Wow what a nice swim...!
Nothing but blue water and towering cliffs on a sparkling Sydney day. Swimming with Christian today; it was his longest Ocean Swim and it was nice to be a part of it with him.
We arrived early after a drive down the coast from Sydney. Registration was simple at a small friendly surf club and we were soon on the bus to be driven around to the Sea Cliff Bridge where we were to start from.
The start was a sprint into a beach that dropped off into deep water immediately. There was little swell so the start was rather fast and some of us on the right side managed to catch the edge of the rip. There was a strong pull once we got about 300m out which pulled the swimmers well to the left of the first buoy. I was lucky as starting on the extreme right allowed me to see the swimmers before i got pulled off course...more good luck than skill.
It was not long and i had turned the final buoy and was heading back into Stanwell Park Beach. The swell had picked up a little and with two sandbars to navigate through it meant staying alert. I got a nice push from the first wave and then i was in the 'no mans land gutter'. The undertow meant swimming was a waste of time and it became a game of patients. I managed to get two or three breakers into the shore but to my surprise and even though i was only 5m from the shore i could not stand up yet. So again i hung around, this time going backwards before a nice breaker came and put end to my swim.
A short run and i was done in 41 minutes. Unusally, when i downloaded the gps course i had covered 2800m - an extra 400m. It was clear that the current was dragging me to the left, i would correct then it would happen again.
Nothing but blue water and towering cliffs on a sparkling Sydney day. Swimming with Christian today; it was his longest Ocean Swim and it was nice to be a part of it with him.
We arrived early after a drive down the coast from Sydney. Registration was simple at a small friendly surf club and we were soon on the bus to be driven around to the Sea Cliff Bridge where we were to start from.
 |
| The rip has got half the pack going way left! |
It was not long and i had turned the final buoy and was heading back into Stanwell Park Beach. The swell had picked up a little and with two sandbars to navigate through it meant staying alert. I got a nice push from the first wave and then i was in the 'no mans land gutter'. The undertow meant swimming was a waste of time and it became a game of patients. I managed to get two or three breakers into the shore but to my surprise and even though i was only 5m from the shore i could not stand up yet. So again i hung around, this time going backwards before a nice breaker came and put end to my swim.
A short run and i was done in 41 minutes. Unusally, when i downloaded the gps course i had covered 2800m - an extra 400m. It was clear that the current was dragging me to the left, i would correct then it would happen again.
