Swimming

I am lucky that as an englishman growing up in london, my parents sorted out swimming lessons from an early age and so i have always been able to swim and even remember doing lengths of hounslow baths as a youngster. that, and holidays spent by the seaside (often at worthing on the south coast) meant that i grew up with a love if the sea.

In adulthood, and moving to australia, i have spent many hours at the beach. a few triathlons and time spent in the pool topped up this keenness. however, its fair to say that moving close to cronulla i have really fallen in love with swimming in the sea; in fact it is becoming quite a passion. many people are very scared about swimming in the sea, and i guess it can be very dangerous, but if you swim a lot in your local area you get the feel of it and can judge the safety (which changes from day to day). there are some great spots to swim near where i live, but undoubtedly the swim par excellence is swimming around shark island – it is just the very best.

• read my blog posts about swimming here

I just love this quote, i think it expresses what i feel about swimming in the sea as opposed to swimming in the pool:

• some swims are indelible, they never leave you. there’s something defiant and even subversive about swimming wild: a sense of returning to a more liberated existence.
• it’s from The Outdoor Swimming Society

I don’t really like swimming in a pool (but sometimes its a necessary evil) so 99% of the time I swim in the sea. 2010 was my first year of swimming year round in the sea, always without a wetsuit (I am quite proud of that). sea temps here are between 15.1C and 23.3C (at least they are the max and min I have seen recorded at south cronulla, my favourite).

some good swimming links here:

• outdoor swimming society
• river swimming
• wild swimming

My local beach:

Some races I have done:

• 12/Feb/2012 North Bondi Classic (2k) – 583rd from 854 – 68% - 37min 4secs ( fastest 21.30 slowest 1.03.16)
• 4/Dec/2011 Bondi to Bronte (2.4k) – 1110th fron 1542 – 72% - 1hr 2min 3secs ( fastest 26.50 slowest 1.55.56)
• 22/May/2011 Bondi Blue Water Challenge (2.1k) - 192nd from 273 – 70% – 36m 54s (fastest 22m 51s)(slowest 52m 47s)
• 25/Apr/2011 Coogee to Bondi (2 laps of Coogee approx 4km due to bad weather) - 148th from 159 – 93% – 1hr 03m 55s (fastest 33m 20s)(slowest 1hr 14m 38s)
• 27/Mar/2011 Shark Island Swim (Reduced to 1.9km around Cronulla due to bad weather) - 479th from 597 – 80% – 33m 08s (fastest 17m 42s)(slowest 53m 00s)
• 9/Jan/2011 North Bondi Roughwater (2k – suspect short due to bluebottles) – 578 from 701 – 82% – 37min 40 secs (fastest 20mins)(slowest 50mins)
• 18/Dec/2010 Bundeena to Cronulla (3.5k) – 2nd last out of the water from approx 30 – 1hr 12m
• 5/Dec/2010 Bondi to Bronte (2.4k) – 1372 from 1930 – 71% - 47min 47secs (fastest 23min) (slowest 90min)
• 28/Nov/2010 Coogee Wedding Cake Island (2.5k) - 647th from 790 - 81% - 60min 09secs (fastest 31min) (slowest 100min)
• 21/Nov/2010 Cronulla Cook Community (2k) – 62nd from 82 - 75% -  44min 22secs (fastest 25min) (slowest 69min)
• 14/Mar/2010 Cronulla Shark Island (2.3k) – 666th from 793 – 83% - 55mins 36secs (fastest 28min) (slowest 84min)
• 19/Dec/2009 Bundeena to Cronulla (3.5k) – last out of the water from approx 30 – 1hr 25m
• 6/Dec/2009 Bondi to Bronte (2.4k) – 1491st from 1986 - 75% - 41min 56secs (fastest 22min) (slowest 73min)
• 29/Nov/2009 Coogee Wedding Cake Island (2.5k) – 1184 finishers – no chip, late entry, approx 60min (fastest 28min) (slowest 87min)