I could really get into this ocean swimming malarkey

Bondi has to be the most mercurial beach ever. It can be so rough that ocean swims are cancelled because the buoys (let alone the swimmers) are being washed on to the rocks. It can then be flat as a tack.
As the bus pulled up this morning my reaction was "why hello there Lake Bondi! I had begun to doubt your commitment to sparkle motion!"

Not only had Bondi been becalmed, but it had also warmed up. Ocean temps of 20.6. Comparatively bath like. Brilliant.

I was formally recognised as a fundraising star and received my orange togs. Best swimmers ever and at a cost of $2500 (in terms of minimum fundraising) you would really want them to be.

Point to point at training today - Ben Buckler boat ramp to Icebergs and back again. I have now accepted that my fears will never subside to the point where I can just immediately fall into a swimming rythym upon entereng the water, but I've now gotten around that by breathing every second stroke until I stop hyperventilating (usually takes about 30 strokes) and then changing into my normal every 3 strokes. Alice, Larissa and I swim together, for the most part (except when I drop off or get squeezed out by other swimmers) and occasionally synchronise so perfectly it's beautiful.

The water is glorious, you can see everything through it, finish the swim in a faster time than ever before and really enjoy it all.

Huzzah!

Pool training this week was interval training. I kept up barely with 3:45 200m splits but I was desperate for that really cold ocean water by the end of it. My face was still flushed 20 minutes later.

Fundraising Star x 2

Well I am now a Can Too fund-raising star for the second time, meaning I've raised the minimum $1250 to complete the program and qualify for my gorgeous orange and black Can Too cossie!
Thanks to all those who donated by attending the Can Too trivia evening including: Em, Tom O, Anna, Patrick, Lydia, Laz, Mum, Annabel, Toby, Bronwyn, Tom S, Vanessa, Michael, Alex, Erin, Tess, LG, Morelle, Adelina and all their friends!
Thanks to those who donated directly: Lydia, Dad, Airlie and Ben, Andrew, Emma, Anne, Sophie, Tamera, Bridie and Alice.

Across the 2010 program and 2011 program I have thus far raised over $3200. Never one to rest on my laurels I'd like to raise $5,000 by the time I swim to Whale Beach in January. I know I Can Too!

If you’d like to donate (all donations above $2 are tax deductible) please visit the Can Too Website and download the sponsorship form or donate via the website please click here then search for Katie Price, select my name, type the amount and click add sponsorship; you will complete your payment details and you will then be emailed a receipt.

There and back again, an ocean swimmer's tale

Bilgola. 1.7km.
Where it all started. A year ago this was my first ever ocean swim and whilst I survived it, I can't say I enjoyed it.
Well what a difference a year makes. Despite the 16 degree water (brrrrrrrrrr) I felt like I was flying through the water, and it turns out I wasn't just confused with my recent flights from Century Mine (in a 7 seater) and Cairns.

I knocked 6:46 off last year's time, and more importantly knocked reduced my 100m interval time by 0.3 which is huge, for me at least.

Where last year I felt panic, this year I felt calm and confident, where last year I felt seasick the water was calm, where last year I was entangled in seaweed this year my freedom of movement was restricted only by the freezing of limbs.

Such a wonderful day. Anna smashed the course and then we joined her family for some shade time. Ocean swimming is not a great sport for those translucent persons such as myself who burn faster than fire lighters.

A tropical diversion and a cold front.

Trinity Beach Stinger Net featuring the occasional croc

Trip to Cairns and the Gulf of Carpentaria where stinger season has commenced. Between them, the jellyfish and crocs this will be an ocean training free week.

Bring on Billie (Bilgola) on Sunday though. All registered and everything!

Post script: Smashed out a session in Toobrok Pool (without my old swim coach as my masochism still has its limits - 1km of single arm free style is enough to drive anyone batty!) and then another 2km in the stinger nets at Trinity Beach. Cannot stop thinking of those stories about crocs hopping onto the beach, and walking around in the stinger nets to wait for easy pray. The water is beautifully warm but incredibly opaque. Given how much I fear crocs I think I'll take cold and clear - at least that way you can see the sharks coming and you know crocs aren't a problem.

Bring on Billie!

You Can Too - play trivia and help make Katie a fundraising legend!

Can Too Trivia is a smashing success, with over $1,000 raised. Everyone seemed to have a good time and we all learnt something, including the quiz master, yours truly.

I’ve uploaded the questions and answers here should you wish to check anything.

Congratulations to Emily Graham (winner of the West Wing Round) and These Crackpots and These Women who took out line honours, captained by Gilbert + Tobin trivia fiends.

Thanks to our sponsors: Wagamamas, Brooks and Bristol, Napoleon and 3 wise men for their kind prize donations.

Swim training was intense this week, we were aiming to best our 100m time trial over two sets followed by an easier set. 1500m on the trot. We were also trying to focus on our rotation to improve our stroke and increase our recovery.

The Beach session was kind of amazing. One of my fellow Can Tooers had raised over $50,000. He told the delightful story of how Can Too and in particular its founder, Annie Crawford, can making anything possible. He was one of the last to finish his first half marathon attempt and Annie arranged the media to be on hand to mark his finish (not to capture the winner of the marathon who was steadily gaining on him); nonetheless he crossed the line with a great fanfare, just behind the winner of the marathon. So far as the footage shows, in his first half marathon actually managed to come second in the marathon.

Can Too Trivia

Monopolistic Behaviour
Third place getters: Team CJ
Second place getters: Zieggler's Zepplins
The winners - these crackpots and these women
The Indefeasibles

A run away success ...
Congratulations to:
The Crackpots and These Women - First place
Zieggler's Zepplin's - Second Place
Team CJ - Third Place
and Emily - winner of the West Wing Round
with thanks to all competitors, especially those who bribed us for the answers, corruption for an excellent cause!
We raised over $1100 which is AMAZING!

Coogee Cold Water Challenge*

Freezing cold but all extremities accounted for - after the Coogee race

* Not its real name, but it really should have been

First ocean swim of my season. Warm up by running on the beach as warming up in these arctic waters would be oxymoronic. It's 15.8 degrees in the water and they're allowing wetsuits and discouraging slow swimmers.

Finally get in the water – adjust to the point where I can put my face in the water and then sprint for the sand to try and get warm. The kids go out first in the 800m swim and get swept off course. We are all advised to head left. We are also advised the boats are all equipped with space blankets.

Race briefing. My stomach is somewhere near my tonsils just writing this – pre ocean swim nerves are all consuming. They’ve changed the course at the last minute throwing all our tactics out of whack. Get to the first buoy with some semblance of style and / or grace as opposed to sheer panic. Big improvement from this time last year.

The cold is still a shock to the system and by the last buoy I am really ready to get out. Despite a significant effort to get back into the beach ASAP it still takes forever. I add 5mins to my last 1km time, but have retained all fingers and toes. Win!

Fundraising Update:

With thanks to the following people we are almost halfway: Me, Lydia (Can Too Swim), Bridie, Airlie and Ben, Anne, Sophie, Emma, Dad (Can Too Marathon 2006) and Tamera (my Can Too team Captain)

Cool, cool, cold!

The pool sessions are starting to ramp up in terms of distance and speed. We had to do an 800m time trial to try and set a benchmark that we’ll aim to beat in all subsequent training sessions. I actually had an awesome time of it, the bloke behind me overtook me on the 150m stretch, and so I swam in his wake for the rest of the set, and then motored past on the home stretch. Who said watching the Tour de France obsessively wouldn’t be useful in real life?

We were forewarned about the water temperature at Thursday’s session. The recent northerly tending winds have forced much colder offshore water onto the coast – reducing the water temperatures from a balmy 21 degrees to an icy 16 degrees. I seriously thought extremities were going to drop off. We did a swim out to Ben Buckler’s point and then focused on ins and outs. Most people were shivering after the first swim.

I have never been more thankful for my inbuilt insulation system (augmented by more than a few fundraising Caramellos). The cold water showers in the Bondi Pavilion have never felt warmer.

The target is in your sights

Rotate ze shoulders ...

Sighting and rotation drills in the pool this week.

It’s not enough just to swim during an ocean swim, you also have to sight your targets and line up. If you just follow the crowd you are liable to end up off course (life lesson there?) and if you don’t sight properly the s bend pattern you adopt may mean you end up swimming much more than the intended course. Equally you lengthen your stroke considerably if you rotate properly.

It proves much easier this time around … in the pool. Get into the open water and all of a sudden what worked in the pool results in salty mouthfuls.

Nonetheless I was able to sight (an admittedly orange clad) bloke on the beach who insisted on moving about to test our sighting abilities. This proved remarkably difficult for those amongst us who have poor long distance sight – do they even make prescription goggles?

Dawny’s Cockatoo Island Challenge is supposed to kick off my ocean swimming season. Collective veto in favour of brunch. Inauspicious start to the season.

Welcome to Frustration Town. Population 1. You.

Back in the pool for the first time in months. I have never been more frustrated. I trained really hard all though winter and did a lot of coaching sessions in Cairns to try and correct my stroke and I am starting from a worse position than last year. Made it through the set, slowly, but it was awesome to be exercising again.

Beach session. Wake up call: you really were sick. Pneumonia is exhausting rather than sickening. I’ve felt worse from colds. So I had no idea how sick I had really been until I tried ocean swimming. Between the adrenalin, exertion, general panic and occasional mouthfuls of salty water my lungs were really up against it today.

We started in the middle of the beach, swam out about 150m and then across to icebergs. All up about 750m but I swear it felt longer than Palm to Whale or Little Bay to Malabar (both 3 times longer).

I muddled through but it was a very welcome indication of how sick I’d been and justification of my recent sloth impression.

Word up to the Bondi Lifesavers who volunteer their time to swim and paddle out with us. Without you we couldn’t too. They are such a reassuring presence. Props to Bec and Alex who were both on patrol. Very reassuring.

Onwards and upwards. Week 2 down. Ten to go.

It starts ... sort of ... maybe later

Week one was spent on Smith’s Lake with the family finishing my course of antibiotics and generally recovering.

Inauspicious start.

Call Anna and it's been pouring, wet cold and miserable down at Bondi whilst I've been hanging by the lake. I believe "Curse you Katie" was the prevailing sentiment.

To Can Too or Not to Can Too

Pro: More fun that you can poke a stick at

Con: More terrifying than being beaten with a stick

Pro: Supportive and helpful environment to get you to your goal swim

Con: You’re still all alone out there (to the extent that is possible whilst surrounded by 1000’s of swimmers and lifeguards)

Pro: Spending Saturday morning on Bondi Beach with friends

Con: Getting out of bed early on a Saturday (backing up after Friday night) to trek across town with the joys of weekend public transport

Pro: Getting fit and healthy

Con: Still taking antibiotics for mycoplasma pneumonia and totally unfit due to resultant medically imposed exercise hiatus

Pro: Facing my fears

Con: It's Scary!

Pro: Improving my time from last year

Con: Possibly being overtaken by Tony Abbott

Pro: Helping Cure Cancer Australia and supporting a great charity; not to mention the knowledge that you Can Too, having done it last year and the challenge of reaching the Fundraising Hall of Fame

It’s a win for Can Too …

Swim season in the tropics

Sprinting up the beach ...
And they're off ... deep water starts are awesome
Double Island, also known as shark gutterHmmm ... not so sure about this after hearing all those croc stories.

When the water is warm all year around the swim season is dictacted by stingers and not by warmth.
The Far North Queensland swimming season starts in May / June - there are only a couple but they are looking to expand.

So I check out the Ellis Beach ocean swim. 1.2km - easy.

Too Rough at the Bondi Bluewater

The final swim of the season was to be the new Bondi swim on Anzac day. They let the 1km kids go and then declare it too rough.
My mates doing it had to swim the whole way underway to make any headway the surf was so tough.

Not a great way to end the season.

Until next season ...

Practice is supposed to make perfect

Spectacular scenery

In the middle of all of these rainbow swimming capped swimmers is a nauseous girl in yellow who seems to be going the wrong way with the wrong stroke. That's me.

The Malabar to Little Bay swim is 2.7km long. Which doesn't seem that long now that I've swum it already. Wonderful boutique swim with excellent organisation and smaller numbers of participants. This means no getting swum over, into, around, on top of etc. It does however mean I fall off the back of my starting wave before the first buoy, but for the first time it takes the next wave until the 3rd buoy to overtake me. Yay!

It's at the 3rd wave when the seasickness strikes, despite anti-nausea tablets and a relatively calm day. Debilitating stuff. Cough, splutter, breaststroke, keep on swimming, cough and splutter again. Finally make it to the end and am made to go around the final buoy before heading to the finish line. Get my own back by pushing against buoy to minimise detour necessitated by it. Am totally disorientated by the end.

Am last in my age category, and in the bottom 20. Couldn't care less. I made a distance that once had me quaking in my boots whilst horribly nauseous. That alone is an achievement I wouldn't have once contemplated. Have however decided against a 5km attempt. For this year at least.

One step foward, two steps back.

North Bondi Classic. Infinitely smoother than the roughwater. Given that extra beer last night this is an excellent thing.

Panic attack upon getting past the break and for the first time ever, I really think I won't be able to make it. 35 sea lice stings later, I consider hailing down one of those rubber duckies full of life guards. My arm burns to the point where I no longer recognise it as my arm, rather some flaming paddle, viking style. Water, water everywhere and not a drop to quench. It turns out I still Can Too, but not with any particular grace, speed or style. Reach the finish line and head straight to first aid, giving my colleague quite a "she's drowned" scare.

Funnily I thought I'd gotten over the panic attacks and that I'd outgrown my childhood allergies. Apparently not.

Have signed up to do another 2.7km swim on Sunday and if I don't enjoy it - I won't even attempt 5km. I'll settle for 2.6km on April 26. Man it feels weird just typing that.

Katie Can Too!!

The end is near ... final training session at Bondi. Utterly terrifying. The waves were the bigger and the weather was more miserable than it had been yet. At least we all co-ordinated perfectly in our Can Too Cossies. The surf is so strong it rips my googles from my head whilst swimming.




The waves at Whale Beach prove a let down after the serious surf the day before. This is where dangerous levels of complacency set in.
Alice grinning from ear to ear that the conditions aren't as bad as yesterday.
Perfectly peaceful. Now.
IRBs (or as I prefer to call them Rubber Duckies) getting ready. I desperately hope I don't have to use them.

We Can Too! (Pre-emptive)



Massive Grins before the race starts. Ignorance is bliss.

Waiting for the start gun. This is actually the worst part of the race. Having always been in the first wave I'm now in the 8th and by now the adrenalin glands have been working overtime.

This is a fairly cautious back of the pack start. Normally it would be action shot central. I'm in the cautious bunch.

Splashing up the beach like a pro.


There is quite a bit of pain etched onto my face. There is also unbelievable relief at being able to touch dry land again. 1:01 hours later. I'm second last in my age category and 1639th out of 1831 overall and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have felt better even if I'd won the damn thing.

Waiting at the finish line are a few representative members of Team Katie. Mum and Dad. They were almost as proud as I was.

More representatives of Team Katie. Em and Tom trekked to Whale to be there when I crossed the finish line. They told me they could never do it themselves. 3 months ago that was my attitude too! But there was no way I couldn't succeed with all the support I had behind me. To everyone who encouraged my madness - thank you. To everyone who said congratulations, or good luck. And to those wonderful, wonderful people who dug deep and sponsored me, I cannot thank you enough. I assure you I thought of you all multiple times during the swim (there was certainly time) and it gave me strength.

Can Too Swimmers and Cure Cancer Board Members. Club Fed. Totally Euphoric.

Early, early start for the Big Swim. Knocks all previous efforts out of the ball park. By the time we park, get a coffee, get the bus to Palm, register and warm up there's about 10 minutes left. Having lost my googles the day beforehand (they went to a watery grave) I have to use my spares and they're leaking. Not good.

Lots of faffing waiting for our wave. They start 80% of the blokes and then the women. So much for chivalry. Decent start. Head to the first buoy / boee and then try to sight the next one, as per our Can Too briefing. Have to wait until Whale Beach for the next one. The headland between Palm and Whale Beach is endless. So to kill time I start singing "This is the headland that doesn't end, it just goes on and on my friend. Some people started swimming it not knowing what it was and they'll continue singing it for ever just because ..." In retrospect it seems equally appropriate. It's about this point that the googles start going really wrong, I start getting seasick, I get stung by sea lice to which I am allergic, the waves seem utterly relentless and determined to smash me into smithereens on the headland. Finally get past the headland and can see the beach, but they make you swim all the way along to the buoy / booee and then swim back. I swim as fast as possible to the finish and am so relieved to touch solid land I could cry. Am bathed in the warm feeling of support from my Dad, who is waiting at the finish line and all the fellow Can Tooers. I'll be back next year.

So it turns out that:


The next weekend was supposed to be the Cole Classic but a combination of weather and the drive from Jervis Bay turned me off. So I've signed up to the North Bondi Classic to make up for it. And am actually considering doing the 5km Coogee to Bondi swim! This Can Too attitude is infectious. And all the wonderful support is totally addictive.

The test

In order to test my new found comfort with ocean swimming my body decides to develop the 'flu. Top of the list of things you absolutely should not do whilst sick with the 'flu. Ocean swimming. Add an ear infection to the list and I swear the GP was looking at me as though I was crazy (not for the first time, mind you) when I told her I'd done a 2km training swim and a 1.6km race on successive days.

Actually. She has a point there.

Was strictly necessary to attend training though to receive (duh dunana) my Can Too Cossies!! Never has a pair of cossies cost so much (literally in terms of the minimum fundraising and figuratively in terms of the amount of effort involved).

Swam out to the head, across to beyond icebergs and then back. Funnily enough two colleagues were on the beach but I didn't run into them. So slow. Like iceberg slow. Ironic given that's what I was sighting. Do 2km in over an hour. This is about 20 minutes slower than my PB. If I were Susie Maroney (IF, IF, IF) this would be like the 'flu transforming you into Eric the Eel. Sadly I later check and am pretty sure Eric would have been faster than me.

Head up to Warriewood on the Sunday for the Warriewood to Mona Vale swim. My first "journey" swim (I love the lingo) between two points rather than in a big circle. Intense surf greets us at Mona Vale, and again at Warriewood (when we finally work out how to get there). The three colleagues who joined me last week for Avalon have become a self sustaining movement, encouraging me to forfeit my week off. There are varying degrees of enthusiasm upon being confronted with the early hour (by their standards), grey, overcast, drizzly day, and intense surf. The boys attack it like life saving pros (as opposed to the volunteers they are) but us girls are a little more circumspect and even consider dropping out when we warm up. Briefing session with Longie (Bondi / Can Too legend who regularly takes out his age group) helps quell the nerves a little and the girls strike a faustian pact: no competing with the boys for the sake of company getting out through the break.

We make it safely through the break, and fall off the back of our bunch so successfully that the next wave of swimmers are upon us before we make the first buoy (boating) / booee (swimming) (not so sure I love the lingo anymore). Glorious in the back straight, truly transparent water, easy intervals between booees and very friendly surfers. One of them keeps me company most of the way and informs me of my progress between sets, and every 6 strokes. Delightful chap. Not at all a waxhead.

Surf is equally intense getting in. First 4 are too big and breaking too early to even think about catching so let them pull me forward, revelling in the sight of the wash through the googles. Then catch wave after wave in and overtake all those poor suckers in front of me. Then have to run uphill in sand and we're all even stevens again. Another colleague has come down to cheer us over the finish line and I hear my name being yelled in support. Awesome feeling.

The boys, and uber fast girl have done it in a very fast time. The girls have done it in style. And by style I mean not drowning. One colleague has won her age category and she of masters gold winning fame comes second in her age category.

We head off to lunch, which is vastly aided by actually finding the intended restaurant this time, and paddlepops. Epic argument about which flavour is better. Personally, I think given how much more successfully we were able to eat our icecreams this week the flavour argument is rendered moot.

Fundraising Minimum Smashed!!

The $1250 minimum fundraising amount has been reached thanks to the extraordinary generosity of my family and friends:

With huge, huge, huge thanks to:

The Federal Court and all its employees, including two wonderful judges, Pam, Mum, Sarah, Lauren, Steph, Patrick, Diccon, Laura, Emily, Reena, Emma, Lisa, Peter, Vivian, Adam, Pia, Mitchel, Carolyn, Margreet, Yvonne, Jacinta, Jennifer, Anna V, Zsofi, Urshi, Marianna, Erin, Siobhan, Dad, Isa, Alex, Tam, Airlie, Justin, Matt, Ben, Alison and Rachel.

It's been absolutely amazing how many people have come forth from the tapestry of my life and supported this event, clearly cancer is something that affects us all, even if we live without ever receiving a diagnosis.

And I assure you, the warm fuzzy thoughts of people putting their hard earned cash behind you is incredibly helpful when struggling around a buoy in cold water and copping an elbow to the googles. It is you guys, as much as the training that has gotten me through, including those whose support hasn't been financial.

I am thoroughly indebted and incredibly grateful.

You all Can Too! And now I get my Can Too Cossies. Orange. Hot!!

And the fear slowly subsides

The water is amazingly clear ...

Bronwyn Bishop becomes convinced she can too [move her eyebrows]

Oh what a glorious day!

We head to the start line

And it starts ...

photos courtesy of Oceanswims.com



Training on Saturday was bizarre. I got through the break and started swimming instead of panicking. Having been advised to dive deeper I found myself focusing on that rather than my impending drowning and for the first time ever actually enjoyed Ocean Swimming. Susan, our team captain, was totally vindicated and crowing that she had promised eventual enjoyment. I rolled my eyes at the time. How does one go about retracting an eye roll? Counter clockwise perhaps?

Then Avalon. Another 1.5km swim. Went up the day before with a colleague (the Federal Court proving a very fertile hunting ground for recruiting ocean swimmers) to test out the waves. Massive. She handled it with great aplomb included a massive wave, that came from no where (i.e. beyond the break) and blotted out the sun whilst diving underneath it, and even still swept us both up in it.

Sunday morning. Bright and early. Well bright at least, by my standards. Meet 2 fellow associates, grab a third and head to Avalon. Glorious day. Minimal wind so no chop. Convince recalcitrant associate to have a go. Her aplomb holds throughout the race and she finishes with a smile a mile wide and exclamations of never having had quite so much fun. I literally burst with pride; especially considering the nervous quivering mass I was during the first four weeks. The blokes smash the race. 30 minutes and 30 seconds and 31 minutes and 30 seconds respectively. I'm a ways behind but still improve my time from Bilgola considerably. Am totally stoked. Having never been in the second wave I'm used to my time not having to be adjusted. The blokes point this out to me and I attempt to knock them out with my flailing arms as I star jump for joy.

Mel (of World Masters gold medal glory) comes 3rd in her age category and the colleague who joined me for Bilgola is only moments behind. Impressive.

But most exciting, is that, for the first time, instead of panicking during the race, I swim. Even when I take a gulp of ocean instead of air, or someone elbows me, or swims over me, I'm totally relaxed and just keep setting a steady pace. I'm blaming this wonderful development on my lovely fellow associates. Clearly they are a calming presence.

Swim 5km in the pool. Almost non stop (I take two breathers without touching the bottom). Am now actually EXCITED for the Big Swim in a greater proportion to the part of me which dreads it. This is entirely unprecedented. It no longer looms as an impossible Herculean feat, but rather something achieveable. I guess I Can Too!! (Fingers crossed)

Past the $800 mark for sponsorship. Not sure hassling people for money isn't the harder part of the program!

Euphoric post finish line!