James Clothier - Palm Beach to Shelly Beach

South Palm Beach to Shelly Beach

24 km (14.9 miles)

6 hours, 9 minutes on 27 November 2022

Observed and documented by Paul Clothier

Contents

Swimmer

  • Name: James Clothier
  • Gender: male
  • Age on swim date: 38
  • Nationality: Australia
  • Resides: Perth, Western Australia

Support Personnel

  • Ting Lim - paddler
  • Michael O'Donoghue - skipper
  • Paul Clothier - observer

Escort Vessel

Name Type Port
Happy Days 18ft Searay Bowrider Tunks Park, NSW

Swim Parameters

  • Category: Solo, nonstop, unassisted.
  • Rules: MSF Rules of Marathon Swimming, without exception or modification.
  • Equipment used: Textile swimsuit (Funky Trunks brief), swim cap, Fiski goggles

Route Definition

History

Swim Data

  • Start: 27 November 2022, 06:31:00 (Australia/Sydney, UTC+11).
  • Finish: 27 November 2022, 12:40:13
  • Elapsed: 6 hours, 9 minutes, 13 seconds.

Summary of Conditions

Feature Min Max
Water Temp (C) 19 20
Air Temp (C) 17 20
Wind (kph) 7.4 18

GPS Track

Trackpoint frequency: 10 minutes. Download raw data (CSV).

Click to expand map.

Speed Plot

Nutrition Plan

See observer log.

Observer Log

Narrative

by James Clothier

The Palm to Shelly swim was my third and final leg of the Australian Triple Crown of Marathon Swimming. Having completed the two other legs in 2021, the Port to Pub 25km in Perth and the 34km Derwent River Big Swim in Tasmania, I was keen to swim the Palm to Shelly to become one of the first few in the world to complete the challenge. More importantly, it was also an opportunity to tackle another epic adventure with my good friend and training partner, Zen Durbidge.

In August 2022, we began planning for an out-of-event solo swim with a 10-day weather window from 26 November to 5 December. The challenge we faced was organising it from another state, and the weather window made it difficult to lock in support crew until we had a solid forecast. Fortunately, from about a week out we could see conditions were looking great for the second day of the window. And even more fortunately, the forecast held up very well. We had secured support boats a couple of months ahead, but after a few more calls for help, a lot of searching and posting in local Facebook groups, and amazing support from friends, we assembled the rest of the team with a couple of days to spare. We flew from Perth to Sydney on 25 November and spent the next day finalising plans and equipment.

I was more nervous than my previous marathon swims because I have an unreasonable fear of sharks, even though I know an encounter is extremely unlikely. We’d heard a lot about this stretch of water being particularly ‘sharky’ and stuck in the back of my mind were the words of Murray from our local support crew: “You’ll definitely see sharks, but they’re all really well-fed out there, so don’t worry about it”. Yeah right! But I never let this fear get in the way of conquering swimming challenges, and it helps me to refer to one of my favourite quotes: “If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.”

On 27 November 2022 at 06:31 am, with my support boat and paddler waiting about 100m offshore, I entered the water from the southern end of Palm Beach and began the long swim. Conditions were great, though not quite as perfect as we had imagined. The water was at a good temperature (~19 degrees Celsius), and there was light north-easterly wind, which was ideal. But the ocean was a little bumpy with the swell, current and wind tussling to create a slightly uneven movement across the surface. It was a beautiful morning, though, and we couldn’t have asked for much better.

The swim was fantastic and went by largely without a hitch. It takes you on such a stunning route along the rocky cliffs and bays of Sydney’s northern beaches, which you can see clearly even from a couple of kilometres offshore. After about 45 minutes, my paddler had to stop and get on the boat because the lumpy seas were making it difficult to kayak. We had prepared for this, so when she made the decision to get out, it wasn’t a surprise and we forged ahead, feeding every 30 minutes with my drink bottles passed to me by my crew on the boat. Other than that hiccup, it was pretty much smooth swimming. I experienced a heaviness in my arms from about 15-18km, but as we turned at Long Reef for the 6km stretch to the end, we had the north-easterly directly behind us and I had a very welcome second wind (pun intended), feeling almost as good as I did at the start. As we neared Manly Beach, not far from the finish, we had to hold our line through a large sailing regatta, with enormous yachts racing by uncomfortably close to the boat and me. All was well and I reckon they were probably more shocked than us as they came across a lone swimmer and boat about 1.5km offshore!

For the last 20 minutes or so, I could see the golden sands of Shelly Beach and couldn’t wait to get there. It’s a small beach, very busy with people, especially on beautiful days like this. As I got closer to shore, I weaved my way around the swimmers in the shallows before finally taking a few wobbly steps and exiting the water to the sounds of cheering and clapping from my friends and family waiting on the beach. We were done! The Palm to Shelly and the Australian Triple Crown at the same time. What a feeling! Something I’ll never forget.

And I’m pleased to note that I didn’t see any marine life except for two patches of millions of tiny jellyfish of the non-stinging variety, which I swam through along the way. That’s not to say they weren’t there though. Not long after I finished, the piercing sound of Manly Beach’s shark siren rang through the air as lifesavers cleared swimmers from the water due to a shark sighting.

Video

Appendix: Weather Data

Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology - Daily Weather Observations (PDF)