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Sometime in April, 2001
I actually get a silly idea in my head to take on the
challenge. 'Why?' so many have asked. Well in as short an
answer as I can come up with, 'I needed something to do, and doing what
society told me got boring.' So the drive began.
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23 July, 2001
Formal training preparation begins. The chilly
morning waters of Victoria Park seem to be ideal, but better waters were
on the cards.
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Sometime in Early September, 2001
Training is full swing underway, up to over 50 km's per
week, and we stumble upon a gold mine. Sydney's answer to non
aggressive swimming. Botany Pool is found and I probably had my own
lane 90% of all my training km's. Yippee.
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9 December, 2001
The first real test. 50 laps of Coogee
Beach. Well I can only blame the coarse setter for the swim being a
bit short, but a good confidence booster nonetheless. With Mick's
mighty smile assisting me stroke for stroke I finished the 5 hour swim and
felt good.
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11 February, 2002
Time to go. After 7 months of warm water training,
we're off to NZ
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12 February, 2002
Were here, and what seems to be all the fuss about the
weather in Wellington. A nice 26 degree sunny day and the water at
Freyberg Beach is a nice comfortable 18 degrees.
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13 February, 2002
OK, now I know what the fuss is about. Yesterday
must have been a trick or something, because today the outside temp is a
warm 14 degrees and Freyberg has dropped. How much I'm not sure but
it seems like a lot. Probably 17.
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14 February, 2002
Happy Valentines Day!! A high and a low in the
same day. First the low. 4.5 km in Freyberg was
shocking. My face burned, my feet disappeared, what fingers, and all
with 2 caps on. This place is cold, and my whole psyche is feeling
it. Now the high. I met Phil Rush, who some call the greatest
marathon swimmer ever suited up. What an opportunity. I'm
first to go for this year. Come on sun!!
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15 February, 2002
How could it have possibly gotten COLDER. Wind is
something I'm coming to dislike; but more familiar with at the same
time. Think I have a stomach bug. All I want to do is sleep. 8
laps of Freyberg, could have gone 10 but got out early. Still cold.
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16 February, 2002
Today presented my first real physical challenge.
I have some sort of flu. My head feels like its full of lead cotton
wool. I just want to sleep and can't really find energy for
anything. I made it down to Freyberg and managed 8 laps. The
sun is starting to shine now so that's a relief. Just hope this flu
doesn't hang around.
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17 February, 2002
Woke up feeling better physically. Andrea the
special thing that she is somehow 'took' my flu from me.
Unfortunately now she has it and it is affecting her worse than me.
Sneezing, nose congestion and the all around feeling of run
down. Pretty amazing how successful she was in protecting me
from it though, just another one of those talents I guess. Swam at
Freyberg today again. Big change in course. Wooooo. What
a rebel I am. I swam around the yellow '5 knot' speed limit booeys
instead of around the dock and water fountain. Call me crazy.
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18 February, 2002
Feeling good today. The sun has been shining for a
couple days now so the water is edging up so very slightly. Still
under 18 though I bet. I did 10 laps Freyberg today. Look at
me all excited about swimming 5.5km. I'm still only at 1.5 hrs in
the water before I have to get out. I'd love to be able to push
around 4 hours but I'm just not there yet. Maybe with a guide.
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19 February, 2002
Big day today. First guided swim. Crusty
(John) and Dre took some kayaks out and led me around the harbour.
Got out after 1.5 hrs, but felt better than yesterday. The wind is
blowing today so the chop was the biggest I've had it so far. Would
have felt better to get at least 2hrs in but life goes on. I
saw my adversary today for the first time. Dre and I walked around
from Lyall Bay to Houghton Bay and gazed across at the distant image of
the South Island. The day is beautiful, sunny, slight wind. A
complete change from the morning. A deep breath and the question
I've been waiting to ask this body of water for some time now. "Am I
ready?, Looking at you, do I feel ready?" My heart says
yes, and my brain is happy with that. Spoke to Phil today. He
says the end of the week we should be getting some good weather. A
high is going to push itself over the country toward the end of the
week. It's almost go time. Also the first day I went a double
training session. Just a short session, but wanted to feel the water
again. A bit warmer than this morning, brought the thermometer today
to get an actual reading....16 degrees Celsius. This is the hand I'm
dealt. I'm ready to play. No matter how difficult the rules. |
20 February, 2002
The first of the support crew arrive. The 'Common
Taters' from the Eastern Suburbs join forces in Windy Wellington.
Oh, and I swam about an hour in Freyberg. |
21 February, 2002
The boyz get to see what the Harbour water feels like. We all go
out for a little dip and turn around a bit early and head in after 40 mins.
Today represents the first day of the tide window, but weather isn't so
good. Windy and a bit cloudy. The whole crew is complete now
as Morten and Janniken arrive and bring some of that successful Olympic
vibe with them. |
22 February, 2002
Second day of window. But much more importantly, first day of the
Cuba St Carnival. Consequently our accommodation is right in the
middle of the celebration. February is party month in Wellington,
and we are in high spirits. And Mick is on holiday. We're all
hoping for sun & no wind. |
23 February, 2002
Carnival is rocking now. People everywhere and the distraction is
happily welcomed. Third day in window and the weather forecast looks
for Monday, maybe Tuesday. Otherwise, we have to wait more than a
week for the next window. Nobody wants that, so all fingers crossed. |
24 February, 2002
Lots of running around today for some reason. Seems like we have
a lot to accomplish as a group. The evening proves to be fruitful as
we get the word from Phil that tomorrow is 'go day.' We are to get
up early and make our way out to the Mana Cruising Club. It seems to
be an organised effort to prepare food, clothes, etc for the next
day. My sleep was unexpectedly good, and I don't feel as nervous as
I thought I would. |
25 February, 2002
What a beautiful day it turns out to be. Weather-wise. Blue
skies, nearly no wind, and even quite warm. |
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The whole group, well John made us bite our nails but with a miraculous
effort, made it to Mana C.C. We board the Tangaroa by about 10:30am
and set out to cross the Strait for a South Island start at midday.
The journey over is extremely smooth and even provided a glimpse at some
dolphins who played with Tangaroa. Feeling calm and collected even
upon arrival at our start point. The grease goes on and I go
in. The swim starts at 12:16. Brrrrr. |
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The first 2 hours are basically uneventful. Just stroking along
into the middle of absolutely nowhere. I actually feel pretty good,
but can tell the water is certainly nowhere near warm. My constant
mantra of 'warm patch' is close to convincing myself that I'm not as cold
as I am. I'm covering good ground and going well. The next 2
hours introduces discomfort that I haven't felt before. My shoulders
don't hurt, my lungs feel fine, but my pelvis and hip joints ACHE. I
start a new mantra. 0-4-1-2-5-9-9-1-2-5. I repeat these
numbers over and over for at least an hour. Strange how the
subconscious works isn't it. I call out to the launch to phone
Margie and let her know all is well. |
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Here starteth the landslide. The pain is increasing, but still
bearable. Time for a companion. Who better than the birthday
boy himself. Get in here Pegs. Stroking slowly away with Mick,
and then the strangest of occurrences. Sea life. The variety
that is MUCH faster than I am, and with dorsal fins. Dolphins!!
WOW!! Tons of them, everywhere. Looks like this bitch of a
body of water isn't SO unkind. I now have the royal entourage for
the rest of my journey. Mick tags Adam for a replacement and I am
absolutely struggling in the legs. |
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At the 5 hour mark I ask Phil how many K's until were there. In
my head I believe I can struggle through 4 more km. If he says 5
I'll do it, but he couldn't possibly say that. Look I can see
land. Well Phil, how many? 10!! Absolute
deflation. I can't do it. Get me out. |
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And that's that. |
26 February, 2002
Party day. A bit anticlimactic, but we couldn't go
without a party. Wish you were ALL here, you were in spirits. |
