Nothing Great is Easy ~ Captain Matthew Webb

I'm stealling the words of Captain Webb the first person to swim the channel to title this post... I think it's apt.

The phrase it's not the desination it's the journey is true - the destination was fab, but the journey and the people met along the way were truly amazing......

Channel swimming is not a glamorous sport nor is it an individual sport. I may have been the person that did the swimming but behind the scenes were a team of people who helped me along the way and I don’t want the thankyou’s to get lost at the end of my story. Some of these people have been there from the start; others came in along the way and stayed for the journey. Before I tell my story I want to say thank you to them as without them this would never have been possible.

-    Mark – my boyfriend who was there from the start kept me in food, clean clothes, clean house, crewed both swims, training partner, alarm clock, car buyer, voice of reason, support swimmer and all the other support I could ask for in one.

-   Clare McGirr – my relay partner who put herself through hell with me in 2011 and came out the otherside, she hated Dover training but did it and never gave up. Her support this year from afar has been amazing and the card sent to me before my swim made me remember how far we both had come to get to this point.

-   Nick Adams and Sakura Hingley who have been there from the start spurring on the original idea, provided advice, voices of reason, encouragement, training sets, asked how I was doing and Nick who helped crew my swim, fed me on copious amounts of maxim, was a tweeting monster, entertainer, rock collector and photo taker extraordinaire.

-   My pilot Neil Streeter, his crewman Jock and observer ‘smiley’ Alan.

-   The Dover Beach crew – Freda, Barry, Irene, Michelle, Emma and the others who come along each weekend from May-October to help support swimmers reach their dreams in all weather. Without the training, feeding, bollocking, hugs and help none of this is possible.

-   The Serpentine Swimming Club and all it’s members, their encouragement and support throughout the last two years has been amazing. Especially those who provided support with eating and training – Jenny, Neil, Andy, Furry, Miss T, Leanne, Boris, Ange, Russel, Mike, Norm, Steph, Colin, Sophie, Kevin, Mark & Rob.

-   The other dumplings Tory & Deirdre whom I have shared more romantical weekends and dinners in Dover with than Mark in the last 3 months, spent hours swimming in the Serps and Dover and shared the hard task of trying to be a channel swimmer with throughout the year. They provided encouragement for eating as many burgers at maccas as we could, voices of reason when I had stuffed up and were awesome passengers keeping me awake driving to and from Dover.

-   My family and friends in the UK and Australia – you have no idea why I wanted to swim the channel, but you supported me from the start even though you thought I had two screws loose and may well been certified. You listened to the incessant swimming chat, asked how I was, sponsored me and plugged my swim to anyone who would listen.

-   The swimmers who I met in Dover, shared the harbour training with and the odd chat at a feed or the walls, you are what makes this experience memorable.

-   All the people who donated to my chosen charities in Australia and the UK helping me raise valuable funds for cancer research which is a topic close to my heart.

The journey from social and sporty aussie, swimming, cycling & doing the odd triathlon while experiencing the best London & Europe has to offer to channel swimmer took close to 3 years and started in September 2009 with a drunken conversation in a pub over one too many bottles of wine with some Serpentine Channel Swimmers. This got me thinking, growing up swimmers were my heroes, especially the likes of Susie Maroney & Shelley Taylor-Smith they had swum the English Channel among other distance swims. I had a fascination with distance swimming especially the channel, and why/how people managed to complete such feats, as an adult I continued to be intrigued by it but only ever got up to 5km swims. The question of could I really complete what my childhood heroes had done still burned. Was I strong enough mentally and physically to do it? The answer at that point in time on both counts was a resounding NO. 

Spurred on by the over confidence and naivety that too many vinos brings, my bestie Clare and I decided we would book a channel relay slot for 2011 and see if we could get a few others to join in and from there it spiralled. Another night, another bottle of vino and we made it a proper challenge - a two man relay, this would provide a test for me as the stronger of the two swimmers and give me a good indication of whether I could hack it as a soloist. Throw in a 2010 Loch-Ness relay with the Serpentine Ladies, my first 6 hour swim at a training camp in Gozo, a 16km swim down the length of Lake Annecy and a few more conversations with people who have been instrumental in my journey from the start, I decided I would book a 2012 solo slot and keep it under wraps until the relay was over. Though I couldn’t help myself and one day while walking through Hyde Park after doing a triathlon in September 2010 I said to Clare “I think I’m going to swim the channel solo”. The words were out I had committed the cash now I had to commit myself.

Fast forward through 2 summers in Dover training, countless hours in the pool and the serpentine and here I was standing at 2am on Wednesday 25^th July in the car park of Dover Marina about to attempt what I had been working towards and what my childhood heroes had done. To say I was nervous was an understatement. The boat was still in it’s dock as the pilot was sleeping, everyone else was packing their boats and leaving, I was wandering the car park, shaking, feeling like I was going to vomit and going for a nervous wee every 10 minutes. Through the darkness I spotted Irene from the beach crew wandering through the car park, I shouted out to her, she didn’t recognise me until I told her who I was, then she imparted her final words of advice “swim from feed to feed, all you need to think about is getting to that next feed” that stuck in my head for the entire swim. On the boat the team consisted of Neil the pilot, Jock his crew man, Alan – smiley observer, and my crew Mark and Nick, a small but very effective team of people who were going to be responsible for getting me to France. 

Around 2:30 we loaded the boat, once motoring out of the harbour toward Samphire Hoe (the start point) I was taken to the top deck for sunscreening, greasing and final preparations. Nick gave instructions while, I stood bent over leaning on the side of the boat as Mark donned the gloves and first lathered on the sunscreen, then came the Vaseline and lots of it, under the arms, between the legs, neck, straps, anywhere that was likely to rub. Cap, goggles, lights, all on. Neil reversed the boat up quite close to the shore, my job was about to start, last goodluck kiss from Mark and over the side I went. They shone a spotlight to the shore, I swam toward the light, got out, got myself sorted and gave a huge wave… Then the screams of GO came back, deep breath, then I waded into the water and started stroking toward the boat - next stop FRANCE.  The glow sticks lined up against the side of the boat gave me something to look at, along with the lights around Mark’s neck, other than that I had not a lot to see and I was alone in the dark.

The nervousness wore off after what I think was 30 minutes, but then the doubts crept in. I was barely at my first feed when the monster’s entered my head. I knew I had to tell them to f-off and I just had to think about my feeds. I thought I’ll count my strokes until my next feed, counting, counting, counting, finally I saw lights and a reel which meant it was feed time 1 hour down, I didn’t say anything just grabbed the bottle, chugged down the warm maxim and kept swimming. I was cold and unhappy, I wanted out, I also needed to poo but couldn’t. I remembered my conversation with Boris (who had completed his 3^rd swim two days earlier) the night before, his words in my head, “you’re going to feel cold and miserable until the sun comes up and once it does your world will change – hang in there”. He was right I was cold, miserable, couldn’t see anything except the side of the boat, the demons had entered my head and I was having problems telling them to f-off. I then thought of what Nick had joked about a few days earlier about how someone had gotten out after 2 minutes – that person wasn’t going to be me. I thought of the two successful channel swims from our club on days preceding me, plus all the people supporting me & that had already donated to my charities around the world (even though they were all warm and likely asleep) and Mark standing on the side of the boat in the cold drinking cups of tea – I wasn’t going to let the team down. This started to work, a few more man up princesses were needed and I had made it to the second feed. Second feed chugged down, still cold, this time I said hello, and asked for food for the next feed, that would give me something to think about for 30 minutes.

Then somewhere in the midst of this the sun came up, my highlight apart from finishing is watching the sunrise over the English channel. Swimming on the left of the boat and bilateral breathing meant I had a first class view of the sunrise over the English Channel. To me it was breathtakingly beautiful, it started as a red/orange line on the horizon then a cherry red ball started to appear and rise slowly in the sky. This took away all the doubts in my mind, I was calm and I knew I would be fine. I had a new strategy, breaking my swim into blocks of 4 hours 8 feeds and count down the feeds, once the 4 hours was over I would get ibuprofen and in the middle I could request paracetamol if I wanted - something else to look forward to. I only requested food when I really wanted it as the first piece, a Milky Way took too long to chew and stuck to my teeth, food of choice from then on in was peach slices, I could neck them in almost one swallow and they tasted nice. Just before 4 hours I was starting to feel low again as I couldn’t see any ships, then in the distance there was a ship, woo hoo I was in the SW shipping lane, my listening during channel geography sessions was paying off.

I noticed some movement on the deck with Mark and Smiley Alan at around 4.5 hours, lots of movement, I couldn’t see what they were doing, wasn’t too worried as Neil was still at the helm although sticking his head out to either say something or have a look. I kept swimming, figured they would tell me at the next feed if it was urgent. Then it all calmed down and the boat was covered in Australian flag bunting. I had an inkling it may have come from the lovely Clare but didn’t find out until I asked after the swim. It made me smile and remember where I came from, and the contents of the card she had posted two weeks before. Meanwhile my crew were feasting, Mark made bacon sandwiches for everyone, they had diet cokes which they kindly displayed for my amusement, crisps, pepperami, chocolate, the works.

My strategy was working and I was quite happily swimming along, at 6 hours I asked if Mark would jump in at 6.5 hours something else to look forward too and someone to get cold with me. I was swimming through some serious sea weed which I thought meant I must be close to the separation zone. When Mark jumped in Nick then provided the entertainment, first was nipple rubbing, pulling faces, then came food throwing, he kept himself amused by flinging cheddar biscuits at Mark as if they were discuss. Kept me amused too as I saw them float past my head and attempt to hit Mark in the mouth.

I assumed my feeds were coming on time, I had no idea, I just swam, thought about my family, my grandparents then at around 9 hours I saw a ship going in the opposite direction, I was in the NE lane - woo hoo – well and truly over half way, no stopping me now. Queen’s don’t “Don’t stop me now” played for a good 30 minutes over and over in my head as swam through the cold patches of the NE lane, they took my breath away at points, another song to sing “take my breath away woooaaaa woooaaaa”, followed a bit of waltzing matilda and I still call Australia home just for the hell of it. 

At 10 hours I was on the edge of the French inshore waters and could see France. Big mistake looking at France as you can see those cliffs for a bloody long time before you get any closer to them, but I already knew that from the year before. Paracetamol was delivered at 10 hours to ease the pain and at 10.5 hours I forgot to ask for Mark to come in with me at 11 hours, so that meant delaying him until 11.5 hours when I remembered to ask again. By this stage I had wind against tide and my nice glass water day had turned choppy. When Mark came in I was asked for an hour of power, I knew this moment was coming and I was glad Mark was in there with me. I also knew I wasn’t swimming very fast, but Mark’s long slow strokes made me want to swim faster, I wanted to keep ahead of him, it was hurting, everytime I breathed left I could see Cap Gris Nez getting closer and closer. Quick feed at 12 hours more vile maxim, it was a competition every time I fed to see if I could keep it down, I was feeling sick and gagging, but when Nick yelled “put in the big ones” I knew this had come from Clare and how important it was that I give it everything I had. I was turning my arms as fast as I could, but I watched us sail past Cap Gris Nez and my heart sank, I knew I had missed the Cap, this was bad very bad, but unbeknown to me they had delayed my feed for 10 minutes to get me out of the tide.

When I fed at 12.5 hours (or a little more) I was told I had missed the cap to which I responded yes I know it’s over there – but then the magic words came from Nick or Neil I can’t remember who, you’re in the bay and out of the tide all you have to do is potter in now. I was taught how to say please don’t touch me in French “ne touchez pas moi s'il vous plait”. Utter relief and for the first time during the whole swim experience I started to cry, then I administered my final man-up princess you don’t want red eyes in your photos. Just before my last feed I was visited by Sea Satin on their way back from the bay with a successful swimmer, everyone was at the side waving and clapping and the siren was whooping, I was almost there. I was fed a lovely warm tea then all that was left was a 500m swim into the beach, I followed Nick and Mark in, they took photos in the water and once I got to a point where I could stand I started to wade, when my knees were at water level I started to jog up the sand and jumped over the water line arms in the air for a victory salute! I had done it, I had swum to France. Big hugs from Mark and Nick, I think I said “I did it” about 20 times to Mark and couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. The next 5 minutes were spent taking photos, collecting rocks and stuffing them down our costumes, before swimming back to the boat where the fun began.

Mark managed to get me dry and dressed quite quickly and Nick squeezed in some photos with the cap in the background before I started puking up my maxim. As I said channel swimming is not a glamorous sport and puke I did. All that quadruple strength maxim and the odd peach slice was coming up at a rate of knots. Nick of course couldn’t help himself and the last tweet sent was a picture of me head in a bucket hurling. On arriving back in the docks I was greeted by Emily, Steve and Zoe, the two girls had swum earlier in the week and had come to say hi to a fellow channel swimmer. Then it was off to the White Horse with them to sign our names on the ceiling – It’s official I’m a Channel Swimmer in 13 hours 17 minutes and what a journey it was to get there, one I will never forget and has changed the shape of my life.

Taking the Scenic Route to France

After months of eating and swimming - I'm taking the scenic route to France.

I'll be leaving English shores at approx 3:30am (Midday AUS Time) on Wednesday 25th July


I will be in very good and experienced hands with my pilot Neil Streeter and his boat SUVA. My crew is my supportive and very understanding boyfriend Mark and channel swimming master Nick Adams, to whom I am very grateful for backing up and crewing my swim after supporting his girlfriend Sakura in an Ironman on Sunday and completing his own channel crossing on Tuesday.


My crew will be tweeting on https://twitter.com/krittermac and you can track my progress via

http://www.shipais.com/shiptrail.php?mmsi=235018589

or

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0yeHQ0bluLFqyTf932J6W1nRCQHB5nCif


In completing the swim I'm hoping to raise much needed funds to support Cancer Research in both the UK and Australia. The effects of cancer have impacted the lives of many people I konw and I'm hoping that my little bit of fundraising can help.

In the UK please dontate here:  http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=KristyMcIntyre&faId=206851&isTeam=false

In Australia - please donate here: http://www.everydayhero.com.au/kristyecswim

Thankyou to all those who have donated thus far, provided sound words of wisdom and support I really appreciate everything you've done for me and will be giving it my all out there for you and for those who continue to inspire me every day.

Channel swimming is not an individual sport it is a team effort and there are many people I must thank those that have gotten me this far:
- Mark my house husband/training partner/chef/crew member/support swimmer
- My Australian family who while they aren't here in person have been supportive via phone and email, even my mum who was horrified at how much weight I had gained and has embraced the weigh-in challenge of each phone call,
- The beach crew in Dover - Freda, Barry, Irene, Michelle and the countless other people who give their weekends so selflessly to feed the hungry seals (I mean swimmers) on the beach and yell at you when you need a bollocking or provide hugs when you've done well.
- All the swimmers in Dover - who are going through the same thing as me and are positive and encouraging even when they don't know your name.
- The people of the Serpentine Swimming Club, especially Deirdre, Tory & Boris who I have shared the channel adventure with and the most miserable days in Dover and who have given me words of encouragement when I needed it most
- Nick and Sakura for all your words of advice, swim sets, training time, feeding ideas, patience and general encouragement and for giving me the confidence to go ahead with the idea in the first place
- The amazing Clare McGirr who was the other half of our two person channel relay in 2011 - she didn't have any idea what she was getting herself in for but she came along whole heartedly for the ride
- To all my very understanding friends who have never questioned why but just said go for it.

THANKYOU!!

Happy Dances

The past weekend marked what I can only hope as being my last Dover Dirty Double for the year. With only two weekends before my swim window opens I expected it to be a medium to hard one.

As always the Saturday alarm goes off at 5:50am and the Dover routine kicks into gear. Pick up Deirdre, Tory and this time special guest Irene from Australia. Drive the 2 hours to Dover and set up camp on the beach. This time we had an addition of a tent courtesy of the super organised Nick Adams. On checking in with Freda and the beach crew the trepidation is always high - the fear/excitement of the unknown - what am I going to get? The usual conversation ensues Freda "when's your swim " me "window opens in just under 2 weeks" Freda ok "3 hours" me "ok that's good" ..... Walked away calmly then happy danced my way across the beach to find Deirdre who on the same tide as me had been put in for 6. Deirdre went back to negotiate and ended up with 4 - Tory who is on a later tide had the inevitable 6. All others who were on my tide ended up with 4 so I felt it only fair I should do an extra hour and do 4.

Suncreamed up, greased up, watered up, we entered the water at 9am. After just 1 hour of swimming I was thirsty & ravenous; this wasn't good I still had 3 hours to go and no pants treats. Small man up chat and kept swimming - the 2 hr feed rolled around quickly and by the 3 hr feed the rain had started to chuck it down and I was glad to be in the water. At four hours it was still chucking it down as we ran up the beach and changed under a shelter. By this stage the thunder and lightening had started to roll in and I heard Freda speak the unthinkable words "Barry they're all getting out at the next feed". I couldn't believe it - The Channel General had uttered those words which are like music to a cold swimmers ears - even though I was out I knew that in 30 minutes there would be some very happy swimmers.

Meanwhile stood on the beach in his bright yellow oil skins Barry was doing his very own rendition of singing in the rain as he skipped across the beach. The rest of the beach crew were soaked through but nothing dampened their smiles :)

The only thing left to do was take a pop up tent down in the wind & rain. This task proved more difficult than thought; but I got it down first go at a price - I wrestled with it, ran along the beach and used it as a kite and with sideways rain was soaked through before I managed to get it in the bag.

We stayed over night at the lovely Sandown Guest house (our usual). Ready for another day of training on Sunday.

Sunday check in with the beach crew and this time its 3 hours again and a hop, skip, jump and dance across the beach in celebrations. With Deirdre and I both getting 3, I felt no guilt nor remorse for only doing 3, I couldn't contain my excitement which was probably not the best of things as my lovely training partner Tory had another 6 to get through. The sun was shining, the sea was flat and I had a lovely time lapping the harbour for 3 hours - this was a real treat - every training day apart from one other had been tough, windy, wet, rough seas, seasickness - horrendous but I had made it through. Dover was giving me a present in return a flat calm training day. Only the second in 11 weekends of training and I relished every moment.

Here's hoping I get it for my swim.

Branded By Dover

I must start this blog post by saying every mishap contained in here is a factor of my own stupidity and I should know better.

This weekend I only trained on Saturday due to having a normal life on Sunday. Saturday training wise was another 7 hour swim which I got through without too much trouble using self preservation swimming strategies to ensure I didn't get too sea sick or injure my shoulders too much in the large waves when the tide was high.

That's the training bit over the rest are the incidents that happened along the way.... Read on.

On Saturday due to a little bit of traffic, having a full car with new friends in it and not driving super fast down the motorway it took 10 mins longer than usual to get to the beach, meaning we were rushed getting ready. We quickly checked in, given 7 hours, cap on, greased up, treats thrown in the back of my costume and walking down to the water realised I hadn't put sunscreen on my back or my legs. No problems I checked 5 different weather forecasts yesterday they all said rain and cloud for the day, I won't need it I won't get burnt.

Mistake 1 - I trusted the weather forecast it was sunny, windy and without a rain cloud in the sky for the entire day - they did get the wind part right.

Mistake 2 - not taking the extra time to get someone to put sunscreen on my back & doing my legs. I now have a defined set of go faster racing stripes from my costume straps, a very dark & painful back/neck and two red & painful lines up the sides of my bum where my costume has ridden up during the day making sitting painful - especially on plastic chairs at the cricket.

Mistake number 3 is hidden in the text above. Guess what it is? No? It was throwing my treats into the back of my costume without taking care as to how and where I put them. This rushed behaviour resulted in two things - my chocolate buttons having a blow out when I got thrown agaisnt the rocks by a wave coming in for a feed. I didn't discover this until a low moment mid swim when I went to grab my buttons for a snack and found they had popped and I now had small half eroded chocolate buttons floating around my costume that I had to scoop out. No I hadn't done a sea poo it was my chocolate buttons I promise. The other issue which I didn't discover until getting home and into a nice hot shower was that the serrated edges of my packets of treats had been rubbing against my skin as they lived in the back of my costume and I now have a severe chaffing mark on my bum which combined with sunburn makes sitting a somewhat painful task.

Mistake 4 - not getting enough grease for 7 hours. My fault should've asked Barrie for more; less grease = more chaffing on my neck and under my arms. I have swimmer's hickeys and grazing, that along with my tan lines make me even more of a delight to look at than previously.

I know you would all like to see photos of my sunburn and chaffing but as most of my pain is related to my bottom I care not to post photos - you can laugh and use your imagination. I have literally been branded on the bottom by Dover

A weekend of Firsts

This post is all about our romantical getaway on the Kent Riviera. Two days swimming in Dover Harbour with some additional supporters by the names of Mark and Mike. It was a weekend of firsts for Deirdre, Tory and myself and involved my tears tears, man up princesses and battles of mental demons. Read on for the long version......


This weekend was always going to be a tough training weekend. From the outset I knew the time swum was going to be at least 6 hours on both days (something I'd never completed), the water temp has only just hit 14c and the winds were around 20 mph. Before I even got to Dover, Friday was spent checking BBC & met office weather and wind forecasts along with the CS&PF website for the latest in winds and water temps to assess just how bad it would be. In my head I knew it was going to be tough physically which meant mentally preparing and promising myself I wouldn't have a repeat of last Saturday when I got out early, seasickness aside.


Saturday morning alarm goes off at 6am and the routine kicks into gear - snooze alarm once; get up; swimming costume, t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms on; boil kettle to fill flask; make breakfast and maxim; load car; drive to pick up Deirdre, Mike and Tory from Clapham Junction for the drive to Dover.


Driving down the hill off the A20, the first glimpse of the sea was white horses outside the harbour - immediately I thought what about the harbour. The tide was low which meant the breakers at the far wall were rolling nicely onto the sand, good for now but meant as the tide came in the washing machine would kick it up a notch. The near wall was relatively calm, in my head I knew where I would be spending my time.


On arrival at the beach, swimmers must check in with Freda and anxiously await the General's decision. First comes the questions, name, number, then the 'when's your swim?' then 'how far did you swim last weekend?' Answer 5 hours - response 'you're in for 7'. WTF??? My mouth fell open, 7 hours the longest I'd completed in the harbour was 5, I was mentally prepared for 6 not sure I can do one more. Back comes Deirdre from check-in she has 7 too, Tory has 5 (her tide is later), Boris (another serps swimmer) has 7 and Nick only 6. It was going to be a long day on the beach for our support crew (Mark, Mike & Sakura). Time to glug some more water and maxim, see Barrie for some grease slapped under the arms, back of neck and straps - see you 7 hours he says.


Nine am, I'm loaded to the point of bursting or vomiting with food, water and maxim, my toes have hit the water, the watch has started and as it's low tide you could walk the length of the harbour, time to start swimming. As always the swim with the current & wind toward the far wall is easy, I was making real progress with the waves picking me up and pushing me along toward the ferry terminal. On reaching the wall and turning around the stark realisation hit, I'd have to swim back through that. Remembering the advice of Kevin Murphy last week - stay horizontal, swim hard and you won't get sea sick, easier said than done. Wave number one went straight over the top, my left arm in its recovery phase got battered and I was contorted into a twisted pretzel shape. This continued for 30 minutes as I swam against the current and waves across the harbour until reached the calm of the near wall. With only 45 minutes of my allotted 7 hours down and 5 mouth fulls of salt water already taken, I administered a strong 'man up princess' I was cursing the sea, cursing the person I'd seen in a wetsuit and getting angry. This would most definitely keep me in. The two hour feed came and we were rewarded with jelly babies and hot maxim. My tactic going forward was to down the feed swim back to the calm of the near wall, then sail down the harbour to the slopey groin, turn slog it back through the waves to the near wall then back to the beach for the next feed. This one hour circuit was repeated over and over, occasionally popping up to say hi to another swimmer or how about these waves it's tough going. 


At 5:15 I was in an unhappy place my arms hurt, I still had 1:45 to go. I saw Deirdre by the near wall, it was calm with no wind and we decided swimming laps of the wall seemed like a really good idea to preserve our sore arms and shoulders. So out against the wall we swam to the end, in the protection of the wall this was nice swimming, you could get into a rhythm, stroke properly and breathe properly, pure bliss. Then came the moment when I turned around to swim in, the tide was running out and all of a sudden I had a realisation that my idea had not been so good. With the tide running out, I was swimming looking at the same lamp post which I didn't appear to be passing. Time to put in the after burners, stroke a bit harder and start to kick, otherwise at this rate I may start my channel swim a little earlier than planned and end up outside of the harbour walls. This only served to increase the pain I was feeling. Once reaching the safety of the inshore I continued on my laps until the 6 hr feed. By this stage people were getting out, I was cold, tired and wanted out, but I still had another hour. I kept thinking Man up Princess as I was edging my way up the rocks, preparing to do a runner and get out as Mike came scurrying across to give me a feed, told me I was doing really well and to keep swimming. Damn, I was fed, I couldn't escape, I felt guilty, I couldn't get out now, Mike had given up his birthday weekend to come to Dover to support Deirdre and here he was feeding us.... I had to swim on for the last hour, one more circuit was my mantra, you can swim for one more circuit. The seasickness had now started to set in, the tablets were wearing off, I was cold, sick, dizzy & miserable. On finishing, I got up, fell down, got up, fell down and was hauled out by Mark, after which he had to help dress me as I kept falling over with seasickness and dizziness.


Saturday over, Sunday begins with rain, wind, cloud and cold. On checking in Freda was threatening Deirdre and I with 6 hours off the back of our 7 the day before. On some pleading over our sore arms and shoulders we were let off with 4 and Tory was not impressed when she was given 6 to our 4. In the pouring rain we were greased up and straight in the water, the two hours went so slowly, I was cold, my arms hurt and hadn't loosened off from the day before, the wind was bad and while there weren't white horses in the harbour just yet I was determined to make it through the first two hours. There was man up princesses flying through my head, along with cursing Freda, the warm people on the beach, the sea, the wind, the rain and the cloud. Then I remembered my friend Jenny was running some stupid amount of miles between the Lizard and Lands End for fun, and at least I wasn't running. At some stage in there a pack of relay swimmers swam straight over the top of me, to make it worse, the guy who actually hit me, then pushed my head under for a second dunk before I was allowed up. There were tears welling in my goggles, I was gasping for air and now I really wanted out. No it was man up princess time, I was staying in the threat of experiencing that feeling of failure again was enough to get me going until the 2 hour feed.


When I got to the 2 hour feed I was still toying with getting out, I could just get out, I was cold, tired, sore, I hurt. Mark gave me a banana and Sakura some form of words before I could even get my complaint out. I'd had my feed I now had to go off and do one more circuit for the next feed. At the 3 hour feed I stood next to Deirdre who was thinking maybe we should stay in for longer, we looked at each other and thought no way in hell, I'm out at 4 hours. Triumphant I hopped out at 4 hours feeling rather tired, cold and exhausted, and really glad I had only been given 4 hours after my shameless pleading. Tory pulled out her first 6 hours in the harbour, cold and exhausted she emerged and had enough energy to throw her fists into Nick who was out and dressed warmly after hopping out early to help relay swimmers. 


This weekend saw Deirdre, Tory and myself get in 11 hours of training, the first 7 hour swim for Deirdre and I, first 6 hour swim for Tory and Mike Deirdre's husband completed 1 hour on Saturday and 30 minutes on Sunday for his first swim in Dover harbour. 

Kristy V Dover Harbour Washing Machine

This past weekend was a proper test of my mental strength and ability to man up when the going got tough. It was my first double dip of the year and featured sunshine, White horses and force five winds. In this story I can promise you tears, puke and alot of 'man up princess chat'. So read on.

Saturday Deirdre, Tory and I drove from London to Dover for our romantical weekend escape training in the harbour. On driving down the hill toward the harbour our first glimpse was 6 foot waves crashing against the harbour walls and stony beach. Going through my head was o'crap this isn't even the harbour. Inside the harbour we were greeted with 4ft white horses bouncing off the walls - so bad that our usual 700m stretch of water to the far harbour wall was cut in half due to the size of the waves that end. The somewhat calm end of the harbour was home to the champion of champions event which meant us channel aspirants coped the White horses for as long as Freda determined.

I was sent in for 4 hours - sun creamed up and seasick tablets on board I jumped in and powered with the waves down to the no swim border. On turning around to swim back I was battered by wave after wave and tossed about like a cork in the sea. My seasickness tablets weren't working and 25 minutes in I was looking at my watch to see how long until the 2 hour feed. It seemed every 10-15 minutes I was checking my watch willing the time to pass faster, attempting to swim as I was being thrown around in the waves while trying to complete an 800m loop. I was administering many man up chats to myself but none were working. The seasickness got to me, I started getting sicker and dizzier as the 2 hours went by. At one point I received a huge mouthful of sea water and threw up some more; horrible. I got to the 2 hour feed went to stand up and take my feed, the dizziness hit badly, the tears welled in my goggles, Barrie sent me to Freda to determine if I was actually sick or putting it on. Freda's comments - "you're rather green around the gills - and it's not your beard - go get dressed". Relief I didn't have to go back into that nasty washing machine!! Then the sense of failure - I'd f'd it up - I got out early!

So there I sat on the beach rugged up, sick and not very happy watching as my friends completed their allotted training. I had failed - had I stuffed it up mentally? - maybe? - could I have kept going with that sickness and just thrown up a few more times - I'll never know. In talking to Freda she said "you always have to have a bad training day to get better" next her words of advice "go home, beat yourself up over this and come back stronger tomorrow". I failed the Washing Machine had won this round.

Staying overnight in Dover meant afternoon naps, and more sleep for Sundays session. We got down to the beach on Sunday am and were greeted with 2-3ft waves and a decent swell at the far end of the harbour. The only respite was at the near wall, however on Sundays you can't swim there till after 12.

On registering I was chastised by both Freda and Barrie for getting out early the day before then was given 4 hours. I discovered that Deirdre who was on the same tide as me have been given 5 hours to my 4 - laughter ensued from our Serps group. On greasing up I was given another chat by Barrie and I thought right I can do this I'm not going to let the sea sickness beat me. We all waded into the water and flew down to the far wall with the waves pushing us along - once reaching the far corner and turning the real fun began. Swimming back head first into White horses I was determined to stay horizontal and power through I was not going to let the washing machine beat me. One hr down was the first time I looked at my watch, then again at 1:50 where in the water I met up with Tory, deirdre and nick to enjoy some of nick's 'pants' treats. A packet of chocolate buttons produced from his trunks - ripped open and consumed while treading water - Awesome!! Two hours in no sea sickness, time for a feed and go again - this time back down to the far wall to play in the washing machine once again. It was fun going down there but took forever to get out. Three hours down another feed, the wind was picking up, my arms were tiring but I was not giving in. I ran into Deirdre at 3:10 proclaimed I was feeling good may stay in and keep her company for 5 hours, she told me I had a whole hour to change my mind & not to make any promises too soon. Thirty minutes later I almost collided with Kevin murphy 'king of the channel' and he asked how long I was in for - response - 4 hours but I think I'll stay in longer.

The four hour mark arrived rather quickly - decision time as I swam in get out and be proud or stay in and seek channel redemption. I was staying in - man up time!! I got a thumbs up from Barrie and a big smile from Kevin (who by this time was changed and on the beach) as I yelled I was staying in, took my feed and swam off to the calm of the near wall. The last hour was short laps in the calmer water flying down toward the far wall and a hard slog back to the near wall.

In getting out at 5 hours I felt somewhat vindicated for my poor performance the day before, strong in the knowledge I held my head and pushed through the demons - when the tough got going I stayed in! Best part was I'd done an hour more than prescribed and got a big hug from Barrie and a pat on the back to say well done for going back in and facing where I'd stuffed up the day before. It was probably the different sea sickness tablets, could have been the kicking I gave myself for stuffing up the previous day anyways I 'manned up princess' and I won!!

Current score Kristy 1 Dover Harbour 1

How far have I actually swum....

I know I said in my intro I would never talk about distances swum, but this post is dedicated to my newest toy and one can only talk distance and time in this post.


I usually count my open water training in hours unless I have an idea of how far I have travelled between points and can add them up.... Not any more - I have me a new toy courtesy of Nick Adams. 


I took my Finis GPS for it's maiden voyage today and discovered a number of things:
- My 400m loop at the Serps is actually slightly longer
- I can hold a decent pace for the entire 30 minutes
- AND IT WORKS!! 


The output is pretty amazing - see below. I swam for @31 minutes, covered 1.7k and have 100m splits, distances travelled - I can now analyze my open water swims down to the 100m. Sad but it's about the only excitement I get at the moment - knowing how fast/far I've swum - now I can tell when I'm slacking off and hopefully when I've had a man-up chat with myself and given it some welly.


Output is on the following link but the photo below provides a summary.


http://www.finisinc.com/streamline/share/workout/view/4fd8f9309887d

The GPS Map/ Stats Output