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The Swim Session of this year’s edition of the USA Triathlon National Challenge Competition was a battle, once again. Fully nine teams hit the 500 mile benchmark for December, which is a new record, and many athletes were putting in the miles right down to the last day.

Here now, at last, are the official results. 

Benchmark Winners

The benchmark distance for the session was 500 actual swim miles, which in the standings works out to 5,000 NCC miles once the x10 weighting is factored in.

First team to reach the 500 mile mark: the Louisville Landsharks on December the 13th. Congratulations! 

Here are all the teams to reach the 500 mile mark were, in order:

1. Louisville Landsharks, Louisvill KY on December 13th
2. DC Tri Club Team 1, Washington DC on December 15th
3. Kansas River Valley Tri Club, Wichita KS on December 15th
4. Alaska Tri Club White Wabid Wabbits, Anchorage AK on December 16th
5. PIttsburgh Tri Club, Pittsburgh PA on December 17th
6. Northwest YMCA Tri Club, Irmo SC on December 24th
7. Cyclonaut Multisport, Agawam MA on December 27th
8. Boulder Tri Club, Boulder CO on December 27th
9. Get Fit Families, Cranberry Twp PA on December 29th

Congratulations to everyone on all nine teams as!

Highest Swim Mileage

The team with the highest swim mileage for December: the Louisville Landsharks of Louisville Kentucky with a total of 11,766.5 swim miles. Very impressive. A swim session sweep for the Landsharks! 

Here are the top ten:

1. Louisville Landsharks, Louisvill KY (11,766.5 miles)
2. Kansas River Valley Tri Club, Wichita KS (11,327 miles)
3. DC Tri Club Team 1, Washington DC (10,601.5 miles)
4. PIttsburgh Tri Club, Pittsburgh PA (7,988.3 miles)
5. Alaska Tri Club White Wabid Wabbits, Anchorage AK (7,879.4 miles) 
6. Northwest YMCA Tri Club, Irmo SC (7,034.5 miles)
7. Cyclonaut Multisport, Agawam MA (6,190 miles)
8. Boulder Tri Club, Boulder CO (5,773.8 miles)
9. Get Fit Families, Cranberry Twp PA (5,650 miles)
10. Hammerhead Tri Club Team 1, Jacksonville FL (4,971.3 miles)

Division Winners

The winners of Divisions 1 through 5 are (showing weighted miles): 

Division 1: DC Tri Club Team 1, Washington DC (10,601.5 miles)

Division 2: Louisville Landsharks, Louisville KY (11,766.5 miles)

Division 3: Fredericksburg Tri Club, Fredericksburg VA (2,587.1 miles)

Division 4: Northwest YMCA Tri Club, Irmo SC (7,034.5 miles)

Division 5: Women of Steel, Auburn IN (2056.8 miles)

Athletes

The individual athlete with the most swim miles in December was Brenda Parnell of Team USAT. Brenda, who hails from Juneau Alaska, put in a monster effort for a total of 1142.85 miles for the month (that’s 114.29 actual miles), including a late surge that sealed the deal over some tough competition from around the country. Brenda, you may be getting a visit from the Alaska Tri Club recruiting officer in the near future. Congratulations on the win!

For the men, the top swimmer for December was Chris Robinson of the Kansas River Valley Triathlon Club. Chris swam 1077.9 weighted miles for the month. That works out to 107.79 actual miles in 31 days. 

Prizes

Prizes for all the winners are listed on the USAT website. Congratulations to everyone.

Other Stats 

Just for fun, here are some other interesting (ok, maybe weird too) statistics from December: 

Active* Men: 855

Active* Women: 700

*Active means athletes with results. 

Total Swim Miles, Men: 8,442 

Total Swim Miles, Women: 6,307

Average Swim Miles, Men: 9.87

Average Swim Miles, Women: 9.01

Total Swim Miles, Everyone: 14,749

Average Swim Miles, Everyone: 9.48

Total All Miles, Men: 179,105

Total All Miles, Women: 120,893

Total All Miles, Everyone: 299,998

Average All Miles, Men: 209.48

Average All Miles, Women: 172.7

Average All Miles, Everyone: 192.92

If we take the total swim miles for the month and divide by the number of days, we get the aggregate speed of the entire competition. As a group, NCC athletes swam at 19.82 miles per hour. Most sailors would be quite happy with a boat capable of this speed (17.2 knots). 

If we do the same calculation for all miles, not just swim miles, we get 403.22 miles per hour. So as a group, NCC athletes would do very well on the Bonneville Salt Flats. 

So now the Swim session is over and everyone is focused on putting in the miles on the bike, or trainer if you happen to live in bike-unfriendly climate. Of course everyone is looking forward, but what about the official results of the first session?

They're coming.

The Officially Sanctioned by USA Triathlon Results and Standings for the National Challenge Competition 2011-2012 Swim Session (or OSUSATRSNCC20112012SS for those who like acronyms) cannot be computed until all team rosters have been finalized. Club reps have all been contacted about making sure all athletes are USAT members in good standing, and the rules clearly state that only USAT members can participate, or at least have their miles count towards the team totals. 

Once the rosters are complete and any non-member athletes' mileage has been 'recalculated' (ie. removed) then we can see who won the session. 

Until then, the UN-official results are available via the Swim Standings page, but be aware that some numbers could change. 

Full results plus other statistics in mind-boggling detail will be available on the site as soon as possible. 

In the meantime, happy biking!