2010 Calendar of Open Water Events in Utah

Below is the 2010 Calendar of Open Water Events in Utah. If you know of an event that is missing from this list or see a mistake in the information, please send me an email.

Date	Race	City	Venue	Distance	Website
Saturday May 1	St. George Ironman	St. George	Sand Hollow Reservoir	2.4 miles	www.ironmanstgeorge.com
Saturday May 15	SGTri	St. George	Sand Hollow Reservoir	750 / 1500	www.bbsctri.com
Saturday May 29	Daybreak Triathlon	Daybreak	Oquirrh Lake	750 / 1500	www.ustrisports.com
Saturday June 5	Willard Bay Triathlon	Willard	Willard Bay	750 / 1500	www.willardbaytriathlon.com
Saturday June 5	Salem Spring Tri	Salem	Salem Lake	800 yards	www.racetri.com
Saturday June 12	TriUtah Cache Valley Tri	Hyrum	Hyrum Reservoir	750 / 1500	http://www.triutah.com/
Saturday June 19	Provo Tri	Provo	Utah Lake	800 yards / 1 mile	www.provotri.com
Saturday June 26	Rock Cliff Tri	Park City	Jordanelle Reservoir	750 / 1500	www.ustrisports.com
Saturday July 10	TriUtah Echo Triathlon	Coalville	Echo Reservoir	750 / 1500	www.triutah.com
Saturday July 10	San Rafael Classic	Huntington	Huntington State Park	750 / 1500	www.sanrafaelclassic.com
Saturday July 17	Scofield Triathlon	Scofield	Scofield Reservoir	750 / 1500 / 1.75 miles	www.bbsctri.com
Saturday July 24	Stansburry Triathlon	Stansburry Park	Stansburry Lake	750 / 1500	www.ustrisports.com
Saturday August 7	Battle at Midway	Midway	Deer Creek Reservoir	750 / 1500	www.bamtriathlon.com
Saturday August 14	Deer Creek Open Water Marathon Swim	Charleston	Deer Creek Reservoir	1 mile, 5K, 10K, 10 miles	www.deercreekopenwater.com
Saturday August 14	Park City Triathlon	Park City	Jordanelle Reservoir		www.bbsctri.com
Saturday August 14	Herriman Triathlon	Herriman	Black Ridge Reservoir	500	www.racetri.com
Saturday August 21	TriUtah Jordanelle Triathlon	Heber City	Jordanelle Reservoir	750 / 1500	www.triutah.com
Saturday August 28	Bear Lake Brawl	Garden City	Bear Lake	750 / 1500	www.goldmedalracing.com
Saturday August 28	Utah Half	Provo	Utah Lake	1.2 miles	www.racetri.com
Saturday September 11	Camp Yuba Triathlon	LeVan	Yuba Lake	750 / 1500	www.racetri.com
Saturday September 18	Kokopelli	St. George	Sand Hollow Reservoir	750 / 1500	www.bbsctri.com
Saturday September 25	XTERRA Utah Off-Road Triathlon	Ogden	Pineview Reservoir	750	www.xterraplanet.com/utah
Saturday October 3	Powel3 Triathlon	Big Water	Lake Powell	750 / 1500	www.powell3.com

Colored Goggle Lenses and the Weather

If you are like me, you may have wondered why there were so many different colors of goggle lenses. Is it just for looks? Personal preference? Actually, apart from looks and personal preference, different colored lenses can also help with visibility in different weather conditions. Here is a quick list of which colored lenses are good for different weather conditions:

Black/Gray/Smoke
These darker lenses are good for bright, sunny weather. Dark lenses dim the bright sunlight so that you are not blinded when you take a breath or sight.

Blue
Blue lenses can be helpful in foggy weather.

Clear
Clear lenses are best for swimming in the evening or early morning when it is dark

Yellow
Yellow lenses work best in foggy, hazy conditions. They increases clarity even in dense fog.

Red
Red lenses increase contrast and brighten cloudy, dreary days.

Seriously? Carbon Fiber Swim Goggles?

It's seems like you can get anything in carbon fiber these days, and now you can add swimming goggles to the list. Blue Seventy's new carbon fiber goggle, the CarbonRZR, is due out March 2010 at a projected price of $100. I have to admit that they are pretty cool looking, but is there really a need for carbon fiber goggles? In all the goggles I have purchased over the years, I have never once considered how much they weighed. Are some goggles just too heavy to swim with that they decrease your performance?

I think the most I have ever spent on a pair of new goggles was around $30. For the price of a pair of CarbonRZR's, I could buy about five pairs of my favorite goggles.

What do you think?

Long Distance Swimming Workouts

I have been having a hard time finding pool workouts that are long enough to prepare me for the long distance open water swims that I am planning this summer. Surfing around on Active.com I found a pretty good selection of workouts for distance swimmers. Here are a few of them:

Distance Set From Open Water Champ Kalyn Keller

8,000 Meters With South African star Ryk Neethling

Try The Grand Prix With Olympian Cristina Teuscher

I have been doing the second of the three workouts for the past month or so on my long swim days with shorter variations during the week. It is challenging, but splits up the yardage enough that it doesn't get boring.

What are your favorite high yardage workouts?

Product Review: Tri Swim Chlorine-Out Body Wash, Shampoo and Lotion

One of the reasons that I love open water swimming is that I don't have to deal with the smell, itching and dry skin caused by chlorinated water.

Battling the effects of chlorine is an age old problem for swimmers. Apart from the strong chlorine smell that stays will you all day after your morning workout, there is also the itching and dry skin. There are now several products on the market that can be used to combat chlorine (unfortunately they didn't exist when I was swimming in high school). I have read several, mostly raving, reviews about one brand in particular: Tri Swim. Tri Swim is a line of products including body wash, shampoo, conditioner and lotion that are designed to take away the chlorine smell and help with itchy and dry skin.

I finally decided to try it myself and drove down to Poco Loco on Highland Drive to pick up a few bottles. I went with the body wash, shampoo and lotion. The next morning, after my workout, I was excited to get home and put them to the test. All of the products have a light, citrus-like smell. Several hours later in the day, I was still free of the chlorine smell and noticed a significant decrease in itchy skin. I kept making my wife smell my arm throughout the day to show her how well it was working. I have been using Tri Swim after every pool workout, and continue to be impressed with how well it works for me.

For more information about Tri Swim products including TriSlide and Foggle, please visit their website.

Correcting Common Swimming Faults

Here is a pretty good video from Dave Scott, 6 time Ironman World Champion, about common faults in swimming technique and how to fix them.

According to Dave the most common swimming faults are: high head, over reaching, over extension and dropped elbow. In the video he offers ideas on how to fix all of these problems.

Mercury in the Great Salt Lake

This recent article on KSL.com has me a little worried about attempting some swims in the Great Salt Lake this summer. I can deal with salt and brine shrimp...but mercury?

Does anyone know if the mercury is concentrated in any particular part of the lake or is it everywhere? It must not be an issue around the beaches where swimming is allowed, but what about in the main body of the lake?