Sunday, June 29, 2008

Swimming Upstream

I was in Kamloops on Wednesday (June 25th) for business. Before driving back to Kelowna, I went for a swim in the Thompson River. The South and the North Thompson Rivers converge in Kamloops. These great rivers drain melting snow from the West Rockies, Columbia, Cariboo and Monashee Mountain rainges. Not surprisingly, the current rate of snow melt is high, thus contributing to swollen rivers. The combination of cold and current lends itself to perfect conditions for Channel training.

For safety reasons, I swam along a public park with beach access. Needless to say, I was the only one in the water, but there were a lot of people watching the "crazy" guy. I gather I am the 1st swimmer of the year to take the Thompson River plunge. I started of by swimming downstream 400 m--this took about a minute (eat your heart out Ian Thorpe--Australia's 400 m freestyle WR holder); then I turned 180' and sprinted for 15 min. to get back to my departure point. Swimming in these conditions is akin to swimming on a treadmill. I was swimming nowhere fast. If the currents off the coast of France are this strong, it will take every ounce of energy I can muster to "break through." Alternatively, it may mean that I continue swimming (backwards for a time) until the tide changes in my favour. Either way, in the river, there is a trick to swimming upstream. I call it the "salmon" manoevre whereby I cut across to the riverbank and find an back eddy to assist me upstream...just like the salmon do when they swim upriver to their spawning grounds. All in all, this was a very memorable swim in a very beautiful public park. Good for 30 min. worth of cold (13'C) "treadmill" swimming.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Six Hour Marathon Swim

June 21st 2008
Six hour training swim with friends from the Okanagan Masters Swim Club, and my wife Joanne. I could not take on a challenge of this magnitude without their support! From left to right Liezel Heigers, Mike Stamhuis, Brent Hobbs, Pascal Sutherland (back row), wife Joanne and son Connor, Carmelle Guidi-Swan and Steve Ott.

What was supposed to be a gloriously hot Okanagan summer day turned out to be overcast with intermittent rain showers and a slight breeze from the north. The water temperature was 15-16'C (59-61'F), air temperature 21'C and lake conditions were calm. I swam a total of 20.5 KM in 6 hrs. Overall, I was pleased with my performance:
  • maintained a consistent pace of 3.25-3.5 km/hr
  • held a stroke rate of 52 strokes/min. for the 1st 2 hrs; 57/min for the middle 2 hours; and finished with a rate of 63/min. for the final stretch
  • I felt a "chill" between hours 2 and 3 but found that picking up my stroke/kick rate generated some internal heat. I learned this technique from Lynne Cox (1st person to swim the Berring Strait and Antarctica--reference book Swimming to Antarctica. Temperature wise, I felt no ill effects for the last 3 hrs. Furthermore, I did not exhibit any signs of hypothermia upon exiting the water. I am very pleased about this. My cold water training sesssion have definitely paid off.
  • I was also psychologically able to "hold my swim together." I did not suffer from boredom and I did not ruminate about hot tubs. Rather, I have learned to let my "mind go free" during these long swims. Sometimes I immerse my mind in work--sorting out the priorities I need to attend to. The good news is I can quickly switch work off to concentrate on other interests such as my kids, music and the coast of France. I also like to "explore." For example, I swam above a group of under water divers; I explored submerged timbers that used to support an old ferry dock. I said hello to some big ass Carp--some 10-15 pounders down there! I also like to check out the pricey water front realestate market. There is definitely no shortage of wealthy people who own water front property out at Okanagan Centre.

All in all, I am pleased with today's results. However, I have to keep it all in context. The Lake conditions I swam in do not reflect the reality of the Channel. There was very little current, no swell and little chop. I will experience this next week when I attempt to circumnavigate Bowen Island in Howe Sound. The only factor that I need to keep an eye on is my right shoulder--it feels a little tender. I will need to follow up this matter with the good folks at Sun City Physiotherapy.


Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Swimming by Moonlight

June 15th 11:00 pm
A middle aged man dressed in Speedo, goggles and bright red bathing cap is seen walking down Abbott St. with a halo-like glow eminating from his head. He is accompanied by two women (Anne Morgenstern and Sheree Moffatt) who are donned in kayak gear and cave lamps attached to their heads. A security guard pulls up to this mottly crew......"What are you doing? You cannot be here." I reply, "but I am training for the English Channel....this is my obligatory night training session..." The security guard appears dumbfounded...thinking to himself that we are on foreign substances. With some cajoling we are permitted to launch from the Byrne St. Beach access. This is my night training session. Swimming by moon and starlight. The water is cold (14'C) but I hardly notice because I am so stoked about swimming at night. The combination of moonlight, phosphorescence and Milky Way made for a surreal experience. Anne and Sheree did an amazing piloting job in the darkness. It is very hard to navigate in these conditions--witness the buoy and dock I almost collided with. I felt very comfortable swimming in the dark but I would not recommend doing this alone. The other lesson learned is that it feels a lot colder without the warmth of the Okanagan sun beating down on my back. As a result, I was a little more hypothermic than usual. I woke up 6 hrs later to go to work, all the while asking myself.....'Did I really swim by the moonlight last night or was that a dream?" Oh, and that halo of mine?.....It was my kids' glow stick from the Dollar Store. It lasts up to 12 hrs....all for the price of a Loonie. Thank you Anne and Sheree! This was their 3rd escort duty in honour of my quest--and in the middle of the night to boot. It is precisely this support that will enable me to achieve my dream.

Friday, June 6, 2008

San Francisco Bridge to Bridge Swim

Channel swimmers recommend training in San Francisco Bay. This is fine by me as SFO is one of my favorite cities. SFO is cold--even on a mid-summer's day. You wouldn't think that the ocean temperature is colder in SFO than Vancouver. Think again. the South/Central California coast is fed by a cold ocean current. BC, on the other hand, is fed by the relatively warm Japanese current. At this time, Vancouver waters are 14-15'C. In SFO, Bay temperatures are currently 12-13'C. In addition to colder water, SFO offers rough conditions--wind waves and strong currents. This all makes for good English Channel training. SFO also has a strong open water swimming fraternity--quite a few Channel swimmers live and train here all year round. In my four days of swimming here, I was never alone in the harbour. There are two long established open water swim clubs located in downtown SFO--the Dolphin and South End Rowing Clubs (circa 1873). Both are situated in Aquatic Park near Fisherman's wharf. Aquatic Park is a protected enclosure where swimmers can train without the boat traffic. These clubs are also equipped with warm showers and a sauna! Everyone was very friendly and keen to share their training tips for the Channel.

On day two in SFO, I competed in the 2nd Annual Golden Gate Bridge to Bay Bridge 10 KM Swim. I am happy to report that all 40 swimmers made it safely to their destination. About 50% competed without the aid of a wetsuit--including several intrepid youth between the ages of 14-16. Now that is inspiring! One of these swimmers (Delia) is also attempting to swim the Channel this summer. She is only 16! I had an excellent race--mostly because I followed a current line that did not carry me towards the Oakland side of the Bay Bridge. Others were not so lucky. Thanks to the folks at Aquatic Park for the inside information. The key was swimming in a line closer to the City than to Alcatraz Island.

My third day was spent pool training with the Stanford University Masters Club in Palo Alto. I competed at this facility in 2006 at the World Masters Swimming Championships. This is where I rekindled an old friendship from my age group swimming days (enter Yen Lee). Although we hadn't seen each other in over 20 years, it was as if time hadn't passed....here we were battling it out in the pool like we 13-14 year olds all over again! Coming to SFO was an opportunity to meet up with Yen and his family. We had a great time and the workout at Stanford was fast and challenging.
All long course meters
* 500 m warm up
* 20 x 50 m (odd 25 fly/25 free; even 25 back/25 free) descending in groups of 4 with diminshing rest between each set
* main 2000m set
- 400 m free pull on 5 sec. rest (5:15)
- 400 m free pull on 10 sec. rest (5:10)
- 300 m free pull on 15 sec. rest (3:55)
- 300 m free swim on 20 sec. rest (3:53)
- 200 m free swim on 25 sec. rest (2:34)
- 200 m free swim on 30 sec. rest (2:30)
- 100 m free swim on 35 sec. rest (1:12)
- 100 m free swim (1:11)
* 12 x 50 (odd dolphin kick on back; even choice stroke)

A delicious Sunday morning brunch with Yen's family followed.
Picture above: One of the two 50 m outdoor pools that the Stanford Master's Team fills for its workouts (about 200 members)! No wonder the Americans are a dominant swimming force. There were at least two former Olympic medalists swimming in our lane. From left to right (Yen Lee, Yours Truly, and Coach Tim).