Cottesloe to Swanbourne Swim Through...2015

This morning I woke at 5:15am to a windy morning with the sun just starting to poke is rays up for a new day. I was picked up by a great friend of mine, whom I haven 't see for six months, as he has just moved back to Perth from the UK, he to is a swimmer, cyclist and runner, and an awesome person. We headed to Cottesloe Beach for our swim, with so many more like minded people for the Cott to Swanny-Ocean Classic, a 2.2km swim.

The easterly winds were blowing in the hills of Perth where our homes are, and by the time we hit the beach 40 minutes later it was calm and balmy. The water also calm which was a great sign for our swim. We headed for registration to have our names checked off the list and given our caps and timing chip. My race number was 406. We went through the race briefing.

Then it was time for the paddlers to head out for the start line. Then it was the runners. It was the swimmers time to line up, the blue caps went first, then the red caps and then us the white caps. I had predicted my finish time to be 45 minutes. With this in mind, I was out to find the clearest piece of water and stay focused on my swim, technique and keeping my mind for becoming negative. Yes I had a couple of issues with certain swimmers who don't seem to sight all that well, and keep criss-crossing in front of me and blocking me off which was very frustrating, but I managed to stay on track with my swim and goal.

This was the first time in doing a swim through (a swim that is one direction from point A to point B) usually I do swims that are laps of the required distance. I have to say that I enjoyed this style of swim, and could picture longer swims in this style such as the Rottnest Channel Swim.

I came up onto the beach and through the finish line, and was feeling awesome. The swim felt great, as it was reasonably calm, though at one point the current was little stronger, though managed to get through well. We left Swanbourne Beach and headed back to Cottesloe to get the car and then back to the hills of Perth we call home.

Later today I checked for the results of today's swim. I was happy to see that I finished two minutes under my predicted time. 43:07.7.

Today was the first time in an open water race that I managed to swim 1:57/100m, yes I have done it in the pool, but not in the ocean, so today has been one of learning, understanding and commitment to the event, and reaching a predicted time or beating it.

I now look forward to a three kilometer training session tomorrow morning at Cottesloe Beach and the Bussleton Jetty Swim next weekend. I have predicted 1:10:00 for the jetty swim and hope for good conditions, even if its rough I will have the knowledge that I can finish.


Have a great weekend

Hayley xx