early, we were still in the 45 degree cant to the line as everyone else (it was kind of funny looking back at the other kayaks all angled) battling current. We were just 100 feet further north than most.

That last turn buoy was a relief for swimmers and kayakers alike!

Todd wrote: The best part of the day was the girl who paddled her cobra explorer with an upside down paddle and paddled her boat the entire way backwards. I did not even think that was possible. She was probably more tired than any swimmer by the time she was done.

I'm trying - tactfully - to track her down. What wave was she in?

Greg

She also had her paddle upside down. Very consistent.

Missed a good one this year it seems. Will tentatively plan to make the 2016 event, hopefully.
Thanks for the video and supporting posts. (She really paddled backwards???? …lol)

Gives me incentive to get off my dead ass, see some old friends.

mudfish wrote: (She really paddled backwards???? …lol)

Yes, she really did, and with an upside-down paddle. When I tracked her down and discussed it with her, she said she and her husband always do it that way - they're "more comfortable in the seat" with it set up like that...



Greg