He has been dubbed the Mighty Quinn, a title that falls well on these young shoulders. At only 15 years of age, Quinn has amassed 88 kms from three official ultra swims. That doesn't include the two 10 km charity swims, and of course the training. Quinn and coach, Sheryl McLay (Cook Strait & English Channel) Ultra Swims Lake Rotoiti double crossing 23 December 2020 Time: 8hrs 15mins Age: 15 years Observer: Sheryl McLay Lake Taupō 27 January 2021 Time: 13hrs 46min Age 15 Observer: Sheryl McLay / Philip Rush Waiheke to Auckland 25 March 2021 Time: 5hrs 35mins Age: 15 years Observer: Roger Soulsby Please tell us something unique about your achievement. Tell your story My ultra-marathon swim journey began on the shores of Lake Taupō on 29 February 2020 when I was attending the Across the Lake Swim (4km) with my mother Fleur. There was a buzz at the event because someone was swimming the full length of the lake that day, 40.2km. My mother said to me that I should do that too. I didn't know who the swimmer was then. I agreed with mum and less than a year later I swam Taupō on 27 January 2021. I later found out the swimmer was Jono Ridler, I guess I owe Jono some return motivation too. When I set out to chase my dream the other swimmer who I knew about was Caitlin O'Reilly. She's of the same age and younger when she swam Cook Strait. I looked up to her and her achievements as I prepared for Taupo. In preparation for Taupō I did a double crossing swim of Lake Rotoiti a few weeks before the big swim. That was a hard swim, 28 km but we did it. The Taupō swim I started at 4 am. I knew it was going to be a long day but I was focused.and took it one stroke at a time. I had great support from Sheryl, Phil and my dad. After 13hrs, I scrambled ashore in Taupo. I was elated and overwhelmed with the feeling of success. This is the best thing I have done in my life. How did your life change following your achievement(s)? After Taupō I went on to swim the Westpac Chopper Charity swim from Waiheke to Auckland. That was my first salt-water ultra swim. It was also the third charity swim I did. The first one was a 10 km swim from Motiti Island in the Bay of Plenty to the mainland. That was to raise funds for the Australian Bush fires in Feb 2020. The second charity swim I did was from Whale Island in Whakatane, another 10 km which raised funds for the White Island burn victims. From the three swims, we managed to raise over $2,000 for three charities. Helping people and giving to the community is a big part of my motivation and what drives me. The Taupō swim was just before the start of the school year. There was an article in Stuff.co.nz about my swim. When I started back at school at Hamilton Boys High there was a lot of interest in my achievement. There were also a lot of questions about whether it was a race and did I win. Quinn at Lake Rotoiti How did your life change following your achievement(s)? After Taupō I went on to swim the Westpac Chopper Charity swim from Waiheke to Auckland. That was my first salt-water ultra swim. It was also the third charity swim I did. The first one was a 10 km swim from Motiti Island in the Bay of Plenty to the mainland. That was to raise funds for the Australian Bush fires in Feb 2020. The second charity swim I did was from Whale Island in Whakatane, another 10 km which raised funds for the White Island burn victims. From the three swims, we managed to raise over $2,000 for three charities. Helping people and giving to the community is a big part of my motivation and what drives me. The Taupō swim was just before the start of the school year. There was an article in Stuff.co.nz about my swim. When I started back at school at Hamilton Boys High there was a lot of interest in my achievement. There were also a lot of questions about whether it was a race and did I win. Food stop Other comment
I'm grateful to my family, my parents Mark and mum for the encouragement to pursue my dream. Sheryl McLay, my open water swim coach is another I am indebted to for mentoring me and coaching me. I live in Hamilton but every weekend I travel to the Mount to swim with Sheryl and her group. I am keen to swim Cook Strait next, and then Foveaux Strait at some point. The NZ Triple Crown interests me. I would also like to swim overseas. END
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He's not a poet he said. So he got help from an 85-year old patient with this verse in honour of his Cook Strait swim. Fraser Dunbar, in his sea of dreams. Ultra-Swim
Cook Strait n-s Swim date: 6 April 2021 Time: 9h 46m 3s Age: 50 Observer: Philip Rush --- When I was young (8) and learnt to swim, I planned to swim across the sea, I’d swim to the other side, then come home for tea. I settled for Cook;-it was the nearest to me. Despite being old, bald and declining In earnest I started training 000’s kms I covered Even then, I wasn’t sure. The day came; it started early Up at 5 Tuesday 6th April Twenty twenty one Down to the shore we did go “He” covered me with grease “I prefer women with bosom” ! Was all the advise I got. Get into the sea “Now touch that rock” Temp was comfortable “Off we go” Phil said to me. For the first three hours,it was was a breeze And my strokes came with ease. As the hours passed on, I called all my will, Would my prep fit the bill? Then suddenly I was unwell Sick as sick................ - for 3 hours; whatever could it be? I doubted my ability, to cross that sea. The words of Phil and Nathan gave encouragement “Across-only 6k-have a look;-away you go” Touch a rock in the dark “Don’t muck around-get out of there” 9-46-03. END Rebecca Hollingsworth is a Wellington-based ocean swimmer who recently swam Cook Strait. She shares here how she got into swimming long distances. Lake Apache in Arizona, USA. Non-stop Ultra-Swims Apache Lake (AZ., USA) Swim date: 26 April 2019 Official swim distance: 22.8 km Swim time: 6hrs 11mins 8secs Age: 30 Event / Observer: SCAR Swim Lake Taupō Swim date: 27 January 2020 Official distance: 40.2 km Swim time: 14hrs 9mins 3secs Age: 31 Observer: Philip Rush, Mike Cochrane Cook Strait Swim date: 25 March 2021 Official distance: 23 km Swim time: 12hrs 13mins Age: 32 Observer: Philip Rush My swimming story starts as a tot in my grandparents’ backyard swimming pool in Westport. I’ve always loved the sport but forgot that for a while when I gave up at the old age of 14 or 15 years. I nearly rediscovered swimming when I worked as a swimming teacher at university. But it wasn’t until I left uni and had a friend encourage me into the water that I found ocean swimming. How did I go from there to swimming Cook Strait? I blame all the inspiring swimmers who have crossed my path. Kerri, my friend and colleague who got me into a wetsuit and introduced me to the ocean swim series. The awesome ocean swimmers who I met at the Samoa Swim Series in 2014. The non-wetsuiters who trapped me in a car with them from Paihia to Auckland. And Mike who in 2015 swam a really long way from Rottnest Island to Perth in Australia... Rottnest in 2016 was my first big ‘ultra’ swim - a 20km channel swim. After Mike had done it, I was determined to do the swim myself. One advantage of this plan was that I was able to connect with Mike’s skipper (Rottnest can be a headache without knowing someone with a boat). That swim took me six and half hours and had its fair share of stingers. But I decided that I couldn’t moan about the jellyfish when I was surrounded by hundreds of Australians swimming in the same piece of water! I also banished any thoughts about sharks. Normally, a big swim gives you the desire to do even longer swims. It’s a really addictive sport! But I had to be patient when I decided to move to the other side of the world. Like many young kiwis, Wellington was feeling a bit small and I had itchy feet. While I didn’t have the ocean, swimming became really important to me in London. It went beyond something that I enjoyed doing and became something that helped me to feel normal. London is a hard place to find your feet and my dad had just been diagnosed with cancer back in New Zealand so it ended up being a tough time for me. Rebecca and Breanna on the home stretch at Lake Taupō My time in London ended up being shorter than expected but I did manage to get a couple of iconic swims with the British Long Distance Swimming Association - Torbay (13km) and Lake Windermere (17km). I actually won the Windermere swim! I was shivering a bit with the cold air temp beforehand, and I think the Brits thought I wouldn’t last. But I proved them wrong and was 15 mins ahead of the first male finisher. When I got back to New Zealand, I still had a bit of the travel bug and decided to plan an overseas swimming challenge. A common theme of this story… I had met a couple of inspiring swimmers who had been to Arizona to do this swim challenge where you swim four lakes over four days - the SCAR swim. It’s about 60km of swimming. I had a friend join me on the kayak and we had a great time. Thankfully I didn’t see the rattlesnake on Apache Lake. My training for SCAR in Wellington had been really special. I almost never trained alone and had a great network of equally crazy swimmers. One of the crazy Wellington swimmers was Breanna who swam Cook Strait that season. Even before I’d swum SCAR we started to talk about Lake Taupo. We had just seen Mike and Alice do a tandem across the width of Lake Taupo and I think this planted the seed that maybe we should do a tandem. (Copying Mike… another common theme of this story). A tandem also seemed a lot more financially doable as we were both broke. Bre was heading off to uni and I had just sunk my savings into a house deposit. Swimming into the night in Cook Strait Taupo was an awesome swim! We had a great crew and the two of us swam well together. But it wasn’t an easy swim. I think we got a good 7 or 8 hours of lake chop before the lake flattened off. But that just made it all the more satisfying when we walked out of the water together after 14 hours in the water.
With a bit of experience now under my belt and a pandemic which closed our borders to international swimmers, I found myself planning to swim Cook Strait in 2021. I have a blog which tells my account of that swim - it’s not short! I decided to try for another tandem swim with another incredibly inspiring swimmer, Corrina. And when we eventually got our day in the Strait, she threw nearly everything at us (or so it seemed) - strong tides, swells, wind and chop, dolphins (pleasant surprise), hypothermia (Corrina), and night swimming. And that’s how I swam Cook Strait. I’m incredibly grateful for all the inspiration. In turn I hope that others are inspired by my swims. Swimming is such an important part of who I am that I won’t be giving it up again any time soon. If I ever get to 90 years old I want to still be swimming. END These days, you will find Casey on the side of the Pool as a swim coach at Huia Pool in Lower Hutt, passing on his immense knowledge and experience of elite ultra-marathon swimming borne of trials, experience, disappointments and high achievement. He tells his story here in his own words. Ultra-Swims Cook Strait n-s Date of swim: 13 April 2008 Time: 4hrs 37mins (Record - fastest time) Neutral Observer, Philip Rush Age: 21 yrs Neutral observer: Philip Rush Taupō s-n Date of swim: 25 February 2013 Time: 10hrs 52mins 48secs Age: 26 yrs Neutral observer: Philip Rush English Channel E-F Date of swim: 4 September 2013 TIme: 9hrs 14mins Age: 27 yrs Neutral observer: CSPF Please tell us something unique about your achievement. Tell your story At around 10 years old I wanted to become an Olympian after watching Danyon Loader win two golds medals at the 1996 Olympics. Unfortunately, I never achieved this goal. However, during my teens, I noticed I was rather good at open water swimming. Winning local events and constantly achieving higher placings at ocean swims events. My coach John Ross would always get the squad to sit on the side of the pool and tell all of us around 10/11 years of age and say, you are all such good swimmers you could swim to the South Island if you wanted to. Some swimming buddies Kate Johns & John Gatfield became the youngest at the time to swim Cook Strait. My mum, Ruth would always mention you should do the Strait. I was more interested in doing well in the pool. At 20 I caved and said I would give it a good crack. So I was booked in for April 2008. In January our squad had completed a week-long training camp clocking over 100km in the week. The longest session was 12 km. Heading into the Cook Strait, that was the longest swim I had completed so I was extremely nervous to swim 26 km in one hit. My best friend Matt Woodrow said to me the week before you should probably go under five hours. I laughed and said, let's see what happens on the day. After the first choppy hour, the swell smoothed out, it was around 1.5m. Using the current in my favour I was able to swim between 6 - 6.5km/hr. That is holding under 1-minute pace per 100m. I was aiming to hold 1.12min pace (5km/h). Phil, Joe (my dad), Frank (my coach) and the boat crew had bets on when I would finish and were expecting the tide to change and push me away. I was able to beat the tide and break the existing record and in the process set a new record for the Strait at 4hrs 37mins. After completing the Cook Strait, the English Channel was next on my list. However, my main focus was the 2012 London Olympic Games in the 10-km open water swim event. In the four years I changed swimming clubs, battled with various shoulder injuries, missed out on qualifying for the World Champs, and World Cup events by seconds. Diagnosed with Scoliosis, inguinal hernia and Atrial fibrillation also made my journey an interesting battle. At the 2012 Olympic trials, I missed out on the top two spot by 20-seconds. Heartbroken! Got over it, and I focused my attention on the English Channel and Taupō. How did your life change following your achievement(s)? On the beach of Wissant France, a couple was flying a kite looking at me oddly as I had emerged from the water, I waved, they waved back, then I started running back in the water. During this moment I broke down in tears knowing that this was my last 'serious' swim. I wanted to break the English Channel record but the weather and tides did not play ball and approximately swam an extra 10km. Returning to NZ, I switched my determination and focus to study and set up my career in IT, and learning to Snowboard. Now, I now pass my knowledge and skill onto fellow swimmers seeking to complete any open water event by coaching. END
John Hancock is an adopted Wellingtonian who’s evolved from Ironman to marathon swimming in the last few years. He’s one of many who took the opportunity of closed borders to swim Lake Taupō this season. A lot of the marathon swimmers I have met seem to have backgrounds in competitive swimming. I didn’t. I grew up as a bookworm in London and spent my school swimming career as a gap-filler rather than anything serious. It wasn’t until we moved to New Zealand in 1998 that triathlon piqued my interest. After a couple of seasons, I joined the familiar path of middle-aged men obsessing about Ironman. It’s easy to make fun of myself for the single-mindedness with which I focused on it for six seasons, but I learned heaps about myself, elite sport, and endurance training. My coach for most of this phase was Jon Ackland who literally wrote the book on training for endurance sport: The Power to Perform. I can still quote passages of the book from memory and apply it to all of the adventures I’ve taken on. Ironically, for all his distinction as a triathlon coach, Jon was quite dismissive of swimming in the Ironman puzzle: “it’s technical – find a coach and train with a squad – just do the sessions I set you”. I did and by applying his insights into training and racing endurance sports to some solid technique work (“you must have learned how to swim in the 1970s – your stroke should be in a museum”). I swam up to the front of my age group only to spend the next 2 hours being overtaken by them all on the bike. A couple of times I managed to come back at the end of the run. Rather stupidly that was attempts 3 and 4, not quite sure what possessed me to keep going for 2 seasons after that. Towards the end of taking Ironman seriously, I dabbled with open water swims, a couple of Epic 10 km, Kapiti to Mainland swim, and then a 3-man Cook Strait relay in 2016. The relay took us 5 hours and 42 mins. “Well, if it’s as easy as that surely I could do it” I thought (incredibly naïvely looking back on it). My last Ironman was 2013. I floated around for a few years until 2017 when I heard about this wonderful new sport, Swimrun, from Scandanavia: you swim in your shoes and run in a wetsuit. The longest races are huge – over 50k of running and 15k of swimming. It’s been a blast, Brenton “Effortless Swimming” Ford and I did the first swimrun in the Southern Hemisphere off the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. Breca arrived in Wanaka during 2017 adding the incredible Bay of Islands race in 2018 with the highest ratio of swimming to running of any Breca event. It was a dream, you start at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and finish at Urupukapuka Island in the middle of the Bay. It takes an hour to retrace your steps and strokes by boat, which is a pretty cool feeling. I did more swimrun events around NZ and overseas in my favourite places in the UK and even Norway, swimming more and running less each time! The 2019 Breca Bay of Islands had 12 km of swimming which was pretty amazing. So, in 2020, Anna Marshall persuaded me to do the FEAR Society Long Swim: 25 km from Te Anau to Manapōuri, 23 of which were at 12-kph down the Waiau River. Closed borders with Covid meant Phil Rush had space to support a few more locals on the Triple Crown swims so it seemed like the right time to have a go at Taupō. It was a short buildup between other activities, but I thoroughly enjoyed what turned out to be an Ironman buildup by volume but just swimming. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the marathon swimming community. There’s a balance and self-awareness that’s sometimes missing in triathletes. I can’t believe anyone would be very interested in my story in the company of legends who have swum further in their lives than most people would walk but it’s been a privilege to get to know you all. Footnote – I crewed for Corrina and Rebecca’s tandem Cook Strait two weeks after my Taupō swim. I have a healthy respect for the project now. END Claire is very new to long distance swimming. She's a great swimmer, and just needed encouragement to swim further. She got that from her family and friends, those who believed in her ability to do well in long swims. Claire at the end of her 20 km Waiheke to Auckland swim Ultra Marathon Swim Chopper Swim - Waiheke to Auckland Swim date: 25 March 2021 Distance: 20 km Time: 7 hrs 12 mins Age: 34 Observer: Dermot Smith Please tell us something unique about your achievement. Tell your story At a very young age my parents enrolled me in 10 swimming lessons at the Greenhithe Swim School. I never got in. Not even a toe. Didn't get my hair wet. As time passed I eventually plucked up the courage to get in the pool. After completing lessons at the Greenhithe pool, then Freyburg and later on Waitakere City Swim Club, I entered my first swim meet at the age of 13. Fast forward several years and I joined the Waitakere City Masters Swim club where I competed at several Pan Pacific Masters Games, the Australian Masters Champs, Samoa Swim Series, World Masters Swim Champs, Alcatraz Crossing and many NZ swim events in the pool and open water. Such wonderful experiences. Having been encouraged by several swimming friends, I decided to give marathon swimming a crack. My first 10km swim was in Lake Taupo at the EPIC event in 2015. I threw up for most of the last 3km. But made it. A few long swims later including the Starship Fundraising swim in 2020 I entered the Chopper Swim as a solo swimmer, 20km straight up. Throughout the swim, I felt relaxed, calm and my stroke was strong and smooth. Put together, all swimmers raised over $46,000. I would like to extend a huge thanks to my family and friends who constantly support and motivate me to aim higher. So the seed was planted. Can I swim more than 20km? All I have to tell myself is....just keep swimming. How did your life change following your achievement(s)? The Waiheke Chopper Swim has put a fire in my belly to now achieve much bigger swims. I have a passion for swimming challenges and I am curious to see how far I can physically and mentally push my body. I have had much encouragement from family and friends urging me into longer swims. This is such a confidence boost and I appreciate all the support and advice that I receive. Claire's support team END Breanna (left) and good friend Rebecca Hollingsworth swam Lake Taupō together. Please list your Ultra-Marathon swim
Cook Strait Swim date: 1 December 2018 Distance: 29 km Time: 7hrs 26 mins Age: 21 Neutral Observer: Phillip Rush Lake Taupō Swim date: 27 January 2020 Distance: 40.2 km Time: 14hrs 14 mins Age: 22 Neutral Observer: Philip Rush How did your life change following your achievement(s)? I realised that my body and mind is capable of much more than what I think, and that I can always push myself to go further. Becoming part of the ocean swimming community has also changed my life, I feel really lucky and humbled to be a part of such a supportive and inspirational community. END Alice and her super-supporter mum, Olwyn Smith. We are counting down to the 2nd New Zealand Ultra Marathon Swim Awards. As a warm up to the weekend’s celebrations we will be sharing some swimmer profiles over the next few weeks. Former Wellingtonian Alice Sagar, now a Nelson based swimmer will be recognised for her swims at Lake Zurich and across Lake Taupo at the awards. During 2018/19 Alice “accidentally” swam four marathon swims in a year. This is Alice's story in her own words, about her swim adventures. Alice’s first two swims were recognised in the first Awards in 2018. All of her four swims are listed below: Alice's Four Swims Lake Taupo 40.2 km (s-n) Swim date: 4 Feb 2018 Time: 12:35:51 Age: 37 Neutral observers, Philip Rush, Mike Cochrane Apolima Strait 22.3 km (e-w) Swim date: 6 April 2018 Time: 8:14:24 Age: 38 Organisation: Samoa Swim Observer: Mike Cochrane Lake Zurich 26.01 km Rapperswil to Zurich (s-n) Time: 9h32m25s Age: 38 Swim date: 5 Aug 2018 Organisation: Sri Chimney Marathon Swim Across Taupo 31 km Time: 10h48m Swim date: 27 Jan 2019 Age: 38 Organisation: Philip Rush Neutral Observer: Su Scott Swimming has always been a part of my life, but that being said, I’ve had phases where it hasn’t been quite so dominant. If I had to describe myself … I’ve developed into a long distance marathon swimmer, with a strong liking for random swim adventures. I’m definitely not an expert, but I enjoy challenging myself, have had some wonderful adventures along the way, as well as learning a few lessons! Alcatraz & Catalina Channel teams relay I first had an inkling that I wanted to start swimming longer distances when I was visiting the States in 2016. I had gone to San Francisco to swim the “Escape from Alcatraz” swim, plus join a group who had formed two relay teams to swim the Catalina Channel. Alcatraz was an amazing experience. It’s a cold, technical piece of water – and if you look up, you can see the whole skyline of San Fran stretch out in front of you. A few days later, I ended up swimming to Catalina island for both relay teams. This was quite daunting at the time. My first leg started at 1 am in the morning, and after an initial stomach flip from having to jump off the boat into the pitch black water, it turned into a truly magical experience. Along with a full moon, the water was full of bioluminescence, and it sparkled away every time you drew your hand through the water. Sometime muuccccch later, I jumped back in for a final (now daylight) swim after completing 4 x 1-hour swims. Here, I was greeted by a massive temperature drop. For Catalina, this means you have reached the Pacific current which runs parallel to the shore. With rolling surf pounding onto big boulders, it was not a pretty exit, but I do recall thinking afterwards, “well that was pretty cool”. Taupo 40.2 Lake Taupo, February 2018, Alice's first solo ultra marathon swim. After Catalina I increased my training, and started committing to longer swims. In 2017, I competed in the Pacific Open Water Challenge and Samoan Swim Series. It was in Samoa where I first uttered the words out loud “I’d like to swim across Taupo”. This was to a good swim friend, who gave me the best possible encouragement in the time, which was simply telling me that I could do it. The problem was, I had no idea how to train for a 40km swim. It seemed unreachable and unfathomable. The best way for me to deal with this was to enlist my coach, and make someone else responsible for developing a programme. All I had to do was commit to the training, and concentrate on bite sized pieces at a time. I am sure many of you are familiar with the swim adage “what you train for in a week, you can swim in a day”. This was the approach we took, and while I was initially swimming 20km weeks, I slowly built up to 40km weeks. When training for Lake Taupo I realised my life largely revolved around swim/training friends, Sunday cooking sessions to prep meals for the week and an understanding that between work and training, you’ll have to temporarily forgo your social life. But for great reward – in February 2018 I swam the length of Lake Taupo at 40.2km. The build-up for Taupo and the swim itself made me realise how much of a mental game swimming is. One of the other questions I am sometimes asked is, “what do you think of when you are swimming”. The truth is - very little. My thoughts are often repetitive (I think this has something to do with the fact that my arms are going around in circles). This was evident on Taupo – it was a stunning calm day when I swam, with one of my mantras being “make hay while the sun shines” repeated over and over again for probably a good 10km section of the swim. A bit weird I know. The other aspect I have learnt during longer swims is, your mind will often wonder off to darker places. After initially struggling with this, I have finally learnt not to fight it. I now recognise when I am having a grumpy phase, and accept that it will eventually pass. Warm Swims - Apolima Strait & Lake Zurich Early part of the Apolima Strait swim, the day turned nasty and there were white caps for most of the swim. There were three DNF's on that day, swimmers from India, USA, and France. After Taupo, I used what was essentially a good training base to complete both the Apolima Strait in Samoa in April, and the length of Lake Zurich in Switzerland in August 2018. Both these swims came as a bit of a surprise. I qualified for Samoa earlier in November 2017, and during the same week found out I’d been accepted for Lake Zurich. I hadn’t anticipated this… decided not to turn down the chance for overseas travel! Both Apolima and Zurich were amazing and challenging swims, but for very different reasons. For Samoa, I’ll always remember Auckland swimmer Jacques de Reuck’s observation “there are whitecaps on the [resort] swimming pool” on the morning that we set of across the Strait. Once we were beyond the reef, I had some on the spot learning with constant sickness during the first half of the swim. This was to eventually settle, and for the second half the swim I happily followed a little yellow reef fish who had become resident under my kayaker’s boat. Switzerland was even hotter than Samoa… and it was a new experience swimming in 27 degree water, with a 34 air temp. Also an organised race, rather than a solo event, it was quite overwhelming to leave Rapperswil with a huge mass of swimmers, plus a support boat for everyone! It took me a while to find my support crew… who quite comically to me were rowing a tradition swiss gig all the way! (Who would want to row near 30km I kept asking myself….. quite forgetting I was swimming it). It was a very scenic swim with some amazing Swiss lakeside houses to eye up along the way. Switzerland was also special as I had family join me for the adventure. In fact, invaluable to all my swims are the wonderful and super supportive swim crews who have cheered, guided, yelled, encouraged, told me off, reminded me to eat, and pointed me in the right direction (literally) along the way. They’ve even bribed me with peanut butter sandwiches. My number one swim travel companion is my mum – who as an avid swimmer herself is always keen to come and support. I am very thankful for this. Lake Zurich swim. Return to the Lake - Taupo 31.0 One of my biggest adventures to date was a return to Lake Taupo in January 2019 to swim the “longest width”. This idea was born back in the previous February, whereby during the following winter months I squired away at my computer drawing imaginary lines across the lake to find the longest course, finally setting on 30.1km. Luckily for me, I had a swim partner in crime this time, with Auckland swimmer Mike Cochrane joining me for the swim. We had the supper support crew of Phil Rush and Nelson’s Su Scott – who the true credit has to go to given the somewhat crazy conditions on the day. Alice and Mike surfing with the westerlies turned Sou-wester. The swim saw a wilder the predicted westerly join us for the day, resulting in gusts up to 35 knots and a swell to suit. This meant for some unexpected body surfing, which turned to slightly more angular swimming (and the odd unwelcome mouthful of water) as the wind shifted to the less comfortable south west later in the day. After starting in the western Te Papa Bay, we rolled and tumbled ashore at Waitahanui Beach 10 hours and 48 minutes later. This was much to the surprise of the soul fly fisher on the beach!
Since this time, I have also learnt another very valuable lesson – ensuring that you recover properly from big swims! It’s understandably been a bit more sedate in the last year (with COVID also playing its part in terms of a change in swim plans). However, I’ve really enjoyed “play” swimming with no training commitments, plus heading out on local adventures to many of the great lakes and rivers in the wider Tasman district. I’m sure there’ll be another big adventure out there somewhere though! Alice Tracey and Nick Smith, Waiheke to Auckland swim (Chopper Swim) Ultra-Marathon swim(s) Chopper Swim Challenge Swim date: 18 March 2019 Age: 48 yrs Distance: 20 km Time: 6h45m20s Observer / Kayaker: Nick Smith Tahiti Nui to Moorea Sea of the Moon Channel Swim date: 5 October 2019 Age: 49 yrs Distance: 21.3Km Time: 9hrs 38mins Neutral Observer: Ioane Ng Pao Circumnavigation Swim of Bora Bora Swim date: 14 October 2019 Age: 49 yrs Direction: clockwise (Sofitel Island start finish) Distance: 23 km Time: 9hrs 52mins 50 seconds Neutral Observer: Seti Afoa Chopper Swim - Waiheke to Auckland My March 2019 solo swim was the culmination of 3 years of taking part in the Chopper Challenge swim. The swim is a phenomenal fundraising event and a fantastic introduction to Ultra Marathon Swimming. In 2017 I was asked to take part in a team of four. No worries, that's only 5 km each, I thought. On the day, the conditions were so rough none of us wanted to sit on the support boat. We made it to 12.5km in swells of over 2 meters in headwind, gusting to 45 knots. Only one relay team made it across that day. In 2018 I was joined by Karim Rostami, and we completed a duo relay crossing. Karim is my inspiration and a true sporting hero. (The swim was also briefly joined by a mumma and baby orca, making it a memorable swim) In 2019 Karim and I were joined by Paulette Tasker, and together we all shared a boat to set out and all complete solo crossings in perfect conditions. That was a very special swim on home ground. The swim also served as the first step of a year of four planned Ultra Marathon swims. Tougher challenges were yet to come. Tahiti to Mo'orea Swim Left, Tracey's entrance to the finish at Vaiare was a tough one with water moving out of the channel at a rate of knots. Right, Tracey at Vaiare on Mo'orea and Tahiti-nui behind at the end of her second ultra-swim. The next challenge came later in October 2019 at the Tahiti to Mo'orea swim. The swim was in total contrasting conditions. It started with glassy perfection in translucent Indian ink coloured water that quickly deteriorated to me observing my boat crew donning sou'wester and oilskins that I would more commonly associate with a North Sea fishing trawler. A massive squall swept through. The learning from my original Chopper swim experience came in handy. I remembered my mantra: 'the only thing you can choose is your attitude' and survived 4 hours of 2-meter swells. Huge thanks go to Mike Cochrane who's absolute glee on the first Chopper challenge taught me that swell can be fun. Seasickness became a matter of acceptance. Flat Coke (another tip from Mike) was a Godsend. The final 5 km of this swim was a massive challenge in a different way. I ended up on the wrong side of the entrance. I had to swim a dog leg to enter the Vaiare channel in an outgoing tide. The earlier trials faded into the background when this new challenge presented itself, of my own making of course. Once through the narrow channel, it was a 1-kilometer swim to the finish at the Vaiare marina. I was very happy to finish the crossing. Swim two was done. What did this swim teach me - Even in terrible storms in Tahiti, you can get very, very sunburnt. Remedial steps were urgent as I had to head out and swim around Bora Bora in 8-days time. Circumnavigation Swim of Bora Bora Bora Bora, the toughest part of the swim was reaching Palm Tree Point a few KMS ahead. Wow - be careful what you wish for, or should that be, dreams can come true. On the 27th of July 2016, Richard and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary on Bora Bora. We spent the morning snorkelling with sharks, stingray and plentiful fish. In the afternoon, we took a jet ski tour around the island. Sitting on the back of that jet ski, I looked at the island and thought: "this island would be really cool to swim around. I wonder how far it is". From casting that thought out into the universe, my ultra-marathon swimming journey unfolded in front of me. From being invited to join that first team swim on the Chopper Challenge to watching from afar the first group to swim Tahiti – Mo'orea in 2018. Everything just fell into place, and when the Tahiti tour was announced for 2019, there was even a group looking to head over to attempt to swim around Bora Bora. The swim was incredible: Manta rays, a big blacktip shark (I think the words I used to describe it to Seti were similar to that), a turtle and thousands of fishes. Swimming around an island is always going to be challenging, and the back leg certainly was that with reef's to navigate and 'Palm tree Point' that just never got any nearer. At the end of the swim, I was both relieved and elated with having fulfilled my wish to swim around Bora Bora. That was the most significant achievement of my life, and I am so thankful to Seti and Richard and the boat crew on the day. Richard (my husband) has probably gained the most from the Tahiti swims. After spending over 18 hours sitting on boats in Tahiti, he decided to allow me to teach him to swim in December 2019. This 2020 - 2021 he has completed his first 3.8km lake swim at the Ruby in Wanaka and the 5 km Akaroa swim. Richard's success has fuelled my desire to help as many adults as possible to learn to swim. This is proving to be an incredibly rewarding way to give back to the swimming community. Huge thanks to everyone who made my three swims possible and supported me along the way. Eds note: Tracey was to complete her four swim year with the Apolima Strait Swim in March 2020, the very same week the world went into COVID lockdown. END |
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June 2021
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