Rotto: The Duo

I have fluked swims before, but nothing on this scale. Rottnest Island is 19.7km as the crow flies from Cottesloe Beach. Hence Cotto to Rotto or, to be formal, the Rottnest Island Channel swim.

What started as a solo attempt was thwarted by the black dog: my first bipolar depression relapse since diagnosis 4 years earlier. So I'm very pleased to say we raised over $5,000 for the Black Dog Institute.

I had a boat but no-one to swim with. Nicole had no boat, but wanted to swim. It was a match made in heaven - for many more reasons than mere practicalities.

To say my prep was inadequate is an epic understatement. I could bore you with the litany of illnesses and injuries which kept me out of the pool but that would make for the most boring blog post ever. Suffice it to say I made it to two squad sessions in February.

By the time the race rolled around I had busted my back. This was diagnosed 3 weeks out. Some intense physio meant I could walk and swim up to 500m without pain! Woot! At the 500m mark I had to jump out and stretch out my back. It turned out this was the perfect prep for a duo attempt, because you're constantly changing over.

I manage the flight over okay. Though people must have assumed my bladder was the size of a peanut given how often I walked the aisle.

Test swim went okay with only a little soreness, but it was the longest continuous swim I had done in months.

Race day dawned beautifully, setting the stage for a perfect swimming day and I headed to the harbour to meet our captain, whom I shall henceforth call The Dude, because that is what he was. Our amazing support crew, Mel and Emily met me there. Super early, because Nic had allowed in excess time. I cannot adequately describe what it is like joining the most epic flotilla possibly ever assembled. 600 boats. As many paddlers. And 2500 swimmers. It was a huge festival atmosphere with boats as far as the eye could see in either direction.

And we're off. Murray, our incredibly generous paddler who was motivated by our cause to come back to the race after a break inspired by some spectacular bratish behaviour by a soloist had this amazing pink dive stick which made it easy to pick Nic from the pack. We hit the beautiful masted marker and it's changeover time.

Shifts 1-3 pass without pain. Well a few stingers but whatever.

Shifts 4-6 pass without pain.

I'm stretching and well medicated. I have a hot water bottle under my back. But it's coping.

Nic is swimming up a storm. Her stroke is a thing of efficient beauty. She is covering almost twice the distance in her 15 minute slot than I am in my 10 minute slots.

We hit half way in under 4 hours. We are performing better than expected when we're both at full strength.  And I am hardly that.

But at halfway, I discover my strength. I know I'm going to make it without pushing into agony. So I pump up the stroke rate, bung on the kick and start to swim faster.

The water is unbelievably clear and generally wonderfully warm. But hoo boy there are some cold patches. Nicole having almost no insulations starts to suffer. So we swap shift lengths so she can get warm. And I am super glad I packed my hypothermia kit.

Given we had planned that Nicole would have to swim the lion's share (probably 15km to my 5km) it was such a wonderful thing to be able to step up as the weaker member of the team.

But as we said farewell to our boat and The Dude who managed to get to the last possible buoy, I was struggling a bit. There was a bit of pain. But I was so close I knew I could push through. Awesome team work til the end, Nicole let me draft off her feet and then slowed so we could cross the line together. Stroke for stroke.

And what a finish line it was. We were hoping for 8-9 hours and went 7:50.

Thank you so much to all our donors, our unbelievably awesome crew (Steve - The Dude, El Capitan; Casey - first mate; Murray - Paddler; Emily and Mel - crew extraordinaire), our amazing chauffeurs, our coaches and swim squad, our support crew on both sides of the continent, and the Pacific ocean, any my incredible hosts who opened their hearts,family and home to me. You made this possible.

In particular I'd like to thank my physios, who signed off on me going when everyone was against it, Pete Dunne and Kate Smart who were resolute in their belief of me, Charm Frend whose back is completely $@^$%&@#^!$#@%^$@$&@$  stuffed and taught me how to swim with a bad back and above all, the wonderful Nicole. I tried so many times to pull out, convinced no-one can pull Rotto out of thin air. She was determined I would swim. Even if it was 1km. In the end it was 11km for me and 13km for her, 1km of which was shared. It was a beautiful partnership. And I never had so much FUN! Seriously, duo'ing is stupid amounts of fun! Neither of us could believe how much fun we had!!

Homemade flag

Ready as we'll ever be

Matching Suits - Sam and Nic post test swim

Our Noble Steed with enormous Shark painted on the side.

The Flotilla assembles

Beautiful day dawning

Halfway in under 4 hours

14km mark. Nic swimming up a storm.

Mel signalling 2 minutes to change over

The V for Victory sign that forms the basis of the Black Dog Logo

Very important colour co-ordination.

A source of endless inspiration: a very big hero, Pete Dunne - soloist for the umpteeneth time. On Rotto Island with myself and Nicole

Off the Red Eye and straight to Cloey for training.

Hawaii

A truly fabulous holiday but the planned ocean swim events did not go to plan. Our first 4Seasons overseas trip together was a seriously awesome time, but pushing yourself to withstand colder and colder water is a terrible idea right before a tropical swimming holiday. There were LOTS of dolphins though.

Firstly, the Roughwater ocean swim was cancelled because the water was too rough. Worst case of naming since the Never-Ending Story. Where's Lionel Hutz when you need him?

A couple of friends from the surf club swam it anyway and found there was some super rough sets out the back so the decision to cancel was totally justified. However, it had clearly been made the night before and so they allowed last minute regos up until the minute of the announcement. Imagine paying $150 to enter on the morning of a swim and not even getting time to collect your timing chip before they cancel it. Absolutely bollocks organisation.

We made the best of it, walking the course with some absolutely cracking swim stops along the way.

A wonderful week loomed in between the next event, with lots of relaxing, light swimming and some hiking and a visit to Pearl Harbo(u)r.

Unfortunately, my arms just felt achey every time I swam. I tried stretching them out and ramped up my hydration ahead of the 5km North Shore swim.

It should be noted that most of our  contingent loved the swim.

By 1km in I was in serious trouble. My perfect pace buddy was pulling ahead and I couldn't match her pace. I managed to hold her feet until the 2.5km mark (the change over point for the relays) and then I was in the danger zone.

I couldn't remember how to swim. I could kind of keep my arms turning over but I was delirious. I was breaststroking, backstroking and my underarm glands blew out completely. I cannot tell you what swimming in salt water with chafed glands is like. The best analogy I can come up with is that it's like swimming with tennis balls coating in extra course sandpaper under you arm. I was bleeding freely by the end.

Eventually, I realised if I took my swim cap off I'd start losing excess heat from my head. Thank goodness for that.

That realisation allowed me to complete the swim. As did running into Michaela, who was doing the duo. She quickly perceived something was really wrong. I think I might have been slurring my words by this point. She kept me going.

I alternated breaststroke, backstroke and really wide freestyle to manage the pain under my arms. We caught up to a lovely chatty group. Apparently we were fighting a really hard current. I didn't notice.

Slowly the finish line came into sight.

The most painful part of the whole swim. By this point everything in my body had cramped so as to be unusable out of the water. It took me a good few minutes to hobble over the line, held up by Mary and Mike.

Gosh darnit, I wish there had been first aid to hand. But the organisers had basically packed up. Including handing out the prizes. Despite the fact I was second, and last, in my age group. I have never seen my prize. The Charity Island swim really showed up North Shore Tri Club in terms of organisation. Speaking of which, my final time for 5km was 3 hours 10 minutes. My time for 11km less than a month earlier was 3:52.

That alone should tell you what a complete disaster of a swim it was.

I'd happily go back to Hawaii for a holiday. But I'd do some serious warm water acclimatisation before I swim there again.

The Island Charity Swim: Around Old Woman Island. 11km.

A medical certificate, $1200 of fundraising for the local special needs schools, a paddler, a support boat and a willingness to fly North for the weekend are all that is required to complete my longest ever swim: The Island Charity Swim.

Funds from my super lovely donors bought a new wheelchair bus for Currimindi and exercise equipment for Nambour. THANK YOU!!!

Swimming is thought of as a solo sport. Bollocks. Complete and utter bollocks. If it's over 5km in length there is generally a support boat and paddler involved for each swimmer. Given how slowly I swim that is a 4-5 hour undertaking. Of sitting on the water, watching me turn my arms over and barely moving (particularly for that motorised boat). Not to mention the coaches, fellow swimmers, supporters and donors who get you to the start line. Especially in this case, my lovely coach Jai who arranged accomodation and my support vessel from the wonderful Alex Headland Surf Club.

Pia. Best paddler in the business.

The IRB guys from Alex Headland. Legends.

It also involves an awful lot of kit. This is just my swim gear. Including hypothermia kit. Even for a warm water swim. The water is always colder so you are always losing heat.



This was the best organised swim I have ever encountered. The start was handicapped so slowpoke old me got to go off second. Which meant I had people to swim with until past halfway. So awesome not instantly dropping off the back of the pack.  When I arrived at the end, they sat me down and a doctor checked me out for any adverse signs. Not to mention the medical certificate to participate in the first place. It was also the best catered swim I have ever attended. The FOOD afterwards. Bloody hell, the school community had pulled out all the stops. Three types of soup, hot sandwiches and the best cake stall you've ever seen. But free for swimmers, support crew, family and friends.

Rounding Old Woman Island.

Looking back at Old Woman Island from the Finish Line.

Start line selfie. This smile never diminished.

Thumbs Up.

So touched that some of the Special Needs students we were fundraising for came out to cheer us home. What little heroes!

More thumbs up at the finish line.

  

and even more thumbs up.

The swim itself, was wonderful. Slow and steady.  Got thrown off course a little by the river mouth, but otherwise it all went to plan. Woot. Beautifully warm water (the locals were whining at 21 degrees. Us Sydneysiders were delighted. It involved a stupid number of thumbs up. See photos above.

After 6 months of post difficult concussion sobriety, I rounded down the last 3 days and had my first beer. Winning. And a huge part of the charm of the sunshine coast were some fellow BSBLSCers who now call the Sunshine Coast. Thanks for some epic hospitality. 

Weekend crew of awesome / BSBLSC

Gosh darn gorgeous!

Nice spot for a recovery swim.

Recovery Swim. Zero pain. Much smiling.

So many dolphins!

Back to The Rock and Under the Bridge

Bergs ready to jump and escape from Alcatraz

Bondi Icebergs winter swimming club and South End Rowing Club are sister clubs on either side of the Pacific - hence Pacific Partners and each year we take turns visiting each other!

San Fran Lesson Learned
Firstly, there are literally no cold water kudos when San Fran turns on 17 degree water. It was 19 degrees in Aquatic Park. Total bollocks. All that cold water training proved to be for nothing.

Secondly, the Golden Gate swim is the best swim I have ever done.

Thirdly, South End Rowing Club (SERC) is hands down, the BEST FREAKING CLUB (on that side of the Pacific - or I will get in serious trouble). The degree to which they welcome these Bondi visitors fills me with warmth. The degree to which they welcome me had a number of people assuming I was a SERCER and not an Iceberg :) Thanks so much to everyone who put in so much effort putting the tour together. It was brilliant.

The warm up / training regime
Landed at SF, straight to lunch at Google with my lovely host and swim buddy, Alice Boxhall. Strewth, the google kitchen is something to behold. Straight from there along the beautiful waterfront, passed the beloved Ferry building and to SERC. In the water within 3 hours of landing. Beauty. Circumnavigation of the Beautiful Aquatic Park.


Water is devastatingly warm. There will be no bragging rights from this trip.

 Love is such an inadequate description. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE is getting closer.

Dawn the next morning saw me back in the water with Simon, my fav dual Iceberg and SERCer. And not just because he's the only one. David Cannington (Cano), yet another Aussie. Watch out. We're taking over.

Today's adventure is a Chazz lap. Named for the Birthday Boy himself, about a 2mile loop from Gashouse to Creakers and back, and involving an outside (the breakwater) / inside (the breakwater). The Bay is choppy as. Just as well we like it rough.

Kim, me and the curious seals. Photo credit: Vito

The second we hit the beach we run into the utterly delightful Kimberley Chambers, one of my favourite kiwis who is doubling down after her earlier masters pool session. Complete and utter nutter. Love her style. We head off for a circuit of the park and are rewarded with super curious seals!! Which set the tone for all future swims, which involved seal sightings.

Seal Hanging just off Alcatraz

Pod, Bob, Harem, Herd, Rookery of Seals

The next day, Kim convinces me to triple down. (Yeah, I totally begged her to take me along. Keen to experience first hand what her training regime feels like.) Adding to the nutter factor considerably.
First step is a 4:15 am start. Meet Kim at her apartment and head across the Golden Gate to Redwood High School where will we swim across a perfectly good 50m pool because they don't believe in sharing lanes with more than 2 people. More nuts. Once I have gotten used to swimming in the reverse direction, in yards and across the pool (Nuts!) I really enjoy the super set the wonderful coach has put together. Thanks for having me Marin Masters!

Session 1: Marin Masters. 

Doubling Down: In the bay

Triple threat: Sequel moored off Angel Island

Then back across the bridge for the second training session of the day: the Bay. We cut under the SERC pier and hang with some seals before heading for the Spa (which is ironically one of the colder spots but gets some serious jets of water where the bay meets aquatic park). Then it is serious nap time. Before baking commences for the Night Train swim. I met Kim at work and we head back over the Golden Gate bridge (for someone who had only cycled over it this was still seriously novel) to San Fran yacht club. Which is not actually in San Fran but in rather Belvedere. Kim had invited me onto the Night Train Swimmers support boat Sequel, owned by the wonderful Vito. Vito is a serious, serious athlete and an entrepreneur. He is also a founder of Night Train swimmers. Kim might not have mentioned the training swim with the Night Train Swimmers part. These are some of the best swimmers in the world. Also some of the fittest people in the world. Whilst I died trying to keep up swimming around part of Angel Island, they were pulling on their running shoes to run up the steepest incline they could find. Luckily, there is a "someone is lagging behind, please pause" signal. It was put to very good use.

The Bergs hit the Bay

Thursday involved a very well deserved sleep in and a solid scoping of my goal. Walking across the Golden Gate (only took 3 trips to SF) I saw the swirling eddies and epic winds that characterise the Golden Gate Bridge. I saw kitesurfers get air of the crests of the whipped up waves. I saw huge container ships cut our course in twain. And I freaked out. Then heading back to SERC to freak out less. The Icebergs headed out to the opening and then another outside / inside for those who were keen. The chop outside Aquatic Park had a few taking gulps of water. Me amongst them.

Friday morning saw me hit the SERC beach 15 minutes late. Which meant I did something I swore I wouldn't do only the night before. I did my own Chazz Lap. Fort Mason against the tide and another outside / inside. Followed by coffee served in bowls. The Yanks do not understand coffee as a luxury item. I was to come to appreciate this later.

Kim and Simon being interviewed for NBC. Full interview here: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Bay-Area-Swimmers-Tackle-First-Ever-San-Francisco-To-Farallon-Islands-Swims-319111841.html

In the afternoon Simon and Kim were interviewed ahead of their upcoming solo Farallon swim attempts, both world firsts. Simon was training to be the first to swim from the Golden Gate to the Farrallon Islands and Kim was training to become the first woman to swim in either direction. I knew some of their stories but not all and I loved hearing it elicited by a professional interviewer.  [Postscript, Kim would make her swim with Simon on board cheering her on. Not two weeks after his own swim was aborted when a shark started circling 4km from the finish line whilst blood oozed from a chafed neck. Bravo sir, bravo!]

Chop but no flood (tide)(

Then the Icebergs assembled for the briefing. In the meantime I popped out to buy a waterproof camera as it turns out I can't live without one. We swam to the opening and were told the tide was turning so most people opted out. Fair enough. Tides in San Fran are a SERIOUS business. They can run up to 6 knots. San Fran Harbour is a tidal estuary, with 4 rivers feeding into the Bay which runs out the oceans with the force of a tempest. I have seen ferries struggle against the tide. Listing as their engines run full force against this raging current.

Simmo and Robin swimming aft of the Eppleton.

Turns out the advice was wrong, but John, Robin and I had an absolute cracker of a swim - outside / inside and then back alongside the inside of the Baracutha, between a barnacled boat and the only aquatic national park in the US - the Pier that includes a number of historic boats. Simmo was our fearless guide and despite the fact it was a tight fit at times - it was awesome!

Then Robin and I headed out for another lap around Aquatic Park via the opening. So much fun swimming with that lovely lady.  Happy Hour and pizza followed. Such fun.

Thanks Robin for this photo of me laughing in the face of Alactraz.

 
Golden Gate
Hands down the best swim I have ever done. The record holder gave us all blue bands to mark the occasion. Paid for from his own pocket! I have never felt so privileged to be swimming in such a place. I felt like I shouldn't be there so I savoured every moment. Including an epic amount of backstroke for an ocean swim event. I can't do it justice in words. Luckily Ashley and Bruno have captured it beautifully in video:

https://youtu.be/W-CSUueH80I

And I have a fair few photos.

The evolution of a smile -

Before

During

After. Photo credit: Fran Hegleer

Alcatraz
Having done this swim once already I wasn't completely terrified. I knew what to sight, I knew what to expect when jumping off the boat (literally the worst part of swimming in SF. Especially last time when it was a boatload colder).

But I doubt it would matter how many times you swam from Alcatraz, it would never ever get old. There is something about literally escaping from Alcatraz. It's immortalised through tales of escapes, Hollywood and there is something about being tougher than a character played by Sean Connery. (In The Rock he wusses out of swimming from the Rock a second time. In turn saving the Bay area from chemical warfare but whatever. I'm more hard core than James Bond. Right?) Also,  except for the slackest of slack tides involve paying a lot of attention. The water safety crew were on top of their game directed any errant swimmers back on course. Thanks so much for all your help!

Then, SERC took me out to the Ball Game. And I do not care what anyone says, Baseball is nothing like Cricket. But gosh darn it do I want to watch a game from the water and catch a fly ball.

Out to my fave Taqueria with the lovely Alice and Ben. Hosts with the most.
A perfect SF day.

Swim Day, slightly more forbidding

Alcatraz on a sunny day

Now you see it ...

Now you don't. Container ship has right of way.

 One last swim

 And so, dawn the next morning saw me back at SERC for one last swim. Through the pylons under the MUNI pier to fight against the flood. Down to Fort Mason. At which point my arms figuratively fell off and we went for breakfast. Have I mentioned how freaking awesome the Huveros Ranchos are at the Blue Mermaid across from SERC? Worth flying to SF for those alone. One final lunch at Google with Alice and then onto the long trip home.

With an ace up my sleeve: entry into my longest swim yet. The Island Charity swim from Mudjumba to Mooloolaba. So within 12 hours of landing I was back into training. Transpacific flight counted as my rest day :)

Back at it just the same day as landing back from the USA.