Hannah Law

I completed my first ever ocean swim this year: the Cole Classic 2km. I joined a record number of other keen swimmers – 0ver 4100! – to brave the Shelley Beach to Manly adventure as part of Australia’s largest ocean swim.

I didn’t train as much as I should have so was a bit anxious about jumping into the 2km without a 1km (or less!) under my belt. I looked to Scot Ennis, a regular Cole Classic competitor, who told me I just wouldn’t have the sense of satisfaction if I only completed the 1km and with that, I signed myself up for the 2km!

Scot was right. The 2km was achievable, if long! And the sense of satisfaction was pretty good, even though I didn’t get an amazing time (44mins).

I certainly don’t consider myself an expert ocean swimmer but here’s a couple of quick tips for those thinking about venturing into the ocean for their first competitive swim:

1. Train: It sounds really obvious but it’s something I think most of us (me in particular!) are a bit slack with. Get out there and practice swimming. Not just in the pool either, train in the ocean so you get a feel for the waves and currents. 2km feels a lot longer in the ocean than in the pool!
2. Mark the course with major landmarks on the horizon: arrive early on race day so you can spot all the buoys that mark the route. Then look for landmarks (big buildings, obvious trees or boats – just be careful they don’t move during your race!) that correspond to the line of sight you’ll be following to reach the buoys. The hardest part about an ocean swim is not knowing where you’re going and all the associated metres swum in the wrong direction and the energy wasted as you keep checking if you’re heading in the right direction. Picking out the landmarks should make it much easier for you to know which direction to swim in. If you know someone who has swum the course before, they might be able to give you insider’s tips on which landmarks to look out for.
3. Swim wide: ocean swims can be chaotic, especially at the start, so avoid all the flying legs and arms by swimming wide of the pack. It’s worth swimming a few extra metres during the course to keep your body in-tact!

What is holding you back from doing an ocean swim?

Or if you have already done an ocean swim? What are your hot-tips?

I’m getting back into the exercise (and the blogging) for 2011. Last weekend I headed out to Penrith for a session of white water rafting with a bunch of Poms!

We made the hour long trek out to Penrith hungover, with only a slight detour(ssh!), and kept ourselves entertained by spotting the Fire Museum and giant Sewerage Plant – two great Australian icons.

Upon arrival in the middle of nowhere, we signed the consent forms but not after having a mild attack at the words “risk of permanent injury & death”. Keen to get into the water (to shake those hangovers!) we kitted up with helmets, life jackets and paddles to receive our briefing. Our group had 10 people but we split into two: 4 in an unguided raft (brave … or crazy!) and the rest of us in a guided raft.

And we were off… up the pulley that took us to the top of the man-made rafting course, that was originally built for canoeing in the Sydney Olympics. With paddles at the ready we went head-on through the first rapid – throwing our weight to the left and then paddling furiously to the right to make sure we all stayed (relatively) dry. Still smiling, we had a moment’s break before the next massive rapid hit us and the raft behind bumped into us. Paddling furiously we tried to beat them but failed miserably. We all survived round one without being thrown into that ferocious man-made rapid that is grade 3 – apparently the highest commercial grade allowed! After telling the instructor we thought round one was pretty tame, he replied with “famous last words”. And he was right. It all went downstream (sorry, couldn’t resist) after with arms, legs and helmets being thrown haphazardly around, bums going overboard and paddles in the eye (that looked painful).

The chaos, also known as rafting, continued for about an hour and a half with a quick break for ‘raft surfing’ which was definitely the highlight!

It was a bit on the pricey side ($89) but perfect for adrenaline-junkies and thrill-seekers.

A big thanks to Dorota for organising!