Prediction: The Cole Classic is going to be a bun fight as 5000 punters head to Shelly Beach

This weekend The Cole Classic is on at Shelly Beach in Manly. Traditionally, the 2 km swim runs from the sheltered, still-water Shelly Beach around to the ocean beach, South Steyne.

For the past three years, inclement conditions have led organisers to move the course so it starts and finishes at Shelly. This is a nightmare as Shelly is a narrow arc of sand that isn't particularly well suited to a big ocean swim. At any one time there might be a couple of thousand punters squished onto the beach and spilling over onto the promenade that winds its way back to South Steyne.

It looks as though this weekend might have the same surf conditions as 2010, with huge swells predicted for Sydney's beaches on Sunday.

This will pose a major challenge to the Manly surflifesavers and Fairfax, which now runs the event and theoretically gets to take home a hefty profit after the whole shebang is over.

For the first time the swim is sold out, with 5000 entrants at mostly $49 (early bird entrants) and $59 a pop.  I know a lot of the swimmers will be competing in the 1 km event, but that doesn't change the fact that it's gonna be mayhem in the water if organisers don't make the ocean entry points and exit points clear to swimmers. Many of the swimmers are novices and have no idea about ocean swimming etiquette - NO BREASTSTROKE! And a lot are bad swimmers who can barely swim 500 metres in a pool, let alone in the ocean.

Even though the 2 km swim starts at 10am, I don't expect to get into the water until 11.30am (fingers crossed). That's a long wait if the weather is as brutally hot as it has been in Sydney for five days in a row, where temperatures have peaked in the 40s Celcius.

And to make matters worse, I'm without my swimming partner and driver, Davo, so goodness knows how I'm going to get to and from Manly on the day.

I really don't know why I'm doing it. But who knows, I could be wrong. 

Let's hope so.

PS: I am on my way to creating a separate blog for my writing as I find the swimming and writing do not work well together. My writing blog, a work in progress with only two posts, is over at Wordpress. It's at http://www.shaynesands.wordpress.com The plan is to eventually move this blog over to Wordpress, too. We'll see what happens. Or what doesn't.

Them's the breaks: Davo's broken his wrist and he's out of the Palmy to Whale

Some people will do anything to avoid stiff competition. Knowing that I'm nipping at his heels this ocean swimming season, Davo has gone and broken his wrist. I'm not saying the accident was intentional, but I have my suspicions.

This is the worst time to be out of the water as the season is at its peak in February, with three major swims in the pipeline. The Big Swim from Palmy to Whale is this Sunday, the Cole Classic is on February 6 and the week after, February 13, is the North Bondi Classic.

Davo, the wife and kids were at a barbecue at their friends' house when the accident happened. After enjoying several relaxing sorbets, Davo thought he'd line up with the kids for a go on the homemade flying fox. Can you visualise the outcome already? Do I need to describe what happened next?

According to Davo, the flying-fox handle snapped mid-flight when he was two metres above the ground. He landed on his back (ouch) and must have put his right hand down to break his fall (double ouch). At the time, he didn't feel much pain...

When I last spoke to him, he'd just had an MRI and sounded fairly optimistic. It could've been worse - his back or head could have taken the brunt of the fall.

All I know is the wrist is wrecked and I've lost my swimming partner - and driver - for at least three weeks. Yeah, that's me, Little Ms Shellfish.

But it's also three weeks without the fun teasing, the jokes and the all-round camaraderie that comes from being part of an exclusive ocean-swimming team.

Maybe there's a lesson in Davo's accident for all of us... I'm trying to think of something wise to write here, but it's not coming to me...

...avoid child's play when it involves being suspended mid-air from a homemade flying fox with a wonky handle.   

Photo: Happy Days. Davo and the Hiss after the swim at Gerringong