The four day Vald Swim - Melbourne Cold Water Camp is now over. Been amoungst swimmers with the same or similar goals as mine and top-notch coaches in distance swimming meant I learnt an awful lot about myself and where my training is up too.
The Thursday started with a short lecture and then a short swim of 90 minutes in the bay. The initial shock of the 15c water as we jumped off the jetty was rather intense however, it only lasted a minute or so before i settled into a comfortable rhythm and breathing pattern. I was lucky enough to have Dean from Sydney there this weekend and we swam stroke for stroke keeping each other company during the swim. It is also the only swim that i have been attacked by a dog...yep a dog jumped in and started swimming after me....one way to get the blood going.
Thursday night was a 60 minute night swim in the marina. I struggled a bit with this swim, not confidence or the cold but direction. There were just so many bright lights around the bay and with the rain coming down navigation was rather difficult. On more than one occasion i became disorientated and headed off on my own track. The EC tide i am scheduled to swim on will mean i will spend 6 hours swimming in the dark. Even though there will only be one light during the EC swim this is an area of my preparation that i will deffinately have to work hard on over the next year or so.
Friday morning started with a 3 hour swim, again the initial shock of the cold water lasted a minute
or so, but was nowhere near as bad as the first swim. Once i had settled down into a breathing pattern the 3 hours swim flew past in no time. Conditions in the bay were nothing but fantastic, small swell light winds, and a few welcomed warm patches. Completing this swim was a good confidence builder going into the 8 hour swim the following day.
Latter on Friday we were ordered back into the water for a 75 minute swim. These followup swims in the afternoon are mentally hard after been in the water, then warming yourself up, then been told to get back into the water again. The theory behind this method is to allow the body to consolidate the cold conditions experienced during the main set.
Friday night was a rest night and preparation for the EC qualifying swim. More importantly, it was refuelling my body to swim further than it has done before in more extreme conditions.
Saturday morning came around ridiculously quick. It was 0530, cold, rather windy and pouring with rain. We found some refuge in the Brighton bathes club house where it was up to Andrew to do worst task of the day putting the lanolin and vaseline on.
After a minutes silence at 0600 to remember the service men and women on the 100th anniversary of ANZAC Day the starters gun sounded and we were off into the darkness of the bay. The first lap was interesting, as again navigation was hard and wow it feel lonely out there, something that stayed with me the whole day. Interestingly, I cannot remember feeling the initial cold shock like i had in the past swims.
Because of the rough conditions Andrew and i made the first feed quick. It was just over the planned 30 minute mark but i was feeling super comfortable.
For the next 6 hours i swam strongly and quickly clocked up the kilometres. I knew i only had to do 6 hours to qualify but i desperately wanted to complete the 8 hours. I knew if i could swim this distance it would give Andrew and i a massive boost of confidence 16 months out from our EC swim. It would also show we have the training formula right...!
Coming around to the jetty for another feed I could see a few of our group were struggling and some were already out of the water. Seeing that was hard as I was deffinately not the most experienced swimmer out there. As i swam away from the jetty for another lap I was wondering what had gone wrong for these swimmers. It then became my own mental challenge; I was not feeling cold, i was not tired, i was not in pain and i started to wonder why I was not feeling whatever was affecting the others. I started to again feel very isolated and alone and it was at this time Andrew turned up in the kayak, he seems to always knows when i need that support...sign of a great coach and one who knows his swimmer!
About 15 minutes later i swam close to Vald who was also on a support kayak. I asked him what the time was. Instantly upon his response i knew i was past that 6 hour mark; whole crap...i had just qualified to swim the English Channel. Instantly, the pressure of the day/camp lifted and the next 90 minutes or so become less about making the distance and more about having fun and enjoying what Andrew and I had just achieved.
My last lap was a joy to swim. I felt so privileged to be out in there and so honoured to be swimming with so many very accomplished swimmers and so many future English Channel swimmers. I finished the lap quicker than expected so I was told to do laps of the Brighton Bathes until 3pm. These 15 minutes were the longest of the day, time seemed to stand still. I figured that the bathes were about 50m wide so i knew i if i swam across 20 times i would be at the 8 hour mark.
Finally i got the thumbs up from the coaches and told to swim to the beach, my swim was over.
It was there i saw Ben, the other Canberra swimmer. Finding out he had made the qualifying time just made my day. At that time Ben and i became the first Canberrans to qualify to swim the English Channel and hopefully Ben is going to be the first to swim it in August followed by me in 2016.
Now the worst part of the day...getting the lanolin off!
After a quick bite to eat we were back into the water for another hour. This was not a swim but more of a paddle and debrief of the day with the other swimmers. Again, its about getting back into the water to get the body to remember and consolidate the sensation of been cold.
The following day was a shocker...it was typical Melbourne weather, raining, windy and the water was so rough. We were swimming the weekly dash with the Black Ice group. It was too rough to go safely go outside the marina so organisers altered the course accordingly. The swim was about 2 km and with the excitement of yesterday still flowing i swam a quick time.
We had breakfast with our hosts and then it was time to leave for home.
There were lots of lessons learnt however, the biggest takeaway from the week was 16 months out from my swim is Andrew and I are diffinately on the correct track to complete my goal in August 2016.
 |
| Top: When the coach talks its time to listen Bottom: My way of getting into the cold water |
Thursday night was a 60 minute night swim in the marina. I struggled a bit with this swim, not confidence or the cold but direction. There were just so many bright lights around the bay and with the rain coming down navigation was rather difficult. On more than one occasion i became disorientated and headed off on my own track. The EC tide i am scheduled to swim on will mean i will spend 6 hours swimming in the dark. Even though there will only be one light during the EC swim this is an area of my preparation that i will deffinately have to work hard on over the next year or so.
Friday morning started with a 3 hour swim, again the initial shock of the cold water lasted a minute
or so, but was nowhere near as bad as the first swim. Once i had settled down into a breathing pattern the 3 hours swim flew past in no time. Conditions in the bay were nothing but fantastic, small swell light winds, and a few welcomed warm patches. Completing this swim was a good confidence builder going into the 8 hour swim the following day.
Latter on Friday we were ordered back into the water for a 75 minute swim. These followup swims in the afternoon are mentally hard after been in the water, then warming yourself up, then been told to get back into the water again. The theory behind this method is to allow the body to consolidate the cold conditions experienced during the main set.
Friday night was a rest night and preparation for the EC qualifying swim. More importantly, it was refuelling my body to swim further than it has done before in more extreme conditions.
 |
| Top: just having a look around Bottom L: Andrew knows when to turn up Bottom R: bit of a crappy day |
After a minutes silence at 0600 to remember the service men and women on the 100th anniversary of ANZAC Day the starters gun sounded and we were off into the darkness of the bay. The first lap was interesting, as again navigation was hard and wow it feel lonely out there, something that stayed with me the whole day. Interestingly, I cannot remember feeling the initial cold shock like i had in the past swims.
Because of the rough conditions Andrew and i made the first feed quick. It was just over the planned 30 minute mark but i was feeling super comfortable.
For the next 6 hours i swam strongly and quickly clocked up the kilometres. I knew i only had to do 6 hours to qualify but i desperately wanted to complete the 8 hours. I knew if i could swim this distance it would give Andrew and i a massive boost of confidence 16 months out from our EC swim. It would also show we have the training formula right...!
Coming around to the jetty for another feed I could see a few of our group were struggling and some were already out of the water. Seeing that was hard as I was deffinately not the most experienced swimmer out there. As i swam away from the jetty for another lap I was wondering what had gone wrong for these swimmers. It then became my own mental challenge; I was not feeling cold, i was not tired, i was not in pain and i started to wonder why I was not feeling whatever was affecting the others. I started to again feel very isolated and alone and it was at this time Andrew turned up in the kayak, he seems to always knows when i need that support...sign of a great coach and one who knows his swimmer!
About 15 minutes later i swam close to Vald who was also on a support kayak. I asked him what the time was. Instantly upon his response i knew i was past that 6 hour mark; whole crap...i had just qualified to swim the English Channel. Instantly, the pressure of the day/camp lifted and the next 90 minutes or so become less about making the distance and more about having fun and enjoying what Andrew and I had just achieved.
My last lap was a joy to swim. I felt so privileged to be out in there and so honoured to be swimming with so many very accomplished swimmers and so many future English Channel swimmers. I finished the lap quicker than expected so I was told to do laps of the Brighton Bathes until 3pm. These 15 minutes were the longest of the day, time seemed to stand still. I figured that the bathes were about 50m wide so i knew i if i swam across 20 times i would be at the 8 hour mark.
Finally i got the thumbs up from the coaches and told to swim to the beach, my swim was over.
It was there i saw Ben, the other Canberra swimmer. Finding out he had made the qualifying time just made my day. At that time Ben and i became the first Canberrans to qualify to swim the English Channel and hopefully Ben is going to be the first to swim it in August followed by me in 2016.
Now the worst part of the day...getting the lanolin off!
 |
| Top: This year's swimmers Bottom: Dean, Kane, Dan |
After a quick bite to eat we were back into the water for another hour. This was not a swim but more of a paddle and debrief of the day with the other swimmers. Again, its about getting back into the water to get the body to remember and consolidate the sensation of been cold.
The following day was a shocker...it was typical Melbourne weather, raining, windy and the water was so rough. We were swimming the weekly dash with the Black Ice group. It was too rough to go safely go outside the marina so organisers altered the course accordingly. The swim was about 2 km and with the excitement of yesterday still flowing i swam a quick time.
We had breakfast with our hosts and then it was time to leave for home.
There were lots of lessons learnt however, the biggest takeaway from the week was 16 months out from my swim is Andrew and I are diffinately on the correct track to complete my goal in August 2016.
 |
| The two coaches with the knowledge/experience I need |
