Bamoral Swim

Over the last couple of weeks the training has been gradually increasing in intensity and mileage with these 2 Saturday swims providing the bookends to a hard week, the last such once before Rottnest.

The original plan was 15km at Bondi on the first sat but due to adverse conditions we moved to la Perouse. Here it was a bit more sheltered but we had a strong onshore wind which was a bit cool and water conditions became quite choppy.
We had 25 starters and the aim was to knock over 15km this weekend and then 17.5 the sat after. By doing these distances the swimmers would gain the confidence that they were going to be fine doing the distance of Rottnest and also test out their feeding plans both with regards to content and quantity.

At la Perouse each lap and back is about a kilometre and due to conditions we had to feed on the beach which they did every 3rd or 4th km.
again we had a few firsts, Chris Mc finally ditched his knee length shorts and donned a pair of speedos showing off some magnificent tan lines.  We also had a couple of guys feeling seasick out there who had never experienced this. It's sometimes a good idea to take a seasick tablet before a swim that could be a bit rough just in case. Better to do that than be sick in my our swim and not be able to hold down your food.

Most of the swimmers did the 15 in times ranging from 4 to 5 hrs.
The following Sat we arrived at Balmoral with a few feeling a bit tired and sore as it was a big week in the pool as well as doing the 15 the weekend before. This time we had 34 swimmers, which is a sat swim record, and great conditions. We were able to put the feed station out on the maritime buoy but only after borrowing a surf rescue board from the beach club as our original board was not strong enough to hold all the food. When I first started doing this in 2010 all I needed was a bucket that a took out to the swimmers each time. Things have certainly changed since then numbers wise but the basics such as distances swum, feeding and time between feeding all remain the same.

Why change it if it works.

We set the course as the 3.5km trip to Chinamans to the baths and back to the club house. The swimmers were to return to the feeding station each time they passed so I could see how they were going and also to stop them going out too wide as they passed by. We had 6 paddlers out there which was great and those who they were supporting able to practice their feeding. The others used the feeding station so they also could practise deep water feeding.

A few new people joined us - Ben, Eva, Garreth, Christine, Helen and Irene joined us from Brisbane. Helen got to do her 10km swim which was great as she has entered for the same distance at Lake Argyle in May. All the solo rotto here did 17.5km in Times ranging from 5-6hrs.
Well done guys you are all ready for a strong swim at Rottnest.