Good Friday: Fresh conditions at the Freshwater SLSC Barney Mullins Swim Classic 2013

I wasn't going to start with the fact that I beat Mr Mild Mannered in this 1.5km swim at Freshwater Beach. Nope. Definitely not. As I always say, save the best for last...

I was going to start this post close to the end of the swim when I started to swim back towards the shore and slowed my stroke to gasp at the sight of the sea spray flying off the white tops of waves as they broke in quick succession.

I remembered I hadn't even thought about Good Friday in my haste to get to the beach. I kept swimming and apologised to Jesus for forgetting about this important day on the Christian calendar.

"Hi Jesus, I know you're probably otherwise occupied what with all those stations of the cross re-enactments and church services all over the place. But if you could just spare a thought for me for a minute or two*. I mean really, even thirty seconds is OK.

"I know, I know, I'm in two minds about all this religion stuff. I know I know, I should commit one way or the other. But if you could just give me a gentle set on the way in I could be persuaded in your direction.

"Shit, don't be so stupid, just swim through it. The waves aren't that bad. It's been an easy summer with mostly flat conditions. Just because this is the first real OCEAN swim since Palmy to Whale at the end of January, you're freaking out. Just swim in. You're a pro. This is nothing."

BLAH. It really wasn't that bad. It's just, I get a bit nervy when confronted by a solid wall of water poised to crash down and suck in anything in its path.

I got tossed around twice on the way in, but the waves were more showy than serious. Through the foamy bubbles I could find my way to the surface without too much trouble.

After the swim, Mr Mild Mannered said a woman swimming close to him on the way in put up her hand for a tow in from the surf life savers. I guess that shows how daunting some of the sets were.

The conditions were challenging because of a combination of full moon, high tide and a powerful wind blowing in (not sure where from, will have to check). It was breezy and the surf had built overnight.

My eldest daughter Precious Princess came with me, prepared to do her first ocean swim since November. She managed the surf OK but did back stroke for some of the way in, in order to keep an eye on the waves building behind her.

Before the swim started we caught up with Mr Mild Mannered, The Masseuse, Mr Smith of the Smiths of Taree and Sharkman.

The Masseuse and Mr Smith tried to scare us with comments such as "Looks pretty ugly out there" but we weren't about to fall for their head-game patter.

We just had to get around the four cans lined up in a 1.5 km rectangular course with a dog leg at the end.

By the time my wave, the fourth, started it was evident the swimmers ahead of us were veering to the left to take advantage of a rip running out.

I should have followed The Masseuse, who went in that direction, but I ran straight ahead on the starter hooter and into a set that kept dragging me back to shore. I must have ducked under a dozen waves before I got to clear water.

The challenges kept coming. The first buoy was a long way out and it seemed to take forever to reach. Also, my goggles filled several times and I stopped each time to empty them. Argh.

One of the swim highlights was the reef that seemed to teem with fish. I don't know if anyone else saw all the creatures? Amazing and beautiful.

It wasn't easy getting a rhythm as the swell heaved in dramatic sweeps. I was reminded of Byron Bay 2012, where swimmers got the ride of their lives on massive wave rollercoasters.

After finally turning at the first can, I caught up with and passed some of my pink-capped peers. Then many of the older blue-capped swimmers who started in the last wave began to overtake me. You can't win in this caper!

Turning right around the second buoy I was able to catch the swell that had buffeted me on the way out. It's such a pleasure to rest on the swell as it gently helps you move to your final destination.      

And you know the rest of the story.

Except for this. On only one other occasion have I claimed a better finish time than Mr Mild Mannered. That was two years ago at the Bondi to Bronte swim, a shocker of a marathon. Mr Mild Mannered has always been able to explain that I only garnered a superior time because his peloton took at battering at the swim's start when a massive set rolled in to Bondi as they attempted to get out past it.

But yesterday? Mmm. Really, there's no excuse for the 23 second defeat.

I'll catch up with Mr Mild Mannered tomorrow at the Bondi swim.

Can't wait.   


**How obscenely selfish is that? Spare a thought for me? I wasn't even worried about Precious Princess doing her first swim for four months. No no no. It's all about the old duck!

Desperate and dateless: yet another swim postponed due to nasty weather and mean surf

After last year's Freshwater swim: nice big orange buoys

At the cafe at Freshwater Beach

It was bad enough when Bondi was postponed and Long Reef cancelled. And last weekend it happened again. Conditions at Sydney's beaches were so awful that the organisers of the Freshwater swim decided to call the whole thing off.

They left it until Saturday arvo to make the call but we all knew it was coming.

Friday's weather was atrocious. Actually, I think the whole week was pretty topsy turvy. But Friday went ballistic. Monster winds and slanting relentless rain turned the city into a car pool, literally.

Saturday wasn't much better, though the rain abated for the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (as it always does because God has lots of gay friends, and there are rumours...)

Twenty two Sydney beaches were closed on Saturday because of dangerous conditions, Freshwater amongst them.

Because I don't live near the beach I didn't witness the big surf but we're talking six-foot waves, messy, untidy conditions, nasty rips and all that stuff that makes swimming in it a rather treacherous affair.

In the olden days an event such as The Barney Mullins at Freshwater Beach, not far from Manly, might have still been held.

But what with the sport of ocean swimming growing exponentially, organisers chew their nails whenever the weather closes in. None of the surf life saving clubs wants to lose a swimmer. And now there's more swimmers and more ocean swims on the calendar, the odds are greater that someone at some point in time might get hurt in a swim.

Insurance premiums are up, and after several deaths at surf lifesaving events over the past decade you can't blame organisers for pulling the plug at the 11th hour.

This coming weekend on March 10 is Caves Beach swim, which I was going to have to miss because of a prior commitment. With withdrawal symptoms kicking in, I am considering a way out of that commitment.

Let's hope the weather improves. The experts claim that climate change is to blame for Australia's chaotic summer of bushfires followed by floods.

Sydney's summer was the hottest on record, though it's hard to believe when there was so much rain.

We all need to consider our lifestyles and how we can, in some small way, make a change to help our ailing planet.

I live with Spanner so it will be harder for me to initiate changes such as solar panels and other electricity saving devices that take some time to show a financial return. Spanner should really be a politician but don't get me started.

A small victory was that I finally started a compost heap that has halved the amount of rubbish we put in our wheelie bin. At first, Spanner didn't want to know about it and continued to chuck his stuff in the bin. He is change resistent. But I have worn him down. A small win for womankind!  Woo hoo!

Enjoy the pics from last year's Freshwater swim. This year's has been moved to Good Friday on March 29. The Bondi swim is on Easter Sunday. Fingers crossed.

Freshwater 2012

The Barney Mullins Swim Classic at Freshwater: the long run in and back out

Bringing in the buoys after the Barney Mullins Swim Classic at Freshwater

The ocean swimming community has been lucky this year because the sun always decides to pop in for a visit on the day of an event. Afterwards, it skulks back behind dark ominous clouds and disappears for the rest of the week.

Today was brillo. Sun. Sun so hot that it could fry an egg on an old codger's barnacled back.

Ms Fivestar came with me today because she had the urge to be near the sea. A good decision. The conditions at Freshwater were perfect for paddlers even though there was a bit of a rip to begin with.

I don't know a lot about Freshwater except that it's the beach over the hill from Queenscliff. It's a gorgeous beach and more wavy than I remembered it from my last trip there about 20 years ago. 

The course was a clockwise 1.5 km (afterwards there was a rumour going around that it was more like 1.8 km, which I'd like to believe considering my time). 

The problem for me was the getting out as it was really shallow for the first 50 metres or so. Then I got whacked and dragged back by a crappy wave. Getting back in after the swim also required me to run through the shallows - not my strength. I was still happy with my time - until I encountered my opposition Mr Very Big (VB). He did the swim in 33 minutes to my 35 (adjusted since first putting up this post because the female swimmers started three minutes after the men). Ah, life. 

When the swim was over Ms Fivestar, Ms Loveachat (who turned up) and I went to the Pilu Kiosk for a bite to eat. I thought I took a photo of it but I can't find it on my camera. It's lovely. We sat on the deck in the shade and drank fantastic single origin coffee and ate ricotta drizzled with honey on sourdough toast. Here's the link to Pilu: http://www.piluatfreshwater.com.au/the-kiosk.php   

Signing off on another successful swim in a half submerged City of Sydney. Soon to float away. The problem is, when the rain stops the fires usually start.

PS: Have you noticed a whiny "poor me" tone creeping into my swimming reports? Mmm... I have. I always have a ready-made excuse for my inability to thrash Mr VB.

Note to self: stop whining and seek revenge. To steal the motto from Miss Hissy's school: 'Facta non verba'... I think that's it, without having to go and check her school blouse! It means: (better Google it to make sure I'm right) 'Deeds not words'. Dirty deeds...   

I saw a REAL shark during the 2 km Manly swim

Sometimes life hands you a gift. And for me, that happened today. But more of my encounter with the man in the grey suit later in this post.

Since my swimming partner, Davo, has been out of action with a broken wrist I tend to wait until the morning of an ocean swim to make a decision about whether to participate. Today three swims ran in Sydney.

1. TamaCloey 2.5 km Cliffside Odyssey. www.oceanswims.com wrote a glowing report on this swim in an attempt to dismiss many punters' fears that it is a perilous excursion for the foolhardy and elite swimmers. 

Go to http://www.dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/tamarama for a detailed history of this eastern-suburbs beach, where it refers to the Surf Life Saving NSW description of the 100-metre long beach as the most hazardous patrolled beach in NSW. SLSNSW warns that Tamarama's 'energetic wave climate ensures that at least one and often two rips are present on the beach. This means the surf zone is essentially all rip.'

Call me a coward. Call me anything. I don't care. Count me out of this one.

2. Barney Mullins Swim Classic at Freshwater. My guess is that 'Freshy' is one of Sydney's safest beaches. On one website this northern beach is described as a horseshoe-shaped cove just over the headland from Manly. I was considering this 1.5 km swim, but was discouraged by the late registration fee of $40 - the normal entry fee is $25. That's a nasty price hike. Forget it.

3. Manly. Do I have to describe it? One of Sydney's 'iconic' beaches. The registration fee is $25 and for latecomers like myself, $30. That's more like it. The only disadvantage is finding a parking spot that isn't limited to 2 hours. It's impossible, so I ended up risking a fine.

What can I say about this swim, except that I made the right choice today.

It had the warm embracing feel of a community event, unlike so many of the swims these days that attact well in excess of 1000 entrants (the Cole Classic is ridiculous, with 5000 entered in the two swims).

When I arrived, the 1 km swim was in progress. The Nippers, so cute, were on the beach getting their medals and certificates, the barbecue was fired up, the Banana Boat tent was handing out free sunscreen and the surf was perfect.

The punters assembled on the beach just down from the steps that lead onto Manly's Corso. Way, way, way out was an orange buoy. After taking a right turn at that buoy we were then to swim to Shelley Beach and take another right turn before heading along to Fairy Bower and then back into South Steyne. The course looked longer than 2 km to moi.  

Not for a long time have I started a swim along with ALL the female competitors. The men went off first, then we plunged in five minutes later. It took me forever to get out and around that first buoy. I did the usual swimming wide thing (I can be so dumb - I slap my wrist over this after EVERY swim) but for once this turned to my advantage when I passed over the reef at Fairy Bower. Because I was a bit further out, I saw A SHARK. 

He was small but not tiny. I'd guess, looking down on him from a height of around six metres (my maths is appalling) he would've been around one-metre long - I just joined several rulers to check the measurement.  

When I spotted him I wasn't concerned at all because he was so far down and looked content to be going about his daily business. I guessed he was a bronze whaler as they supposedly breed in the area. 

I was tired (when you swim wide all the time you get tired) but seeing this amazing creature - he was elegant and graceful - was exhilarating and gave me a renewed burst of energy. Hey, I wonder why. SHARK!         

Alas, my sighting of the man in the grey suit didn't improve my time.  

Afterwards I had coffee with my friend Mrs Snorkle, who saw some teeny-weeny sharky critters as she pottered around Fairy Bower earlier.

Icing on the cake? No parking fine!