No bull sharks at Sydney Harbour... none that we could see, anyway... and no blueys...
Glistening Dave has his artiste's studio at The Rocks, and he pays the local church
to park. So that's where he parked on Sydney Harbour swim day, and walked around to the swim venue at the Opera house... He says: "Parked the car in The Rocks, and walked to the swim around one of the most beautiful harbours in the world." He has a point.
Swim venue, before the hordes descend.
Celebrities line up for portraits at the startt, as only celebrities can.
Some have more time than others for this kind of thing. All are legends, including some of the newd ones in the middle.
On the celebrity boat out to the starts of their swim off Pinchgut,
some might wonder whether they would be coming back. Some were levitous. They'd been told they were heading out for an A-listers cockatil party. But that was just to make them feel at home.
How does Glistening Dave do this? Some of his stuff -- just some, not all -- is brilliant. And he's merely a staff photographer, too. Better noy say too much. He'll be after a pay rise. Already, most mugs in the world of ocean swimming think he's responsble for all this. Yet again, at Sydney Harbour, someone approached Mrs Sparkle, asked her whether she was Mrs Sparkle, and which one was Glistening Dave. We ask you, is Glistening Dave sitting up at 1024 AEDT on Sunday night, facing a start at his day job at 0600 AEDT Monday, putting all this together just for your titillation? No. He's sitting at home, watching the telly, with a glass of red in his hand, from his second bottle.
Glistening Dave poses the dilemma: "How do you caption the beauty of Sydney such as this? Swimming in the harbour just like Nemo. ..."
What's that out there? Is it a bull shark? No, it's the leftovers from a pie with peas and mash from Harry's Cafe de Wheels.
This is Megan Healey with her tweeps. Meg has MS. She did the 1km. We say, good girl, yourself!
Dave, this will beyour entry this year into the National Portrait Competition.
Yes, yes, we know. It's the start.
Cast of thousands. Must be Aida.
If only Malcolm had had this gun a few months back. Pointed lower, towards Manly, all his leadership problems could have been solved. It reminds us of a plaque on the wall of the bar in the Lexington Hotel, on Lexington Ave in New York. The plaque, by the end of the bar, says: "On this spot, on (a date we can't recall in 1957 or so), Mrs (forget her name, too) solved her marital problems with a snub-nosd .38".
Mrs Sparkle was mentored through her successful return to competitive swimming in the 1km event by her very good friend, Lizzie Evatt. Lizzie was a source of incomparable advice to Mrs Sparkle, including what to do if some boofhead bloke biffs you on the way around a booee. The advice was something to do with using your plaster cast as a lethal weapon. nquot; You must bring it down hard, Mrs Sparkle," urged Lizzie.
Where would you rather be?
The Collins Family, winner of the Family teams prize. Come to think of it, they were the only family entered.
Allo Alo's... St Aloysius
won the Head of the Harbour for schools.
Where was this swim again?
Confessions of a Wettie Wearer: Chapter Nine
“Newdist at Bonbeach”
Bonbeach on a bewdiful Sundee morning...
We thought of the obvious caption for this pic\tcher: if you erect it, they will come. Well...
Yes you read correctly “newd”. How can this be? She has written all season about her wetsuited adventures, and now, at her last official Victorian race she shocks them all by buffing up for one last hoorah? Say it isn’t so.
I know it was a brave move, disrobing all in the name of “What are those New South Welshmen really on about?” I even went one step further than that, emailing all of my fellow club members, asking them who was going to ‘man up’ for the race. It appears I was the only man amongst them.(Just jokin’ boys and girls, there are many men within my club, this is all being said for dramatic effect, poetic licence if you will J) So did it feel more satisfying than my other races? Was I unleashed? Free from shackles? Risking life and death to do so?
Finally, this was a race I didn’t have to get up super early for. Beautiful Bonbeach, only ten minutes from home, what a fabulous way to end my season. So the question was asked...just how far has this AquaGirly travelled for her sport in 2009/10? Sixteen races...27.5 kilometres in distance...countless hours of boring travel...covering a grand total of ... (drum roll please)1415 kilometres!!!!!! Am I serious? Oh yes I am! Is this excessive? Probably! Have I had an absolute ball doing something that fills me with complete joy? You betcha.
The sun and water gods were on our side this year for the Bonbeach 1.2km swim, unlike last years’ that was postponed due to terrible weather. The water was like glass, crystal clear; I could have been swimming anywhere in the south pacific; spectacular. The ocean temperature is about 16, the bay temperature dropping slowly as the weeks go by to approx 18, the outside temperature expected to be 26, what more could this clean skin ask for?
Numbers are capped at two hundred and fifty, as Bonbeach is a small life saving club. (Good for them not letting this race get too big.) That is what makes some of these smaller swims more successful, close tight knit communities doing something fantastic for the locals. A straight line course starting in deep water, another good decision, this club can’t put a foot wrong. The tide was out this morning and the swim ran with a gentle tide that helped you glide along peacefully. Large 2XU buoys made navigation a piece of cake , they must have been reading the results of the oceanswims.com blob, as there were tall yellow cylindrical buoys standing tall in between too. As mentioned, this race couldn’t be faulted, lots of visible water safety, timing chips , five minute waves, water AND cooked bacon and egg rolls for breakfast for the competitors afterwards, topped off with quick presentations! 10 out 10 ten Bonbeach!
My race felt like a training session in the bay today, high exertion, auto pilot switched on, get in, get the job done and tick it off as a success when completed. The sun on my back, no conditions to worry about, barely a jelly fish in sight, wedding rings still on. Some races are just like clockwork, no mental arguments, no second guessing, and no complaints. I didn’t even miss the wetsuit.
Is this Aquagirl, sans wettie?
And so for the comparison between suited up and newd races? My times were similar, this one was a touch slower, maybe money CAN buy speed? I felt colder than usual but it didn’t affect my stroke or my recovery post race, 18 degrees isn’t cold enough to complain about. I had just as much energy as usual (which is a real surprise as I didn’t have half a vanilla slice beforehand like the Pier to Perignon... so naughty AquaGirly) I hurt all the same today , just in different places.
Self confidence? Not so much today, I felt a bit exposed, even a little self conscious, how surprising, considering I train in a male dominant club who think of me as a brother and not as a chicky babe. So sorry peeps, the jury is still out, today was just a lovely swim at a gorgeous beach with the sun shining on my back; just what every open water swimmer hopes for in a race.
And so I am one step closer to the completion of my season. Next up for me is an inter-club smash fest SANS WETSUIT. Can we really triumph over REAL ‘newd’ open water swimmers? Who knows what next week will bring. Then of course there is Byron Bay, seven long weeks away, however will I survive till then? I am so used to packing up for an adventure somewhere on the weekend and love the rituals that take place before a race. Hopefully lots more training will be had, (although the bod is longing for a little break, not yet bod, not yet). I’ll miss writing my reports in that time... I’ve had a lot of fun doing this and selfishly get a buzz when I know people have read them. Not really sure what we’ll do over winter when there are no races to rave about. Maybe we’ll blob about winter training motivators or goal setting for the new season? All ideas or feedback would be gratefully appreciated.
Stay focussed, enjoy the satisfaction of participating in an amazing sport, don’t forget to tell your friends about your secret lives and try and entice them into it with you next season.
Till next Thrill Seekers, take care out there,
Nicole Chester
(AquaGirl 72)
Follow the adventures of Aquagirl on her tweets... www.twitter.com/aquagirl72
But, Aquagirl, did you enjoy swimming newd? Do you see our point?: os.c
Here she comes...
... here she comes... an honest swimmer at last.
Poor, sad wettie-clad girl, can't know the joy of swimming au naturel...
Shark Island with blueys, so they say...
Shark Island, hiding, under a sea of swirling currents and, reportedly, blueys and purple people eaters. Hey, that's the ocean!
Which way shall we go? I suggest, let's head for that booee, then hang a right, and see where it takes us. Oh, ok.
The big trip from the north shore to the Shoire was well worth it. Over 1100 starters across two swims (793 in the 2k and 373 in the 1k), a ten knot east south easterly breeze, one metre plus swell and a dose of stingers all combined to provide a great ocean swimming experience.
When the race announcer started with the words “the safety committee has conducted an evaluation of the conditions…” we were not sure what to expect next – thankfully the words that followed were “ and the1k swim will go ahead as planned”. He then proceeded to warn of the stingers which had inconveniently placed themselves at the outer sections of the course.
And stingers there were as a number of punters in the 1k event were ferried back – fortunately the incidence of stinging was low as was the severity of the stings (easy to say when you weren’t amongst those who were stung).
Just before the start of the 2k event a similar announcement and again relief that the organizers were pushing ahead with the swim.
A fast run out to the first buoy was followed by an exhilarating run across the back of the island – layers of stingers, fish and the reef bottom made for scenic journey punctuated by the impact of the push and pull of the swell coming from the island which could bounce you two metres left or right between strokes. The reach across the inside of the island was similarly scenic with less bounce.
All in all a challenging well run swim with ample water safely and excellent organisation. Pity it had to clash with the harbour swim this year.
Chris Flanagan
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Cronulla beach girls always have been lookers. |
Ready, set...
... GO!
The Old Farts wave at Shark Island. Some familiar faces, and bodies, on the start line.
