suziedods said:
I have to say.. I took Grant on his first Aquatic Park swim about a year and a half ago. Out of his wetsuit.. for the first or close to his first time swimming without. WHOOO HOO!! Well done folks!
I can't believe it was 18 months ago that Suzie got me to swim in cold water for the first time. I asked Suzie for a coaching session and it was so cool to meet someone who had swum The English Channel, in addition to all her other swimming achievements.
At the end of my coaching session with Suzie, she convinced me to take my wetsuit off and swim in some coldish water for the first time - I think the water was about 56 or so. And my marathon swimming started from this moment. Its still amazing to me that I can pinpoint when it all started.
*as a side note, even though I live across the world from Suzie, she was a continual help over the last 18 months helping me in my training for the EC. I see similar sentiments expressed on this forum about the spirit of marathon swimmers and how welcoming and helpful they are ... to bring you into the cult, no doubt :-)... and this is a perfect
example of this spirit.
Thank you so much, Suzie. I am still in disbelief that I went from this session to actually making it across the English Channel.
JimBoucher said:
Having found myself what seemed miles SW of Cap Gris Nez the idea of "swimming straight in to the French coast "really did seem attractive,but a decent understanding of the tide timing meant I knew I was about to get a 3kt boost back to the Cap. Those miles disappeared in no time. Same goes for swimmers who find themselves out of sight of the ferries way up the NE end of the Straits. It won't be long till you're flying SW. First, abortive, attempt for me my mind went to pieces with the tide and geography contributing to this state of mind. Afterwards it became so much clearer and ultimately successful.
Knowing where you are in a swim, and what this means (for that particular swim and point in time), is a very valuable point that JimBoucher has pointed out.
I'm guessing many of you are like me, and that during a swim, perception of where you are in a swim is virtually nill.
During my English Channel swim, towards the end, I thought I was north of The Cap and the tide would still be helping push me south to The Cap. I am optimist if there ever was one.
In the final part of my swim, my crew seemed to be doing their best Jane Fonda workout impression urging me to go straight, or do something urgently. They were moving and shouting a lot... at the time I had no idea what they were on about. I knew they weren't just cheering me on. But, who's brain is really working well near the end?
In retrospect, it would have been very helpful to 1) know where I was relative to the Pilot's planned end point at this critical point (ie, where I was in relation to The Cap), and 2) work out what my crew really wanted me to do - could it be anything other than keep following the boat?!?!? (ie. why the f*ck were they waving at me so much at this point)
In my situation, it turned out I was was way off base in assessing where I was. I thought I was north of the Cap and was merrily swimming along in cruise control thinking 'this will be an easy finish... the tide will carry me in.' *seriously, this is what I was thinking at the time.
I was NOT north of The Cap.
The reality was: I was south of The Cap, and the tide was pushing me north, quickly. I was in danger of missing The Cap and adding minutes/hours to my swim. God knows what that would have meant to me and finishing the swim.
The point of all this is that I was totally unaware that I was in danger of missing The Cap, and in danger of a much, much longer swim.
I had assembled a great crew and pilot, and still, this message was not clear. I am smart, my crew and pilot are smart, we were prepared - how can this happen? Jim is right, situational awareness, at the right times, is very important. As important as your crew communicating the right messages and motivation to the swimmer throughout the swim.
This awareness (south of The Cap and in danger of missing it) would have been good to know. Jim's point realised and felt by me exactly.
Still, what could I have done differently? Draw on some reserve of energy I had been hiding away for the last 12 hours, perhaps?? Bring out all my power swimming that all my high intensity training had prepared me for? Or just shut up and keep swimming?
I had already added in some kick at this point of the swim, thinking this is what the crew was really telling me. Is this why we should include so much HIIT in our training? Does it actually matter in the wee hours of your hardest swim ever? Can you really lift your game and get a meaningful increase in pace at this stage?
I am lucky, I have a very good coach called Chloe who knows a bit about Channel swimming. She pushes me all the time with high intensity interval training. I am an average swimmer and new to the sport, but I think she is right. We do this sort of training for exactly the situation I described.
I am 100% sure I lifted my effort in these final minutes when I saw the lighthouse at The Cap and the penny dropped about my situation and the need to 'haul ass quickly'. I am 99% certain my increased effort led to virtually no increase in pace or getting me to those French rocks sooner.
However, once I realised where I was, and what I had to do, I did feel pretty great in that last hour (or however long it was) swimming with all my desperate effort to not miss The Cap.
My crew noticed. And it was really really amazing seeing them go from urgent, worroed, insistent crew to rockstar, cheering crew knowing I would make it. They saw me lift, at least with effort and spirit. I was making them proud of me. I was proud of me.
Onto the final crossing as Chloë has successfully completed the 2nd leg of her triple crossing attempt. Her first crossing took 11 hours 34 minutes, with the first few hours undertaken in tough conditions. Her return from France to the UK took 11 hours 8 minutes. She is now heading back to the French coast, tired of course, but confident. Current water temp is 17.2°C (63°F), wind from the East/South East @ 8 Knots.
Apparently it is faster to swim across the channel than to drive under it these days. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-36873632
Motorists have been hit by delays of up to 14 hours through Kent to get to the Port of Dover, with many holidaymakers being stuck in traffic overnight.
Deidre Ward is done with the "warm up lap" and on her way back to France. She's accompanied by her partner Mike and several other luminaries (:). Weather looks good and she's feeding well and pacing well.
Mickey Helps is also out on a two-way attempt on Gallivant and 2-person 2-way aspirants "Gangsta Grannies" on Optimist. The weather gods are smiling on the channel this week!
This is brilliant! Deidre had phenomenal "splits" 13.15 and 14.37. A lovely woman, who if you look at her twitter feed was smiling and looking QUITE smart for 27 hrs in the water. Experienced crew, great piloting, good planning.. and a fabulous day out on the water. Take a gander at the twitter feed. It's funny.
Deidre is a kind helpful and lovely all around.
Comments
I can't believe it was 18 months ago that Suzie got me to swim in cold water for the first time. I asked Suzie for a coaching session and it was so cool to meet someone who had swum The English Channel, in addition to all her other swimming achievements.
At the end of my coaching session with Suzie, she convinced me to take my wetsuit off and swim in some coldish water for the first time - I think the water was about 56 or so. And my marathon swimming started from this moment. Its still amazing to me that I can pinpoint when it all started.
*as a side note, even though I live across the world from Suzie, she was a continual help over the last 18 months helping me in my training for the EC. I see similar sentiments expressed on this forum about the spirit of marathon swimmers and how welcoming and helpful they are ... to bring you into the cult, no doubt :-)... and this is a perfect
example of this spirit.
Thank you so much, Suzie. I am still in disbelief that I went from this session to actually making it across the English Channel.
Knowing where you are in a swim, and what this means (for that particular swim and point in time), is a very valuable point that JimBoucher has pointed out.
I'm guessing many of you are like me, and that during a swim, perception of where you are in a swim is virtually nill.
During my English Channel swim, towards the end, I thought I was north of The Cap and the tide would still be helping push me south to The Cap. I am optimist if there ever was one.
In the final part of my swim, my crew seemed to be doing their best Jane Fonda workout impression urging me to go straight, or do something urgently. They were moving and shouting a lot... at the time I had no idea what they were on about. I knew they weren't just cheering me on. But, who's brain is really working well near the end?
In retrospect, it would have been very helpful to 1) know where I was relative to the Pilot's planned end point at this critical point (ie, where I was in relation to The Cap), and 2) work out what my crew really wanted me to do - could it be anything other than keep following the boat?!?!? (ie. why the f*ck were they waving at me so much at this point)
In my situation, it turned out I was was way off base in assessing where I was. I thought I was north of the Cap and was merrily swimming along in cruise control thinking 'this will be an easy finish... the tide will carry me in.' *seriously, this is what I was thinking at the time.
I was NOT north of The Cap.
The reality was: I was south of The Cap, and the tide was pushing me north, quickly. I was in danger of missing The Cap and adding minutes/hours to my swim. God knows what that would have meant to me and finishing the swim.
The point of all this is that I was totally unaware that I was in danger of missing The Cap, and in danger of a much, much longer swim.
I had assembled a great crew and pilot, and still, this message was not clear. I am smart, my crew and pilot are smart, we were prepared - how can this happen? Jim is right, situational awareness, at the right times, is very important. As important as your crew communicating the right messages and motivation to the swimmer throughout the swim.
This awareness (south of The Cap and in danger of missing it) would have been good to know. Jim's point realised and felt by me exactly.
Still, what could I have done differently? Draw on some reserve of energy I had been hiding away for the last 12 hours, perhaps?? Bring out all my power swimming that all my high intensity training had prepared me for? Or just shut up and keep swimming?
I had already added in some kick at this point of the swim, thinking this is what the crew was really telling me. Is this why we should include so much HIIT in our training? Does it actually matter in the wee hours of your hardest swim ever? Can you really lift your game and get a meaningful increase in pace at this stage?
I am lucky, I have a very good coach called Chloe who knows a bit about Channel swimming. She pushes me all the time with high intensity interval training. I am an average swimmer and new to the sport, but I think she is right. We do this sort of training for exactly the situation I described.
I am 100% sure I lifted my effort in these final minutes when I saw the lighthouse at The Cap and the penny dropped about my situation and the need to 'haul ass quickly'. I am 99% certain my increased effort led to virtually no increase in pace or getting me to those French rocks sooner.
However, once I realised where I was, and what I had to do, I did feel pretty great in that last hour (or however long it was) swimming with all my desperate effort to not miss The Cap.
My crew noticed. And it was really really amazing seeing them go from urgent, worroed, insistent crew to rockstar, cheering crew knowing I would make it. They saw me lift, at least with effort and spirit. I was making them proud of me. I was proud of me.
Chloe McCardel @chloemccardeldotcom is attempting a 3-way English Channel crossing, looks like she's just set off:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0qpeJpJD8f71xG6gJXjFHV3sZYHxRtzko
Is she with Viking Princess?
Yes, Viking princess.
From Chloë's team in Australia:
CSA tracking for the Viking Princess is here:
http://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/pilots/viking-princess/
I am super proud of @slknight's successful EC swim yesterday! Way to go! 9 hours, 26 minutes!
http://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/swim/4475/susan-knight/
:-c
<))><
Apparently it is faster to swim across the channel than to drive under it these days.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-36873632
Motorists have been hit by delays of up to 14 hours through Kent to get to the Port of Dover, with many holidaymakers being stuck in traffic overnight.
Huge kudos go out to Ernie Hoftyzer who completed his EC crossing today in 11 hours, 49 minutes, which also completes his Triple Crown.
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0hPriO6S8NsAe6noFmtEH9KbVsxAJHL6t
Deidre Ward is done with the "warm up lap" and on her way back to France. She's accompanied by her partner Mike and several other luminaries (:). Weather looks good and she's feeding well and pacing well.
Get er done Deidre. She's w CSPF and twitter at https://twitter.com/deirdrewardb
Also today in the Channel -Rebecca Lewis has just completed her 2 way swim with Viking Princess in under 21 hours.
Deidre got it done!
...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
Mickey Helps is also out on a two-way attempt on Gallivant and 2-person 2-way aspirants "Gangsta Grannies" on Optimist. The weather gods are smiling on the channel this week!
This is brilliant! Deidre had phenomenal "splits" 13.15 and 14.37. A lovely woman, who if you look at her twitter feed was smiling and looking QUITE smart for 27 hrs in the water. Experienced crew, great piloting, good planning.. and a fabulous day out on the water. Take a gander at the twitter feed. It's funny.
Deidre is a kind helpful and lovely all around.
So awesome all around!!!
Nice article about @slknight 's recent smokin' fast EC swim:
http://www.excellesports.com/news/open-water-swimmer-susan-knight-goes-the-distance/
Embarrassed about the phrase "record time" though since it wasn't a record of any kind.