Henley 3k Race - August 2012

The most scariest of all my races so far !

The hottest of all days and a nice lift with the Edge family meant I could fully relax for this one.  Tony, Shaun. Vicky Alex and myself all representing the Redcaps.  

Me, Shivvers and Alex pre race

And we're off !

Just two laps of a marked out course and my life nearly came to an end half way through the second lap.  The Thames was extremely narrow at one point so the final turning buoy was in the centre of the river.  

An example of how the river narrowed at the top before curving round to the right.

You couldnt see this buoy until you were about 25metres from it as it was situated round a corner.  On approaching the corner, I could hear the sound of chains and engines getting louder and louder underwater.  At the point that it became deafening, I turned the corner, lifted my head and saw this barge below, coming straight towards me width-ways.  He had ignored all warnings of a race taking place and just in the nick of time, he put his breaks on and tried to turn.  I had whistles being blown at me from all angles to just swim, swim, swim back the other way.  As the race was nearing an end, the field had narrowed out so just my luck that I was the swimmer about to take the final turn.  I watched in horror as the barge took the buoy completed out!   All I could see was a huge amount of back-wash and waves churning up the water as he struggled to keep the barge under control.   How lucky was I ?

A more peaceful picture of the barge that almost wiped me out.  

Medal time - Champions.

Winners of the day.  Me, over 50 and Alex - very  much under 50 !

Vicky, Tony, Alex, Shivvers and me, post race.

Redcaps 15K Challenge 2012

Who's idea was it to attempt 15k on one tide as a charity challenge?    Doh, Mine. Dumb idea!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. 6 HOURS, 6 SWIMMERS, 1 TIDE IS DONE! 

Challengers and support swimmers waiting for the water to come in.

Quick natter on the best way to attempt this mad idea

Jane Bell kayaked for the whole 6 hours - Thank you Jane

My instruction box to the land crew - Says it all

Master of the tides, Mr Jacques opting for a banana to get him through the challenge.

Mmmmm, perhaps he should have opted for the Jelly Beans - looking a little worse for wear.

Kirsty Fehily and me - Glad its all over

                                                                                        

And finally, here is Jane Bells summary of the days events.

Lakeside 10k July 15th 2012

Another 10k just one week after Brighton.  This time, 13 laps of Alexandra lake, Lakeside, Thurrock.  A rather strange run-up to this event as I had originally entered it, then when discovering that SKS was going to be on this day, the organisers allowed me to move it to September 15.  Then when discovering an open water swim camp was taking place in September, I was allowed to move it back to July 15 as SKS was cancelled!!!!  Then I forgot to move Chris's entry back to July so by the time I finally turned up, I think the organisers were well and truly fed up with me.  Ironically, I won a wetsuit for entering it !

13 laps is a difficult one.  Swimming a 10k from A to B is not so bad - just 1 length.  But 13 laps!   Did become a bit boring and did need to pull on all my 'focusing techniques' to get me through it, but sort of enjoyed it in a strange sadistic kind of way!

On existing the water I learnt that Chris had won his age group 1500m so bloody well done Chris. x.

Two wins for me and Chris and a brand new wetsuit thrown in too, so what a result.

Brighton 10k Sea Swim - July 6, 7, 8 2012

Chris and I headed off for a long weekend in Brighton.  I was swimming in the 10k on the Friday afternoon and Chris in the 3k Saturday afternoon. 

The weather was absolutely horrendous.  Just one hour before my swim, I was standing at the registration tent in torrential rain which was coming down sideways due to the heavy wind and wondering why on earth I was about to swim 10k in the sea without a wetsuit !

 Once again, I had to call upon a favour from my dad and I prayed he would send me some decent weather for the next 3 hours.  If you are anything like me and believe there is someone watching over you at all times, then you will fully understand what happened next.  Just 20mins later there was a break in the clouds :)  Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou.  Yes, by the time the 10k started, we had clear blue skys, WOW - now that's spooky.

 Four laps of a 2.5k marked course and it was tough.  About 5k into the race, I had company.  A man and a woman pulled along side me and the next 1k made for a much more interesting race.  Us ladies managed to pull away from the man whoever he was and little did I know at this point that the lady I was battling it out with was going to give me so much grief at the end over the result.

   Sighting was impossible.  The wind had blown over the huge inflatable buoys so they were lying flat and with the brilliant sunshine reflecting on the water, the high waves made each sighting stroke impossible - just sea and more sea.

  I battled and raced with this lady to the bitter end.  Sometimes she stroked ahead, sometimes I did.

 On the last lap, I managed to 'ditch the bitch' - You'll understand later why I became a bit bitter towards her.  She pulled alongside me for the final 400meters and we both 'went for it' to the finishing line.  Only problem was, no one knew where the finishing line actually was.  Simon Murie, head of Swimtrek and organiser of the event made an announcement at the safety briefing that as the tide was constantly moving and as the waves were so strong, "we will decide when you are swimming where the finish line is".  No one questioned this at the time, because after a 10k swim, no one really thinks 2 swimmers are going to be neck and neck.

 As myself and my mystery lady eye-balled one another for the final strokes, we both stood up together and smiled at one another.  In knee deep water, we both took a moment to find our land legs and then admittedly, she exited the water before me and I eventually walked up the beach.

With no wetsuit for the past 2.5hours, I was suffering a bit from hypothermia, so at 7pm I decided to head back to the hotel.  The presentation was not till 9pm and I was in no fit state to hang around.

Saturday we headed off back to the beach for Chris's swim.  Sad faced and reluctant to get in that water, the picture says it all.  It was dreadful.  Wind, rain and cold but at least he was allowed to wear a wetsuit!  The red flag was flying and a decision was left to the very last minute whether to go ahead or not.

 Meanwhile I headed off to the results table to see where I came.  I was told that they gave the Gold to the other lady because she kicked up a right fuss insisting she was ahead of me.  Completely gobsmacked, I told the chap, she is welcome to it.  Bad sportswoman she is but if she needs it that much, she can have it.  I genuinely wasn't bothered at that particular moment, but the more I explained the story to my friends back home that she contested the decision, the more I came to realise that the result was not acceptable.  NO, she did not beat me, so NO, she ain't having the gold.  Thankfully, I received an email the following week stating that the organisers had awarded joint 1st place after carefully considering the finish.  Justice was served in the end.

 Back to Chris's event.  An impossible 'run-in' start as I doubt many swimmers would have made the first hurdle so it was decided that the safety crew would escort all the swimmers through the waves and once everyone was 'in', they would then sound the starter.

 The 3k was reduced to 2k for safety reasons and it was hilarious watching some swimmers take several attempts to get in.

 Chris had a spectacular exit from the water, having been rolled over several times and with 2 people attempting to help him stand up.

 hilarious, made me laugh anyway, but the picture I took of him when he finally made it to the beach has been deleted from the camera - coz its too funny !!!   Another bad Sport!

We had a fantastic weekend, albeit the weather made it a damp one.

June 30 2012 - The Great Pier Swim - Southend

The most talked about event of the year, mainly because this is on our home ground.  This is where The Chalkwell Redcaps Open Water Swimming Club do all their training so we were strong contenders for this event.  The weather was yet again, horrid but that would not deter the 50+ Redcap members from completing either the 3k race or the 3k challenge.  Challengers were allowed to wear a wetsuit, whilst the racers were not.  Hundreds of swimmers lined the beach at The Sea Life Centre in Southend, awaiting for the start which would see them finishing at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club.  It was a fantastic atmospher and for me, made all the enjoyable as I had both my boys there.  Incredibly as it may seem my 25 and 21 year old are capable of exiting their beds at 7a.m. in the morning to see what Mum does in her spare time!  Loved you being there boys, thankyou for your support and the incredible effort you made to drag yourselves out of bed. x.  I am sure that was more of a challenge than your mums 3k race which was just about to start!

It was lovely to see Phil Harper there too who had emailed me just that week to ask if I was doing the event as he would come down and say Hi.  Phil and I go back over 40 years!!!  I met him at Basildon Swimming Club when I was just 14 years old and we have trained together for many many years at Basildon and Rochford.  Over the last 10 years or so, we have gone our separate ways in our swimming, but have kept in touch via email and the odd dinner, so today it was great to see him on the beach (I will convert him from pool to sea one day).

And Brian Hammond, my old coach (old as in long time ago!), who always keeps up with his swimmers and supports them on local ground.  Great to see you Brian.

As the 'skins' made their way into the cold water, the challengers, all snug in their suits waited and watched as we went off.

The weather was atrocious.  windy, high waves and it made for a very very memorable swim.   I won the ladies over 50 and came about 9th (I think) overall.  Great fun.

River Arun - Littlehampton - Arundel, Brighton. 23 June 2012

I was really excited about this one.  Advertised as the second fastest river in the U.K. we were all guaranteed a personal best time.  12 Redcaps headed off for Littlehampton.  Some camped, some thrashed it out in a day. This was the first time I drove to an event, competed, and drove home again.  And hopefully, it will be the last time.  Far too tiring.

That said, it was a great day.  So nice being part of a huge team all cheering one another on.  My personal driver decided that he needed to practice his golf on this occasion.  Very inconvenient.  I won't be letting him do that again, so I had to drive.

With a car load of Redcaps we headed off at 10a.m.

This event was one of the best organised I have ever attended.  Run by Raw Energy Pursuits, the organisation was first class.  Registration took place without a hitch and then after a brief chat on how to get 400 swimmers to the other end of the river, 3 coaches appeared  and escorted us all to Littlehampton.

A quick change into our wetsuits and in single file, we were all lead across a footpath to reach the river.

A whole lot of giggling going on for some reason

With only two portaloo's for so many swimmers and spectators, the inevitable happened.  


Not mentioning any names for fear of repercusions, it was soon noticeable that a certain individual had a little trail of urine running from the bottom of her wetsuit legs.  Naturally this soon led to hysterics amongst the girls.  And how jealous of this particular person we all were that she had mastered the art of walking and wee'ing at the same time.  

Men in green and white are off with the pink women
soon on their trail

Coming round the first bend

Great finish when we hit the town.  Water was really fast here.

Zooming down the middle, very fast tide, great fun.

And its over.

The green and white hats (the men) were off.  The women (pink hats) had a short time slot to fit in with and hence we were being yelled at to get in the water quick by a very loud scary lady!   MOVE NOW - HURRY.  OMG, is this river really that fierce?

Anyway, once in, I had to turn the central heating on myself quick (take a pee for the less knowledgeable on open-water terms amongst us), and then get to the front of the pack.  It was a mass start so I did not want to be stuck at the back.

"Keep to the right of the river at all times please.   The safety crew need to zoom up and down the left.  And besides, the center of the river is very fast" !    HELLO!  I think in that case, I will swim up the centre of the river and take me chances with the kayaks.

And so I did, which is why I probably got such a great result.  15th overall out of 398 competitors and the 1st SuperVet over the line.  3.8k in 52mins.  The fastest the river has ever been swum in is 46.  Today it was won in 48.  So I am happy with this result.

Receiving my SuperVets trophy.

I found it a bit weird not knowing where I was going, other than - follow the river.  It was impossible to site anything as it was a case of just swim until you reach the mouth of the river and then take a sharp left or you will end up in the sea.


And, as for the results.  No sooner the last swimmer finished, the results were there.  You just tapped your race number into the computer and you got your own personal print out showing your time, category position and overall position. Fantastic.

Great race, great day, great friends, great laugh.

But, I really missed my driver coz I had to stay awake to drive all the way home again, which was not so much fun.

Great East Swim - Alton Waters - July 17 2012

Postponed from the Saturday due to this horrendous British weather we are having, at least a dozen Redcaps set off for the Great East Swim on 17 June 2012.  

The camaraderie shared by our club is fabulous, we all share a love of the Great Open Water and are all genuinely interested in one anothers performance.  So here's Barbara, me, Michaela, Shaun, Andy and Jane just before our 1 mile race. 

Barbara, me, Michaela, Shivvers, Andy, Jane.

It was extremely windy so the conditions were not perfect but compared to what the weather has been doing, it was going to be a great day.

Having met some personal training targets that I had set myself for 2012, I was still yet to achieve my racing target.  To complete a mile in the open water in sub 25minutes. 

Me and my new suit.

This was my first race in my new Zone 3 Aspire suit.   I had given it a trial at Burnham during the week and it felt so comfortable.  I suffer from severe cramp when I race due to poor circulation (and probably nutrition), but I am working on it.  

This suit doesn't hug my legs as tightly as the Blue Seventy, so I was praying for a cramp-free race.

 I had failed to break the 25 minute target at the Great London swim, which again may have been down to the strong head wind we had to swim into, but, as all us open-water swimmers know, anything can happen on the day.  

I never usually go off fast as a mile is a long way, but this being my last chance to break the 25min, I was battling with my personal demons.  I just kept saying to myself, what have you got to lose, just go out fast and see what happens.

So, kept all to myself, I had decided I was going in amongst the front-line and going out hard, no matter how many knocks I took from the men.  When that gun went off, right at the front, I ran for dear life.  

I kept hurdling over the water until I felt I had enough depth to take a dive, and then I launched myself into the pack.  For a split second, I thought to myself, 'God help this ole dear - whatever am I thinking of', but then in another split milli-second, I think 'Come on girl, you can do it'.  

I just love it that Chris takes part in my sport - its great having him there at the end.
And I secretly think he loves wearing the rubber too !

And I did - 24.12, I smashed the 25min barrier.  Not sure whether it was the suit or my determination not to hold back at the front, but who cares, I did it.  I also came 2nd in my wave which was also a brilliant result having just one man in front of me.  

So now I can relax knowing that all my 2012 targets have been accomplished.  I now have two 3.8k races ahead of me and another two 10k races booked so next week I will be adjusting my training accordingly.