The week that was and will be (Man or Machine?)

I was doing some research into an unsung hero when I came across an impressive anniversary occurring around this time. I am pretty sure the person who forms the subject matter will not see this, as far as I can gather he does not use social media, he is however still involved in open water swimming circles and has recently been assisting today's birthday girl Erin Hope, in preparation for her 2 Way Windermere swim this coming weekend (BLDSA 1^st August) 

In my humble opinion David Morgan does not look like the stereotypical athletic record breaker, he is, what I would describe as 'A normal person who has achieved extraordinary things'

42 years ago this week, The 1st August 1973 the then nine-year-old David became the youngest person ever to do the swim from Scalby Mills to the Scarborough Spa in a time of 2hours 4 minutes 40 seconds. 

On 26 July 1977 at the tender age of 13, Dave became the youngest person to swim The English Channel in a time of 11 hours 9 minutes. The footage of him on the old King of The Channel films starring Des Renford and Kevin Murphy is quite err..how shall I put it?...cute !

(The open top car and police escort to Civic Reception at Scarborough Town hall after his first EC Swim)

He put up the fastest time for a single crossing of Loch Lomond in 9hr 57min, which knocked more than 40 minutes off the previous record back in the day.

The Scarborough born long distance swimmer set a crop of new records when he achieved the first two-way swim of Loch Ness 32 years ago. The then 19-year-old accomplished the 45-mile feat in 23 hours 5 minutes.

David successfully swam the Channel again in 1983 in 9 hours and 37 minutes, 1986 in 10 hours and 49 minutes and again in 1988 in 11 hours and 35 minutes.

I have done my best to keep these figures accurate. 

It's a term used all to often, but, he is a bit of a legend who deserves recognition.

A change of direction (Windermere #6)

2015 is one of those years with no major swimming goals as such, I had entered a few events but I just more or less wanted to keep involved and not let slip too much. The BLDSA Champion of Champions was the biggest training day so far this year and the 10km at Ellerton the largest session.

Therefore a Windermere swim would be a reasonable challenge.

With the exception of the 2 Way Windermere swim, all my other encounters with the lake have started at Fell Foot at the South end of the lake, as is standard with the BLDSA event, part of the reason being the prevalent winds for the UK being southwesterly.

Having completed 4 previous one ways and piloted/escorted several more from the same location, I decided on this occasion to start at The North. This would provide slightly more of a mental challenge. That said, I generally find the crossover in the northern basin from Bass Rock to Ambleside the toughest part of each swim, partly due to fatigue, partly due to conditions later in the day. So physically it may or may not be easier. I would soon know.

There would be one more additional change to the tried and tested routine. At 5:45am two of the crew (Gavin and Charlie) would head to Bowness, load the boat (we always us Electric day hire boat from Shepherds) and get ready to set sail. The final crew member (Jason) would taxi me to Ambleside where I would begin the swim alone, after an hour or so the boat should have located me around two miles into the swim.

I appreciate some would say that is a silly idea, however, I am relatively well experienced, there is zero boat traffic this early on a morning, I was using a tow float to aid their locating of me, and as stated I am very familiar with the lake.

The plan worked like a dream, bang on the hour I was joined by the boat at 7:08am, took the first feed (maxim/cnp and summer fruits) right on schedule and started the routine of swim-feed-swim-feed.

The water felt ok, I was still wearing my Suunto watch despite intending to hand it to the crew at the first feed, initially this was a good thing as being a bit of a control freak, at a mid stroke glance or at a feed I could keep myself up to date with progress. I found this information quite inspiring up to a point which I will come to soon.

From Jason's notes I can see I had a stroke rate of 62spm, I opted to go straight to 30 minute feeds after the first hour.

This went well for a few hours I had a combination of coffee and maxim with an occasional solid (jelly babies/half a croissant). Though as usual the maxim/cnp did not really agree with my stomach.

At 9:22 mid stroke in single word per breath conversation I requested some pain killers due to a blinding headache, I was suffering some nasty pain above my right eye, which kind of took me out of the groove. I took the meds at the next feed (6th) and tried to swam on. I then stopped to adjust my cap and goggles attempting to get some relief from the now distracting painful headache.

Around 10:40 I took the 8th feed and also complained of pain in the hip flexors and quads (a regular problem in fresh water!) I had fully expected this. I was still keeping an eye on the distance covered via the Suunto watch which at this feed was reading 13.6km.

I was happy in the knowledge that I had a mere 3km give or take and the one way would be 'in the bag', it has been said many times that ('mentally you only put enough fuel in the tank for the journey)  meaning for example if you plan to swim 10km by 9 you will be flagging and at 10 you have given all you have got.

By 11:38 and the 11th feed I noticed the watch at 16.4km and commented to the crew words to the effect of " we should be there by now"

Suffice to say from here to Fell Foot slipway felt like an age ! The final reading being 17.68km. I am not sure if this is the route (which looks excellent in my opinion) or more likely a GPS error/blip which has been known previously in training. Whatever it is, I have learnt to hand over the watch in future.

To summarise I was and am happy with another Windermere swim in 5hours 58 minutes, not a PB, but over 10 miles is a good training swim all the same.

Thankyou as always to my awesome team, Gav for piloting again, Charlie for feeding all day and Jason (Mr Reliable) for updating social media and never taking his eye off me for the entire swim.

I fancy something longer before the season is out!?

P.S. I also need to sort those fingers out (photo above)..no wonder it aches today

Windermere No.6 (preview)

More of a write up once I receive the details from the crew.

Zoe Sadler (RJ)

Congratulations to my mate Zoe Sadler on yet another marathon swim, yesterday she swam around the island of Jersey, piloted by Matthew Clarke on the boat Lionheart, in a time of 11hours 55 minutes. She adds this to a long list of huge swims including EC (July 2012) 2WW (Aug 2013).

This one is absolutely on my must do list when I retire..

Tracks of my Tees

Did you see what I did there with the title ! 

Never mind you are probably too young to know Smokey Robinson. 

Almost a year on from contracting Leptospirosis in the River, (RELATED POST) I retuned to its murky brown waters this week, its very close to home and I needed a swim after a over a week without.

The Yarm swim was alone today, with The 'Pipey' swim being with Belly on Thursday, aside from a couple of GPS blips when swimming under trees the course seems ok. (best viewed full screen if you cannot get rid of the ad) Enjoy

Next Friday I plan my longest swim of the year..all being well

New Shores

Regular readers will be aware that most of my swimming at sea takes place in The North Sea at 'The Mecca' Seaton Carew near Hartlepool, situated to the North of the River Tees Estuary.

The Mecca as we jokingly call it has its pros and cons.

Positives: it's only about 10 miles from the house with major roads to and from, free parking is never a problem and there is an abundance of fish and chip shops for post swim scoffing!

Negatives: It's damn boring, swim too far North and there is no place to exit the water if difficulty is encountered, swim too far south and you come across the effluent outlet from the power station, (nasty stuff) therefore lengthy swims are restricted to a stretch of beach measuring about 1200m in length, yes, one can swim out to sea in triangular circuits, but thats far from the ideal especially when alone.

So, last week when I came across a social media post by Amanda Bell mentioning swimming at Saltburn I was sceptical but decided to accompany her, if nothing else then by way of a reconnaissance mission.

Saltburn-by-the-sea to give it the full title is situated on the South side of the Tees Estuary slightly south of Marske.by-the-sea (see photo above)

I was, to say the least, pleasantly surprised, there is a long stretch of sandy beach, several land marks for sighting and gauging progress, offering a far better place for longer efforts. Typically swims take place in the area of the pier (its over 100 years old)

However, another alternative, if you are feeling adventurous is to swim either to or from Marske, a distance of around two miles each way. Now, in my limited experience the tide and prevailing wind almost always pushes the water from South to North, hence swimming to Marske is easy, quick and very assisted. Swimming the reverse is tough, akin to swimming in an endless pool with little forward motion without concentrated effort.

Last Tuesday I swam part way to Marske and part way of the return journey, the water was fresh, however it was a glorious day and I actually caught the sun on my back after just over an hour.

Yesterday (Sunday 5th July) a few swimmers arranged to attempt the tougher of the two two milers from Marske heading south and into the wind/waves.

Saltburn is almost out of sight, but t is definitely there somewhere, it is just a matter of getting beyond the breakers and swimming parallel to the shore, eventually you will (should) get there.

The start location (not my photo) the first pic shows the initial land marks of the house on the cliff followed by the church steeple, after this there is little else until the pier comes into view exactly as per the second pic.

I enjoyed the swim though it was demanding, it was certainly tougher to complete 2 miles here than 10km last Friday at Ellerton. I am sure to use this venue lots more in the future and will have to stomach the greater distance at around 25 miles from home, a journey that can take 45 mins with traffic and minor roads. That said the benefits of training on these new shores are sure to be of benefit..

In closing I just want to congratulate Darren W who made his first venture into open water and breast stroked the swim in far from ideal conditions at 12.7c..a monumental effort for his introduction to open water swimming. congratulations.

PS

great photo of the pier when the sea was a little angry.

BLDSA CofC 2015 (supplement)

Couple of short video clips (best viewed full screen) courtesy of The Zimbo Graeme Schlachter and his go pro filmed during the 5 miler of the BLDSA Champion of Champions 2015

What gets measured gets done

Without going into detail my place of occupation is AGAIN becoming more and more...how shall I put it..less of a nice place to be.

As a result, I took the day off on Friday (3rd July) with plan of going to the Lake in an effort to wash away the woes of work, at least for the weekend. Britain had been baked in glorious sunshine with the occasional electric storm for the best part of a week so there was really no excuse. Local water temperatures had been discussed online. Whilst the River and Lake would now do little for my acclimatisation, we agreed it would still be of benefit to ongoing fitness training/conditioning.

Friday was no exception weather wise, heading to Ellerton pretty much straight after the school run, I hadn't bothered with breakfast, just a couple of cups of coffee. The water looked very inviting as the sun began to peep over the tree line to East into a clear blue sky.

A few swimmers were already in the water but none that I recognised. The plan was 8-10km, hourly feeding with Lucozade sport and a tin of peaches left on the jetty, no need for warm feeds today as the sun would do its job.

Aside from the lake being extremely weedy between buoys one and two it was just 'what the doctor ordered'

The huge benefit I find from wearing the Suunto is 'What gets measured gets done' ..previously I might have gone to the lake for a planned 3 hour swim, subconsciously it would be a plod, feeds would be slower, I would have no concerns about stopping to gather my bearings or speak to anyone treading water at a buoy as they usually do. It would just be a matter of running down the clock.

Now, I am very aware that 'bobbing' and passing the time is only fooling myself, I know all to well how this will be reflected on the Suunto, and that the distance will still need to be swam, so, if I am in the water I might as well get on with it.

With a glance at the watch every 3 - laps I could choose the time to feed and keep it more or less on the hour with some minor adjustments to the route.

Three feeds later and a mere 900m to swim all was well, a little fatigued but very happy with my efforts, I had predicted 20 minutes per km, plus 3 mins, I was therefore pleased with total time of 3h:14m for 10,020m.