Contact: Elizabeth Gillelan FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NWS: Barry Reichenbaugh 6/06/96
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will again help plan a safe start time for the annual Great Chesapeake Bay Swim for the March of Dimes, slated for June 9 at around 8:30 a.m.
Scientists and staff from NOAA's Chesapeake Bay Office, National Weather Service, and National Ocean Service brief swim organizers and swimmers before the race about weather, water temperature, and tidal current velocities. Swim organizers use the information to choose a start time that allows swimmers to safely use water currents.
With the help of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the University of Maryland, NOAA collects tidal current velocity data prior to the race. Scientists compare predicted and real-time tidal current velocities and add other weather information that allows swimmers to take to the water with a good understanding of what conditions to expect during the swim.
This Great Chesapeake Bay Swim has previously drawn more than 500 swimmers from across the country who endeavor to cross the 4.4-mile stretch, paralleling the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, from Maryland's Sandy Point State Park on the west to Kent Island on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
Prior to NOAA's assistance in 1993, only a small number of swimmers successfully completed the event, 14 percent in 1991 and 18 percent in 1992. Since NOAA's involvement in 1993, race organizers and swimmers have enjoyed nearly a 95 percent success rate - largely due to NOAA's coordinated efforts to predict tidal currents and weather.
The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office in Annapolis, Md., which organized the agency's participation in this year's swim, will have a booth set up at the finish line to distribute information on bay tides, currents, weather and efforts to restore the bay.