So There I Was …
By Cid Cardoso Jr.
So there I was, floating in the Pacific, a quarter-mile from shore, looking for the dolphin fins I had spotted minutes before from the beach. It was two days after the 2008 Hawaii Ironman and I was exploring the “Place of Refuge at Honaunau,” 30 miles south of Kona in the Big Island of Hawaii, with my family when we spotted several dolphins swimming offshore. I quickly grabbed my goggles and swam out to meet them, only to see nothing but blue ocean. As I looked around, another swimmer who had been hanging around told me to look down. Suddenly, about 30 dolphins gracefully appeared, swimming up from the dark deep blue, in groups of twos and threes. They came up, swam a few loops on the surface around the few humans that were out there, close enough to touch yet almost oblivious to our presence, and then swam back down into the depths. The ocean floor must have been quite deep as they disappeared into darkness, only to reappear moments later. This choreography repeated itself several times. I was so amazed and excited that I sprinted back to shore and came back with my then-10-year-old daughter (and an underwater camera). The pictures we took are so amazing that friends still think they were Photoshopped. Needless to say, the experience was unforgettable.
# # #
Cid Cardoso Jr., owner of Inside Out Sports, has been doing triathlons for over 20 years. Last October, he competed in his 21st Ironman – his sixth appearance at Kona. A veteran of ultramarathons, he has competed in Team RAAM twice. He has seen equipment evolve with the sport and continues to test new products to assess their impact on performance. He trains, works and resides in Cary, N.C., with his wife, two daughters and son. You can reach him at cidjr@insideoutsports.com.
