Ocean Swimming Update #5
Hello everyone,
As some of my avid fans have noted, I actually had my name in ink in todays Sydney Morning Herald as one of 3328 official finishers' in the Cole Classic...though I know many of you enjoy my imaginative turn of phrase, I'm basically a bit buggered so will quote the SMH instead: "Relentless rain, pounding surf and the threat of bluebottles could not deter the thousands of hardy souls who gathered at Manly yesterday for the 27th Cole Classic ocean swim....Diehard competitors showed why the adrenalin rush and exhileration of ocean racing is growing around the world. It was a celebration of the lung-busting, limb-aching art of swimming in the sea".
Now, just a bit of trivia - there were 4500 registered starters for yesterdays race...and only 3328 official finishers. Conclusions to be drawn:
a) They'd heard about my Big Swim chundering and decided it was better to stay in bed than have to swim through my chum contributions!
b) They're a bunch of "soft" sydney-siders who have never experienced the gripping temperatures of Bass Strait all along the beaches of Victoria where the hardened ocean swimmers are raised
c) both of the above! In my case, it's a bit of a case of channeling the inimitable style of Frank Sinatra (sung to the tune of My Way): Yes there were times, I'm sure you knewWhen I bit off more than I could chew (or keep down for that matter)But through it all, when there was doubt (and there was loooots of that)I ate it up and spat it out (luckily in no specific direction)I faced it all and I stood tall (thank god for photoshop).........................I did it mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy waaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!
To be honest, weather conditions yesterday were not that frightening to me....they bore a striking similarity to any number of days all the Victorians on this email list can recall experiencing when on holidays down at Portsea (Harold Holt didn't disappear in that surf for no reason) or in my case, camping at Ocean Grove Caravan park with assorted other pleb's!! Manly was resplendant in miserable grey skies, seething inky surf (do you like that?) and more big wave surfers (who'd obviously had a late night on the magic weed) than you can poke a stick at!
My support team sensibly decided to ditch me for breakfast at the golden arches (see photo) and I walked from Manly round to Shelley Beach where the race was to depart from feeling amazingly calm. In many ways, it felt like just another training swim...which meant I could enjoy the experience and not feel too stressed! The race itself was a pleasure, I swam with a Cantoo buddy - a lovely girl (40+) who is petrified of big surf and is quite phobic about getting into the water but despite this had swum multiple ocean swims over christmas/january including last weeks Big Swim. We decided that we'd try to stay together and did indeed manage to do so, overcoming numerous overzealous swimmers who attempted to divide us, and even some who swam almost over the top of us! I think I showed true restraint and composure in not adopting the sort of "take no prisoners" approach that I am known for on the roads!!!
We ultimately completed the race together, coming out of the water and holding hands as we ran up the sand to the cheers of our Cantoo comrades...even got our names mentioned by the announcer as we crossed the line!!! Is this the time I remind everyone that my family was NOT there to cheer me on....clearly those Canadian's are too soft to stand out in a tiny bit of rain with three children for a couple of hours...on a beach...in the rain...not allowed to swim...soft I say!! Only joking, Saint Mike has well and truly earnt another halo to add to his growing collection over the last few months!
My final observations on ocean swimming deal with the issue of booeys (or "cans"). Is it perhaps a bit uncharitable for me to suggest that the use of these instruments of mass confusion is an issue that is just dying for some intervention? Let me paint the picture for you all...imagine yourself, out in the big blue yonder, courageously attempting to navigate your way around a swimming course whilst remembering to breathe, not do breastroke (big no no), and of course the obvious...NOT DROWN...and you've been advised by your coaches to remember to "sight the booey" as you crest the wave. Firstly, I don't crest the wave...I tend to sink into submission over the top of it when in that fraction of an instant I'm supposed to use my core strength (which I still haven't located) to rise up, head out of the water and look for my marker booey. Secondly, has no one noticed that these "marker booeys" don't mark very much at all when you're in the water and therefore your line of sight (via your head that is hopefully above water and not submerged) is approximately 25cm above the surface of the water. Oh, and let's not forget the water is MOVING and I'm moving and this does not necessarily enable my 40 yr old vision to focus on anything through my steamed up goggles!! No sooner do I think I've sighted something vaguely booey-looking than I'm down in another trough and trying to swim back to another one of those bloody crests!!!!
So, it strikes me that this is yet another area where the common sense unique to us feminine of the species has yet to make a break through. For goodness sake, let's get a marker booey that has some floaty balloons on it, perhaps with messages of support along the lines of "I'm over here you idiots" (note to self - reconsider supportive language). Now that would be useful. Instead, we have fluoro pink and orange colored booeys that still can't be easily seen and hence I tend to resemble a yacht (wish I physically had those sleek lines!!), desperately tacking my way towards the booey!! Booooo for the booooooeeys!!!!!
On that note, a high point of my canny observations on the joys of ocean swimming I shall leave you....but not before I mention the most fantastic thing of all about this entire experience...as of today, I have been sponsored the amazing figure of $2,440 by all of you generous readers! This is above and beyond what I expected and just goes to show why I should ditch expectations completely and absolutely!!
Cantoo is an amazing organization, staffed by fantastic people and supporting equally fantastic researchers into many areas of cancer study. I feel honoured to have been able to contribute to their cause by my efforts and thank you all for your generosity and wonderful words of encouragement.
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