Rottnest Solo Channel Swim Details - Part II

....Nothing eventful happen, 5k came and went.  10k finally arrived at 3.5 hours.  It was the half way point and knew it was all down hill from here.

The pack to the left of me and about quarter way mark:

At the 15k point this is were the race became interesting.  I took a GPS straight line as I mentioned earlier.  It was clear sailing up to about 12k and I started to notice boats and other swimmers at that point.

At or around the 15k point, I ran into a point.  Could not beleive it.  I said to myself this is some sort of joke.  Not only did he hit me once he hit me 2 other times and really did not care, he shitty relay team was more important.  I was too focus to actually say anything but I should of grabbed the fatty and drowned him...

Seconds before the boat hits me.

Afterwards there was another really annoying huge boat called the Mahalo.  First, it was a yacht, second they did not care for anyone else swimming.  I counted about 5 times this boat cut in front of me and than blasted it's engines blowing me back about 4 meters.  Everytime, I actually had to scream at the asshole, but little good that did.  This was the def the worst part of the race.  Since everyone has to get into a gate it starts to bottleneck here.  Everyone is hitting each other, paddlers are running into each other, swimmers are becoming tight, boats were picking relays members up, chop, exhaust, this was def the worst part.   On top of this there was a brisk current that was there and the wind also kicked up making the swells pretty high.

After the gate it thinned out as the boats could not escort any longer.  The current went away and the wind died due to being sheltered by the island.  At the 800m point the paddler goes away and your home free!

They have a the entire area roped off all the way to the finish so it was a clear shot to the finish line.  All you see on each side of you is tons of boats.  You can't see the island at all just boats!  It was really pretty cool.  About 150m from shore, the jellies kicked in.  I was getting stung all over my arms, pits and shoulders.  It was quite unpleasant but just reminded you that you are still alive...  25m from the shore, I knew I was still breathing and kicking I could not take it as the jellies hit me the neck.  That was it, I got up and walked/ran the rest of the way in!

Final time - 07:16:15

Rottnest Solo Channel Swim Update

Tomorrow is my solo swim to Rottnest Island here in Perth, Auz.  A quick run down from my last post.  I hurt both shoulders last thursday swimming with paddles.  So took it easy and iced them everyday.  Wednesday morning got out to the ocean swim 5k with no issues, no pain, and no soreness. The next day felt golden, no stiffness, no soreness.  So lets see tomorrow.

I got here on Tuesday morning, 0005, so some would say Monday night.  Was in Singapore for a 24 hour layover.  Too bad it was Chinese New Year.  Everything was closed but was able to check out all the sites and get some great chinese food.  

Before leaving, I got a msg on my mobile from an Auz TV reporter, requesting an interview.  Now the pressure is on.  He stated that I was a top seed to win the event.  UGH...  This is not the pressure that I need!  So I called him on Tuesday, thinking one of my auzzie friends is trying to stitch me up.  Nope, could not get that lucky.  It is true!  I really like going in anonymous on these things.  I thought it had to do with the phone number or nationality, but they said they got the top six swimmers and need to do interviews.  So I have that lined up today along with my briefing and meeting my boat captain and paddler.

Damn 20k is going to be a long hard battle...

Going on my 6th week of training for Rottnest!

First Post!

I am going into my 6th week of training for Rotto. About two weeks ago signed up for a Master Swim program with a team called the Bethnal Green Sharks. The program is good and I get a lot of endurance/sprint work with likewise swimmers! I almost had a set back last weekend though. Last Friday's practice the had us do about a k of back. I felt my shoulder pop and just ignored it, bad move. Lived with ICE for the entire weekend but had to do a cold water session on Saturday. Only did 1.5k of open water in a balmy 8-9c, in essence I did ice it being the water being that cold. Took Sunday and Monday off. Was back in the water this last Tuesday w/ the sharks, a little sore but was told I could just substitute stroke for my choice. So doing tons of free now.

4 sessions p/w - avg 5k per session