If you’re currently planning your endurance sports season, the 2008 Golden Gate Bridge Swim is one event you might want to consider. It’s organized and conducted by Pedro Ordenes, an open water swim veteran/legend and one of the neatest fellows you’ll ever meet. Pedro coaches swimmers of all levels and regularly organizes Alcatraz crossings in the Bay area.
I did this event in October of 2007, and it was a real blast. There were only about 30 swimmers, so it wasn’t a “mass of lemmings” scenario in the boat or in the water. As a result, I was able to really get to know all the swimmers, most of whom are local residents who train with Pedro. They are a really fun group of people, and that more than anything else made this one of the cooler events I have ever done.
Here’s a video clip of the event (and you can see yours truly at 2:18 – showboating as usual):
So if you’re looking for a great event to keep you motivated this summer, you can’t get much better than this! But since it’s limited in swimmers, I’d look into registering within the next 60 days.