Sa Dragonera

After completing the Strait of Gibraltar, the English Channel was my next challenge. I decided to practice a bit taking a few swim races. Dragonera Island race in Majorca was much better choice than swimming in 13 degrees Celsius in Mazurian Lakes.
Dragonera is a small island on the west from the mainland of Majorca with steep shore from the one side and vertical 100 m cliff on the other side.
We were boated from the mainland to the start on Dragonera early morning, from the distance of approx. 1 km of the shore of Majorca. The weather was not great, the wind was strong and the waves were high. Approximately 200 people started from a small bay. Most of them swam in a neoprene, only a few, including me, decided to swim without. The organizer provided food points (gels, water) from the kayak assisting us. Expecting difficult conditions, I took a few gels into my swimsuit. It turned out that it was a great decision – after passing the first part of the swim, passing the peninsula and defeating almost two-meter high waves, I noticed that no one was swimming nearby. Faster competitors were far ahead of me, slower far behind. The assisting kayaks disappeared from view and I was hanging in water with visibility of 10s of metres, with a 100 m rocky cliff on my left, and I was covering the remaining distance, taking gels every 45 minutes.
Passing the south side of the island peninsula, the wind gusts again slowed my swim but I it was only 2 km to finish and I knew that victory was close.