The Cole Classic, Sunday, February 3, 2008
Grey day for the Glistener
20 years Glistening Dave has been waiting to stand on the podium at the Cole Classic, now he has it snatched brutally away

Competitors in the Cole Classic marshal for the start.

Two years ago I did my first ever ocean swim….. the Cole 1k. Today my son, 12 year-old Cal, did his first ocean swim with me… the Cole 1k, ‘Back of the Pack’.  Dynasty, father-son bonding, family traditions being set in the green depths of the swelling ocean.

All well and good except the little bugger beat me.

We went in together and swam side by side to the first buoy where the crowd was mighty busy. With someone right in front of me I couldn’t keep up with Flipper-boy, who pulled away. I grabbed his ankle just to tell him to hang back so that we could swim together. This was not dictatorial dad-ness in a barely concealed plot to beat him, rather a concern that this was his first swim and I needed to look after him. However, he was having none of that, setting the pace between buoy one and two, ie the first and last, so that by the time I rounded buoy two I’d no idea which of the dozens of the hats around me was covering his reluctant back to school haircut.

But I didn’t worry because, as with all the swims this summer, the Cole was well patrolled with surfies and with dozens of swimmers in the water you’d have to try hard to get into trouble unnoticed.

Giving up on Boy I took a wide line back in to Shelly, hugging the rocks and enjoying the peace after the crowds before. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was thinking that I would be drawing level and passing the Boy who would be in the F3 carriageway of swimmers to my left, making for the beach.

Not to be. I got out at Shelly where my wife and daughter were waiting to cheer us on (it’s not a great spectator sport I’ve been told this afternoon, especially not in the rain) and asked if they’d seen Cal. “Well done Dad, yeah, Cal came in a few minutes ago” my daughter informed me.

And I think that’s marvellous. He came down, took part, enjoyed himself and wants to do more. James (who did the 10k this morning… utmost respect to all the men and women who trawled through for 2.5/3+ hours)  had been encouraging me to get Cal involved and he was right. The spirit of getting in and having a go for the fun of it is starting to take root in another ocean swimmer and that’s just great. That’s what these Sunday mornings are all about.

It was a large event today and made an even tougher organisational challenge by the need to move the start/finish for both events to Shelly. To be honest I was relieved as Flipper-boy was talking about being able to catch a wave in whilst I was seriously contemplating whether DOCS would have a case if I let him in the water at the south end of Manly. Decision and concern taken out of my hands by the wise men and women of Manly Surf Club.

The rearrangements seemed to work well for the 1k swim which normally starts from Shelly anyway. We even had the pleasure (and I do mean pleasure) of clapping in some 10-kers whilst we waited for our “Back of the Pack” starters gun. However, the Shelley start didn’t seem to work as well for some of the 2k entrants, judging by the dozens of Orange-cappers running down the walkway to Shelley as their fellow Orangies were already chest-deep in the ocean. I presume that with the ankle-chip it wouldn’t affect their times but hitting the water panting probably made things harder for them than they wanted. In spite of that given the circumstances today we thank the organisers and volunteers for getting us all safely in and out of the water. The vast majority of us wouldn’t be doing it without you.

Yes, this was the day at the 2008 Cole Classic. Rain, rain, and more rain ...

Huddle together for warmth, and dry.

No friends.

So this is him! That bloke in the crowd at the cricket and the footy with the bugle who's always blowing fulltime when the opposition is taking a crucial kick.

So, after the relaxing 1k “Back of the Pack” how about the 2k swim? Really enjoyable. I’ve not seen any times but I reckon I finally cracked the sub-40 minutes for 2k… ‘though jealous types are implying it was a very short 2km. I even heard an estimated 1.3k. Never! The oceanwswims prophylactic-head bloke will hopefully sort that debate out (and truth be told it really didn’t feel like 2km at all).

It was a swim that went very quickly. Straight down the channel. Hang a right-ish towards the ocean but thankfully not heading too far out before turning back towards Manly, then left-ish again towards the café-crowd enjoying a coffee at Fairy Bower. One more buoy and it was swimming alongside the rocks right back up to Shelley.

The visibility wasn’t too flash but there were fish about to keep you interested in what was going on beneath. Didn’t see any of the little (baby?) sharks in around Fairy Bower that I’ve seen on leisurely dips over the last two years; guess any self-respecting shark will be well clear of 1500(?) thrashers unless he and his finny-mates have a real appetite on them.

Two of the best things about the 2km? Firstly, the swell bringing you in towards the rocks from the ocean. I love that ‘getting-lifted’ feeling.
Secondly the bloke who I swam beside for about ¾ of the course. Didn’t know him from Adam but we paced each other most of the way round never getting more than a metre ahead or behind each other… even in the tram-smash of bodies rounding the buoys I could recognise his lycra above-knee swimmers rather than the functional budgys of all the other blokes. He finished about 5 seconds ahead of me because he leapt from the water and sprinted to the line, rather than fell out of the water and walked… each to his own eh? However, I did see him at the banana mountain (thank you Manly Surf Club) and we had a few words about enjoying the swim (almost) together.

That camaraderie pretty much summed up today’s experience. Me and the Boy did something that we can share and hopefully do more of (he wearing boardies with a few small, slowing weights in). I caught up with James to congratulate him on his 10k and then to start the 2k with him (glutton for punishment and inspiration in the same thought). Nicolee was her usual cheerful self in advance of her ladies wave and I met other assorted characters that I know from around the traps.

In particular I was touched to meet English Jo, a lady I met when I did my first swim two years ago. Back then we chatted as we checked in and wished each other luck before we plunged in and compared notes after. Same again last year and this year who do I hear but Jo shouting down from the promenade at Manly as we gathered on the beach, “Oi”. I don’t see her from one year to the next, only at the last 3 Coles. We share the common pleasure of that swim and that’s it. She’s become a part of my Cole Classic, a part of my tradition. Long may it continue. See you next year then Jo.

Phil Johnston

"And furthermore, you lot", their manager reads the riot act to the CanToo crowd, "if I catch any more of you characters dacking another swimmer, this timeI'm gunna get serious ..."

Some people get bored waiting for the start, so they find little games to amuse themselves. Like making funny shapes from their swim caps.

The rocks around Shelley Beach were peppered with questionable characters with cameras.

Look at all that water this character is pulling out of the sea on his recovery. Particularly with the straight arm! A tip, sport: bend that arm on recovery, pull it out of the sea almost surreptitiously, and the resistance on that straight arm will be much more tolerable. You're on your way to an injury in the photographed style.

A booey cutter!? A booey cutter! He actually seemed like quite a nice chap when we chatted to him about it shortly after this pic was taken, and so far down the back of his wave that it wouldn't have made the slightest difference, unless, of course, he was competing with his cobbers, in which case then he would have robbed 'em.

Not sure whom this is, and we apologise for the blur in the middle, but we liked the "action" feel, the water sculpcha flung asunder ...

Peter McCrae, we think, who swam in okanuis, after leaving his cossies at home on a kitchen chair. Oh, that's why you didn't win, Peter? Of course.

Melee on the final booey.

Zu Kini (Sue Kearney) on her way to blitzing the Laydies 50-54. Look at that determination. Heaven help the day labour at Hunters Hill Council tomorrow when they come in to register for a sick day without their doctor's certificate.

It's the hand. We can't tell whom this is, but we love her hand, the balletic poise, the curtain of water sculpcha descending ...

Jai Di Tommaso is a relatively new ocean swimmer, but very enthusiastic.

Peter Joseph rounds the last booey. Dig those Darth Vader goggles!

Extreme Gran Dame Sybil Walsh, on her second swim on return from injury sustained whilst training as a qualifed surf life saver, finally gets a pic taken in focus. How's this: at age 66 or 67, we forget which, Old Duck, as Dame Sybil calls herself, decided she wanted to be a surf lifesaver, and recently gained her Bronze Medallion with Manly LSC. We reckon ocean swimming has done an enormous amount to introduce mature Stray'ans to surf life saving.

Glistening Dave, captured unawares by the oceanswims.com Brownie Starflash-in-a-plastic bag, shows how the typical dodgy character in a raincoat -- under an umbrella - reacts when caught in the act. Sprung, Dave!

But Dave has a story of woe to tell. For 20 years, Dave has yearned to stand on the podium at The Cole Classic. And this, he thought, having some idea how the finishers went in his 55-59 Boofheads age group, was his day. Only to find someone from the 60-64 age group named as winner of the 55-59s, Dave relegated to 4th.

After everyone had gone home, Dave, a lone, pathetic figure in the rain, in his very, very silly hat, approached the organisers. They listened to his protest. They accepted that Maurice Westerweller, 60, erroneously had been given 1st, and they have promised, Dave tells us, to make amends.

Dave may well get his Cole Classic plate. But he still didn't get to stand on the podium. The 3rd placegetter's podium.

We think they should bring us all back to Manly just so that Glistening Dave can stand on the podium -- the 3rd placegetters podium -- to receive his plate. And we will take a pitcher of him.

"... The bells! The bells! ..." Every time Killer comes to Sydney, he gives us a story. This time, he shows what he faces if he doesn't have that back and neck operation coming up in a few months. What's caused his neck problems? Killer was a prop on the footy field, you see, and, as he told us at the Cole, "If you wanted the loose head -- even if the ref gave it to you -- you had to take it!" And if the ref gave it to the other side, they still had to take it off Killer. Goodness knows what went on in those scrums, but it certainly explains a a lot obout Killer's demeanour. As he puts it, "I didn't get called Killer for being nice to people on the footy field ..." As Mike Moore would say, "Hmmmmm...".

Pics by Glistening Dave, friends of Tacoma Jim, Sevadevi and oceanswims.com

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