When I arrived at Crissy at around 7:30 a.m., the athletes were already swimming toward Crissy from Alcatraz (they jumped off the Hornblower Cruises boat into the cold, murky waters off Alcatraz for the 1.5-mile ocean swim to shore).
Many people eagerly awaited the first swimmers, and I climbed over the rocks at St. Francis Yacht Club to get a closer view of the swimmers.
At just past 08:00, Ben Kanute, the previous triathlon 3-time winner, emerged from the cold San Francisco bay waters to take the lead. He swam fast, and no one was behind him for a long time. Jason West followed him about a minute later.
Here is a short video clip of his swim:
It was amazing to see the vast differences in swimming speeds. Ben Kanute covered the 1.5m mile distance in 33:16, while many other athletes took over 120 minutes for the same distance!
The swimmers had run 0.5 miles to warm up and mount their road bikes for the 18-mile ride to Golden Gate Park over multiple hills. After the bike ride, only the 8-mile run remained to complete the triathlon.
Inna and I watched Ben Kanute cross the finish line, with a total time of 2:10:11, while Jason West came second, with a complete total of 2:12:16. While Ben had already finished, many athletes were only starting on their bicycle ride!
After watching many athletes, Inna and I ate breakfast at Equator Coffees nearby.
We walked down to Fort Mason and stood in a short line for coffee. Inna ordered me a regular coffee and a few pastries (as mochas would have a 25-minute wait).
On the way home, we ran into Alex, walking on Marina Boulevard. We told him about the events he had missed.
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