3 Events in 3 Days - Saturday

Kane and Narelle before the Swim

Wow...what a weekend. Started off on Friday, the day after we got back from Thailand, with a long car journey to Sydney. An accident along the way made the 3 hour journey near 4.5. However, after a lovely evening with Bjorn and Fi we ventured off to the race; The Sydney Harbour Australia Day Swim. A fantastic 2.2 km course in and around the coves of Sydney Harbour.

The gun to start lets rip and we are off. There is a decent harbour swell coming in from the north so we get bumped around from the left a little in the first leg.  Then the fun started as that northerly swell was hitting the walls lining the harbour and bounding back. So not only did we have the northern swell we now had this random chop hitting us from the side, front and back.  Not easy to swim in at all...but great fun none the less.

One last obstacle for the day.  The forth turn buoy came loose and floated to away.  It occured as i was coming up to it. I did not know what was happening which meant i was actually chasing it. It seemed forever, and was forever, until i reached it and then it dawned, it was untethered. Had a great laugh with the life savers and continued on my way.

The last buoy is where all the visual excitement happens. With the last turn negotiated my sight is now the big white sales on the Sydney Opera House. WOW WOW WOW. What an honour to swim toward the Opera House on Australia Day!!!

Been a long distance swimmer I had lots of kick left for the last 500m so i motored home passing a few tiring swimmers along the way. My time was 39 minutes for the 2.2 km...not bad but i would have wasted 2-3 minutes chasing that bloody loose buoy.    

Unpack just to pack again

Nearly home from Thailand... Enough time to unpack the bags before jetting off to Sydney for the Australia Day swim at the Sydney Opera House and the Big Swim at Whale Beach. Looks like its going to be wonderful conditions to both swim and celebrate this wonderful country this weekend!  Can't wait!!

Andaman Sea - Open Water Training

7 days of hard technique training in the open water off Thailand. Lots and lots of 550m sets (20km so far) with a concerted effort on improving my sighting and navigation techniques in open water. The water has been quite flat so this has enabled me to cover lots of Kms.

It is a shear delight to be out in such a beautiful environment, each stroke reminds me of why I am addicted to this sport!!!

Side Lined

Side lined since wednesday with an ear infection...bummer

From 'Open Water' to 'Ocean'

In I go...along with 206 others!

After deciding to challenge myself with open water swimming i have been looking forward to this day. Today was my first competitive Ocean Swim. The event was held at Newport Surf Club and the ocean was 3 foot swell and 4 foot waves at 6 second intervals.

After a rough start with lots of kicks, whacks and shoves from 207 compeditors I managed to navigate around the 800m course in 13 minutes 44 seconds...not bad for my first ocean event.  

Australian Institute of Sport Swim

I went for a training session at the Australian Institute of Sport today. For some unknown reasons all my times were fantastic; either the pool was not 50 metres or it was the presence of all the wonderful swimmers that train and have trained in that pool that spurred me on. A wonderful swim and well worth the entry fee.