Malabar Magic Rainbow Club Ocean Swim: inspiring people and lots of bitey things

Malabar Bay

Yep. The red circle with the diagonal line through it was stamped on top of Malabar Beach this morning when I checked the Beachwatch website. It was the only beach in Sydney with a pollution warning. 

I took my earplugs and decided to keep my mouth shut (I just accidentally wrote 'shit' instead of 'shut') throughout the 2.4 km swim. My mouth is usually full of the proverbial so it sort of makes sense.

The day was hot and Malabar was like it always is. I think I mentioned in a post on this swim last year that sometimes you have to grow up in a suburb to love it. 

I dunno. Malabar might have four golf courses and luxury residential developments chewing up what was left of the scrubland, it might be on the coast and within cooee of Maroubra and Bondi, it might be flat and therefore good cycling territory. But it's not for me.

It's a 'sought after' suburb in real estate lingo but ... I know what it is that makes it so wrong! There's no trees. A few but not a lot. And nothing native. Now that's sorted I'll get to the swim. 

I didn't register for the 1 km swim, which I regret because my swim-squad peeps Mr Very Big and Mr Mild Mannered did. They didn't tell me (hear the accusatory/petulant tone in my voice). 

I got down to the beach as the 1 km swimmers were coming in and was privileged to see three-time Paralympian wheelchair athlete Louise Sauvage finish along with her Canadian friend (also disabled) who swam backstroke the whole course (I bet she's an elite athlete too but I didn't find out her name). 

Louise Sauvage hugs her friend after the 1 km swim

Louise's motto is: "You never know what you can achieve until you try."  

I went into the 2.4 km swim feeling chipper. Malabar is in a bay so there's no surf though there's often swell out near the headland. 

The course was straightforward. Three yellow buoys with big red balloons affixed to their tops were lined up out the back of the bay. All we had to do was swim to the first one, chuck a right, swim past the second, and then chuck another right around the third before hitting the home stretch. 

I put in my earplugs and felt odd because, you wouldn't bloody believe this, I could hear my heartbeat through the pulse on my neck! Thumpa thumpa thumpa. I'm serious. I'm seriously neurotic too. 

The swim began and my goggles fogged so I took them off and cleared them. Then they half filled. I wasn't too worried about that because I was more concerned with the earplugs. The sound in my ears was like a gargle every time I breathed and plunged my arms into the water. I couldn't hear anything else. And then there was the ingestion of much (polluted) water. It's impossible to keep your mouth shut when you're swimming. I am laughing as I write. Sometimes I am dumber than a goose. But how dumb is a goose?

Bloody Mr Very Big (or whatever I call the Irish bastard) tugged on my leg as I swam towards the second can. Then he did what he loves to do. Put on the clappers and left me for dead. He gives me the Jimmy Brits. I hope he gets an ear infection*.  Petulant, bad loser... must think of Louise Sauvage and remain inspired.

Even though the water was supposedly polluted, it was rather clear and I saw fish. Hundreds of little ones flitted beneath me so the water quality can't have been too bad.  And the temperature was glorious. Just cool enough.

I followed some bloke in a wetsuit to the finish line and beat him over it. I felt pretty good doing that because earlier in the swim he passed me. I don't know what my time is because the results aren't up yet. 

All in all, it was a lovely day and beaut swim except for the bitey things that attacked my face, arms and torso. I've written a post about bitey things before. Everyone calls them sea lice but they're not. They're either stingy bits that fall off bluebottles or something to do with jelly blubbers - I'm too lazy to look it up and I've rabbited on for long enough.  I don't know whether I'll experience their after-effects tomorrow.

Another reason why this swim is one for the calender every year is that the registration fees go to a great cause, the Rainbow Club, a charity that organises swimming lessons for kids with special needs. There are 16 clubs in NSW and two in Victoria. 

Speak soon. Precious Princess is back from Europe this week. It's gonna be a big one. 

*As my old mum would say, "That's a joke Joyce."

Malabar Magic Ocean Swim: a nice swim on a sweltering day in Sydney

I feel like I'm entering a different country when I head along Anzac Parade to the eastern suburb of Malabar. Unlike much of Sydney, the terrain is flat - with a moderate hill as you enter Malabar. And then there's the huge median strips that divide the left and right sides of the road, turning it into more of an avenue. I'm sure property developers have eyed the median strips off. And I bet it kills the RTA bigwigs to see so much unused land. It could never happen today.

It appears the developers have sized up and made a claim on every other piece of available land. The sponsor of today's swim, Charter Hall, is developing a massive swatch of land in an area near Little Bay, around the corner from Malabar. Little Bay is also being developed.

Just an aside - I recall that back in the olden days when my Aunty Merle and Uncle Vic lived in Malabar, it wasn't such a desirable suburb because the sewerage plant spewed out effluent close to the shore. I remember the smell. Peeeuuuw. But that's all changed now the crap is pumped further out to sea.

Back to my points about Malabar's points of difference - the other thing is a lack of big shady trees and trees in general. I guess the environment was originally shrubby and windswept. Still is. 

I guess you get used to where you live in Sydney - we all have our tribes and familiar places. I've never been an eastern suburbs girl, except for two years in my 20s when I shared houses in Paddington and Rushcutters Bay. Other than that, I've spent my life in the inner west and the hillier and leafier northern suburbs. When I was growing up we surfed at Narrabeen, Dee Why and Bilgola.

Today I got that weird feeling again of being somewhere alien as I parked and strolled to the beach to register for the Malabar Magic Ocean Swim, with all proceeds going to the Rainbow Club, a charity that helps disabled kids. Actually, before I got to the beach I took a wrong turn and ended up at a rifle range (more land for the developers to ogle). Strange place.

But Malabar Beach is pretty and Long Bay is just that - a long bay. It must be about 1 kilometre in length, because the swim was 2.37 kilometres out and back in to the beach.

When I arrived the 1 km swim was in full swing. The weather was muggy and stinking hot, so many people seeked shelter under the few low spreading trees on the grassy picnic area that runs down to the beach.

Radio announcer and comedian HG Nelson was commentating on the event, as he did in 2010 when the course ran from Malabar around to Little Bay. As I walked to the late registrations tent I heard him announce that the winner of the 1 km event completed the swim in 10 minutes! As the results aren't up on http://www.oceanswims.com/ yet I can't give you his name or the exact time, but I do know he's from Japan. He went on to win the 2.37 km event. Incredible. The other elite swimmers finished in around 11 minutes.

While I was getting ready for the 2.37 km swim (applying sunblock) I met a lovely man who'd just done the 1 km swim. He told me that almost every day he and his friends swim across the bay and back - with their dogs! Is that sharkbait or what?

Unlike last year, when the conditions were stomach-churning choppy, this year there was barely a bump on the water's surface. All was calm as the starter gun went off for my age group (we were the second last group to go - the elite swimmers were already half way around the course when I dived into the water).

For me, the nice thing about this swim was the short run into the water at the start and the short run to the finish line at the end of the swim. Malabar Beach is a narrow strip of sand, so swimmers could almost swim to the finish line - that's how close it was to the water. This suited me down to the ground because I tend to lose precious seconds in the runs to and from the water. And I need every second I can get!

I agree with Mr Oceanswims who, on his website described the swim as one for those who like swimming in pools, but I still think the new course is superior to last year's difficult trek from one beach to another.

The Southerly change was meant to kick in this afternoon, but it's still sweltering in Sydney tonight. We didn't get a summer over December, but we're sure getting it in February. YUCK. I'M SWEATY. WHERE'S THE WIND? 

I forgot to take my camera to the swim, so the photo is from http://www.oceanswims.com/
Go there and have a look. There's video of the swim and a blog.