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Sunday, May 19, 2013
Why these swims are best at this time of year
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Last year I trained for this event as a duo, but our boat pilot pulled out the week before. So this year I decided to do it solo. I did a training run in mid-April with my support team from Ben Buckler to Signal Hill Reserve, which was a real eye opener to how difficult this swim could be if the swell direction was coming from the NE. That day there was less swell than on Sunday, but the water was lumpy and random from the reflection off the cliffs. I couldn't seem to lock into a rhythm. I re-evaluated my expected time in the water by adding an additional hour. My team agreed it would be nice to have any wind coming from the west and any swell coming from the south.
ReplyDeleteIn the week leading up to Sunday Seabreeze was predicting large swells, but at least they were from the south. The planets aligned a few days before and the forecast was for a fine day with a westerly breeze and a southerly swell of around 1m. And a fine day it was.
At the start I was desperately trying to hold myself back and to treat the swim out to the boats as a warmup. With a water temperature of around 21C I coasted out to the point enjoying the marine life along the way. I hooked up with my team and we were on our way. I had been unable to find a paddler so it was just me and the team on the boat.
I continued my warmup to the sewerage treatment works, then started to stretch out a bit. I took a line direct to Signal Hill rather than hugging the cliffs. Stopping for a feed I asked my support crew if I seemed to be going faster or slower than the cliff-huggers. Good news, I was going faster. But was I going faster because I was swimming faster, or because I had a better current. I found a great rhythm and just concentrated on stretching out and using the swell to my advantage.
Suddenly my tranquility was disrupted by an IRB running over my left shoulder and head. I looked up and the poor bloke driving it looked so apologetic. I wasn't hurt, just a bit shocked, and glad at the same time it wasn't one of those massive cruisers.
I yelled to my support crew to raise the red protest flag, and we had a bit of a laugh. The swim up to South Head was pretty uneventful except I was neck and neck with another soloist. I would pull ahead of him, and then every time I stopped for a feed, he caught up.
At about the seven kilometre mark something happened to me. Suddenly my shoulders were stiffening up and my arms were like lead weights. By the time I hit South Head I had about 150m on the other soloist, but I took the headland too wide and by the time we were around the corner he was 50m in front of me.
Now we were swimming straight into the wind swell and the sun was preventing me from communicating clearly with my support crew. I had no idea where I was headed, but I just put my head down and swam to catch up. It was physically draining to try to sight, so I caught up to the other soloist and used his two board paddlers as my compass.
I kept asking my team if they could see the checkpoint, but they couldn't. I sighted a bright green buoy and headed for it. I lifted my pace. My crew were yelling at me. I stopped. They yelled "Don't stop!". I swam. They yelled at me again. What's going on? Some teams were coming through and a kind kayaker pointed out the red turning buoy. I rounded it and emptied the tanks into the finish.
I crawled up the slipway, stood up, staggered and my wife met me with a hug. I pulled on some warm clothes and walked down the beach to meet my support crew. We celebrated with a few beers, fish and chips and whiled away the afternoon in the sun.
I was truely in awe of the people I was among at the presentation. I felt like I was the only person in the room who hadn't at least done a single Channel crossing, let alone a double or attempted triple! Very inspiring.
Awesome swim. And thanks to my awesome support crew and boat captain.
Great to read your recount of the swim Bill. I didn't get to hang around after the swim to chat and hear all the stories.
ReplyDeleteI also did it solo (first time for this swim for me) and even though I had a boat and a paddler, most of the time it felt like it was just me and my thoughts out there... "Am I too close to the cliffs? Is my heading OK? Am I catching that swimmer ahead with their SUP'er? Why does that massive boat keep going back and forth? Am I getting any closer?"
The intro talks about a quick run to Watsons Bay, but it didn't seem like that to me, especially as I plodded in round South Head with the chop coming from every direction. Yes - even though I'm a right-breather (gotta get comfortable with that bilateral thing one day), it was enjoyable swimming along with the cliffs towering to my left while taking as much advantage of the swell from behind as possible. What I really enjoyed was seeing the sea-floor again after all that time looking down into the dark. I didn't expect that coming around South Head and into Watsons Bay.
Overall. What a great swim! A special thanks to John Fallon and any others who organised and ran the event. And thanks to my cap'n, bosun and paddler who made it possible for me to take part. It's a big ask.
I love having this chance to do an organised swim event longer than 3km. In Sydney, it's really only South Head and Coogee to Bondi. Also, I imagine having to wrangle a boat rules-out more people who'd like to complete these challenges. Anyone game to organise a long one where only paddlers are required? How about Bondi to Maroubra or reverse, with checkpoints at Coogee and Bronte?
Cheers,
Rob Salamon