Richardson Rough Water Swim-July, 29 2018
Lissette and I left at 5:30 am from Mauna Lani to make the long trek over Saddle Road to the Hilo side for the Richardson Rough Water Swim this past Sunday at Richardson’s Ocean Park. I’ve never been to this park nor participated in this race before but several of my masters swim teammates had raced in past events and said the course was beautiful and the setting was really special. When we arrived I could see why they liked the area as it was a slice of old Hawaii in a County of Hawaii beach park.
Richardson’s has the only black-sand beach in the Hilo area and provides multiple tide pools and protected swimming areas including sheltered rock pools where children can swim and play. It has an excellent surf break also as I noticed several surfers catching some nice waves very near our start area. The Richardson Ocean Center is located in a building that once was the Richardson family’s home that dates back to the 1920s. Today visitors to the Ocean Park can visit the house to learn more about the marine life in the are...
