Six of us Schroeder Masters were keeping the action going on the Saturday before the Ironman with a 5K Swim in Lake Michigan called Big Shoulders. This year, the race was actually also the USMS Open Water Championships which made it that much more exciting and competitive.

For the complete results, visit: http://www.bigshoulders.org/PastEvents/index.htm. And, as you browse, keep in mind that there were a total of 481 participants in the 5K and 236 in the 2.5K...Schroeder did great!

Before race start, the officials FALSELY proclaimed that the water was a balmy 71 degrees...which it clearly was not as (especially Val and I) we realized once we stepped into the Lake to begin our swim. They had tricked us! We agreed it must have been more like 67-8 degrees...but that prior knowledge wouldn't have stopped us anyways.

Among the participants was Andy Seter, who through this race completed his first Open Water Swim ever!! Andy participated in the 2.5 K option, and did very well, despite him saying he didn't feel as good as he had wanted to. This race followed his 5K Postal swim he did a few weeks ago...way to step out Andy! He is still waiting to see if he's won any money...

Meg Ryther, Valerie Adams, James Biles, Josh Gordon, and myself were all also there that day. Josh said his race felt really good. He competed it with limited training; thus, once again, confirming his natural talent for this sport. Congratulations Josh for a very descent race! Valerie had an amazing swim, and placed 3rd in her age-group. It was a great time, and a faster pace than what she was at her Madison 2.4 mile swim. Things are looking very good for her St. Croix 5 mile race in October! James is in the same position, as he also had an great race -- felt good and placed 5th in his age-group with a very good time...keep in mind that this was a little less yardage for James as he has already completed 10K swim followed by 8 mile swims all in one weekend earlier this year:) We're all excited to see how he will do in St. Croix. Finally, Meg had an awesome race! She was 3rd overall for the females, and 2nd in her age group. Not too shabby at all Meg...you're amazing.