Swimming

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  • kl-compliancy fail

    Following a few close brushes, I'm mellowing - in certain prescribed circumstances...

  • Ohh I see. Gloves and boots are for wimps?
    Do they cause as much debate in swimming circles as headphones and helmets do in cycling :D

  • Ohh I see. Gloves and boots are for wimps?

    No, just a reference to running attire.

    I don't really swim in anything below 15 deg C so don't take any advice from me (and I tend to wear a wetsuit for anything under 20 deg C).

  • Ta, always very interested in these sex-specific athletic top end issues. I take it Alison Streeter holds the record for fastest single crossing or something like that?

  • Ah, OK.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Streeter

    Alison Jane Streeter MBE (born 1964) is a British long-distance swimmer. She has swum across the English Channel 43 times, more than anyone in the world and earning her the title of Queen of the English Channel. This total includes a triple-channel swim. She also completed seven Channel crossings in one year. She set the female record for a Channel swim from France to England (8 hours 48 minutes), in 1988. She was the first woman to swim the Channel three ways non-stop in 1990, taking 34h40 min for the feat.

    [...]

    In 1988, Streeter became the first woman to swim across the North Channel, between Northern Ireland and Scotland. She repeated the swim in 1989 and 1997. She currently holds the world record for the fastest crossing and the most number of North Channel crossings. In all of history, only ten female solo swimmers have succeeded in crossing the North Channel.

  • It's an Aussie guy who has the record for the fastest crossing - he sat in Dover all summer waiting for a perfect tide - his S-curve is actually a straight line, never seen one remotely like it.

    A previous record stood for over 20 years, then some guy broke it, and held it for 20 minutes, as the guy following him was even faster. That's gotta smart...

    The speed records are all male, but I think the longest ever single crossing was a woman - about 28 hours. I know a guy who did a 28 hour crossing, but in a wetsuit, so it doesn't count.

  • I was taught to swim by her mum - Donyngs in Redhill!

  • Another upcoming channel swim... medley relay. 1hr stints.

    Fly for 1hr, in the sea!

    Apols only got fb link.

    https://m.facebook.com/swimmingmattersuk/photos/a.539811872742379/2517375938319286/?type=3

  • Done. 3h41 total swimming time.

    Did it as 3 x 2 miles (you couldn't stay in for longer than 2 miles at any one time). 1h10, 1h14, 1h17.

    First two sets of 2 miles felt great. Felt tired starting the 5th mile and did not entirely enjoy the last mile (except for the last 200m).

    Forgot just how buoyant a swimming wetsuit is, and probably only did 400m of kicking in the entire swim (my shoulders hate me) so I need to ditch the pull buoy and practice kicking as November's 10k is in a pool (so no wetsuit or pull buoy).

    Awesome day out. Great organisation (and the Super Six spoils you with a dedicated area and lots of camaraderie) and amazing volunteers all over the place.

  • Well done. I hobbled around the 2 mile in 1:01. Pulled something in my shoulder a few weeks ago which isn't sorted yet so it all felt a bit like hard work, but it was comfortable enough.
    Thought I'd applied for my London Classics medal but my name wasn't on the list so I'll have to send over the marathon and Ride London details to get that.
    Maybe 6 miles next year, not sure I'd have fancied doing it twice more today. Glorious day for it though.

  • Nice work.

    I'll be back next year for the 2 mile swim (can't be arsed with 6 miles again now I've done it) and try to push my time down to under 1h.

    I went in at the back of the 9.35 Red wave (as did most of the other gold capped nutters). Then right at the back of the 11.25 pink (one mile) wave (we could stay in and do two miles) and then in a couple of minutes off the back of the 13.45 yellow (one mile) wave. Looks like I had breaks of 40m (water and a gel) and 1h8m (water, gel, sausage roll).

    I enjoyed being away from the majority of swimmers, going off the back of a one mile wave was great as it had thinned out by the time I caught up with the slow lot and when I got round to start the second lap it was all but clear in front of me (until I started to lap the really slow people or the fast lot from the next wave overtook me).

    We got two timing chips, one for ankle for the normal start/finish mats and one for the wrist as there was a timing sensor on the side of the pontoon which we had to dob against after 1 lap if we were staying in to do a second. All about keeping track of us in the water rather than timings (the online times don't have my individual lap times).

    Swim marathon 10k in November next. Need not to have buggered my shoulder for that to happen, sure it will loosen up in the next few days.

  • Does anyone surf and go swimming in the same wetsuit? Probably over a year ago I was in here asking about wetsuits and outdoor swimming (totally failed to act on it, partly because my local pool closed for months just as I was wanting to start), but went surfing today and had a good time so that's another good reason to get one. Really do not want to buy two wetsuits though.

    Can I get a surf wetsuit and do a triathlon in it assuming I don't particularly care about how fast I am? It was nice and buoyant and warm (but a pain to get off) so reckon slow and sweaty outdoor swimming is better than cold and sinky surfing? And I can always pull the neck open to let some cold water in right?

  • Wow. I’m impressed. I can never manage swimming for much over and hour and a half, and even then I’m done for the rest of the day. To do that three times in a day is pretty inspiring. I’ll think of you next time I’m planning on getting out of the water!

  • A pal of mine managed the slowest crossing one year. His GPS track is pretty nutty with the tide. Interesting comparing endurance swimming with endurance cycling though. He said "so I was expecting to hallucinate, because others had told me it happenned, so I felt comforted when it happened and I recognised it". When I asked him about the most unpleasant part he said "oh, that would definitely be swimming through my own vomit.

    Every aspect of this guy impressed me. He went on to coach his teenage daughter and pals to do a relay crossing at the same time as my pal, an RAF chap who has been war was doing a similar relay crossing. I think Rob then went on to do a butterfly relay.

    I also used to work for a chap who at the time was the youngest successful channel swimmer. A fact that constantly surprised us.

  • I also used to work for a chap who at the time was the youngest successful channel swimmer. A fact that constantly surprised us.

    Was that Tom Gregory?

  • Can I get a surf wetsuit and do a triathlon in it assuming I don't particularly care about how fast I am?

    Yeah, most the time. Unless it's >5mm thick and the triathlon officials are being particularly officious.

  • Cool, thanks. Think the one I had today was 5/4/3mm so I'd be alright if they insisted on checking. And I was plenty warm although apparently the sea is as warm as it gets at the moment.

    Onto the shopping list it goes!

  • Lake Annecey looks amazing

    +1. Looks like a great spot for a bit of active recovery from riding up some mountains @Greenbank

  • Has anyone had problems with friction blisters from fins?

    Mine seem to fit well but after two hours of training last night, half of which was leg drills (ugh) I have a sore big toe.

    A quick google suggests fin socks may be the answer. In which case yay, even more kit to buy then drag to the pool every week...

  • i'd probably do it the other way around and buy a swim wetsuit and surf in it....

    shoulder mobility for the swim will only help your surfing, i guess the only downside is the swim ones are a bit more fragile but if you get a lower end one then they tend to be made of less fragile materials etc.

  • no, but id never spend two hours in a pool let alone most of if doing leg drills!

    but them i am a triathlete, and spend as little time kicking as possible, just an occasional flutter to keep them in line with my body rather than generating propulsion, barely even kicked doing IM Austria despite it being no wetsuit...

  • Won't I be cold with a swimming wetsuit? They're a few mm thinner I thought. Suppose I could use one of those hooded vests underneath?

    Either way my brother has moved to Australia and to my surprise left his wetsuit here, so I'll try that before I buy anything!

  • Either way my brother has moved to Australia and to my surprise left his wetsuit here

    That's probably a good idea. I understand Australia are quite strict about biosecurity and there are occasional tales of wetsuits being destroyed.

    https://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/spread-word-not-weed/ is worth a read by anyone swimming outside pools.

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Swimming

Posted by Avatar for dooks @dooks

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