Transition to Cold Water

Swimming long distances in a heated pool is NOT conducive to Channel swimming. It is great for conditioning, pace and speed work; but it does not challenge one with waves, cold, sea creatures and large ships! Pool swimming over 10 km in length is also tediously boring. In contrast, there is no pace clock, lines on the ocean floor, or need to perform flip turns in the open water. It is just me and the elements. As such, I am motivated to swim longer distances by simply staying focussed on the end-point--whether that destination is 15, 20 or 25 km away.

This past week, I made a complete transition to open water.

1. May 17th 12 km (3 hrs 10 min.) swim in 10'C (50'F) Okanagan Lake in a full body wet suit. I ended up with a significant wet suit rash and vowed to hang up the neoprene for the year.
2. May 19th 3 km (45 min.) swim in 11'C (52'F) Okaganan Lake in just my Speedo, silicone bathing cap, goggles and earplugs. This is the longest sustained cold water swim I have done without the aid of a wetsuit.
3. May 20th 4 km (60 min.) swim in 14'C (58'F) Christina Lake (near Grand Forks). Christina Lake is the warmest tree-lined lake in BC. It is surrounded by the Monashee Mountain range. This was a sunset swim...just me and the Loons (no pun intended). A very relaxing swim after a long day of work-related travel and meetings. Swimming through calm waters and taking in the sun setting over the Monashees every time I turned my head to breathe, was Zen.
4. May 22nd 5 km (80 min) swim in English Bay, Vancouver. Winds were 20 knots--resulting in wind waves and some swell. Perfect conditions for Channel training. The water was a balmy 14'C! Felt great and I did not lose any stomach contents.
5. May 24th 4 km (60 min.) swim in Okanagan Lake. The lake has warmed up to a balmy 11'C! My cold water tolerance is building.
6. May 25th 5 km (1 hr 40 minutes) swim to commemorate the opening of the new Okanagan Floating Bridge. While 10,000 citizens, politicians and my family were walking the new span, I took the opporunity to swim right beside them. The encouragement I received from friends, family and spectators inspired me to keep going. Thanks to Conny, Pascale and Laura from Okanagan Masters Swim Club for escorting me safety through all of the boat traffic.

Vancouver Marathon Inspiration

My wife Joanne (far left) at KM 25 in her first marathon. She finished in 5 hours and 9 minutes!! She is an inspiration....so much so that shortly after this checkpoint, I decided to brave the 11'C (52'F) waters in my Speedo trunks. The experience went like this...

Step I: immerse self in chest-deep water and wait for body to "numb." Step II: sprint for 50 meters to stay warm. Step III or "comfortably numb" phase--settle down, relax, breath regularly and enjoy the experience. Step IV: remain conscious of the effects of hypothermia and know when to pull out. Losing dexterity & slurred speech are par for the course. Confusion, delusions and uncontrolled shivering are ominous signs. I felt really good after 20 minutes in these temperatures--definitely the coldest water I have ever swum in without a wet suit! Other than a loss of fine motor control and some slurred speech, I felt strong. I subsequently got changed and rejoined Joanne's cheering section for the last 5 KM of her marathon! We are all very proud of her accomplishment....an inspiration for my Channel attempt!

A Seal Named Sammy

Friend and fellow Channel aspirant, Mike Humphreys from Seattle, and I swam from the Burrard Street Bridge in Vancouver to 3rd Beach in Stanley Park and return (5.5 KM). We fought the current on the way out and rode the incoming tide on the way back in. For safety reasons, we were escorted by a kayak manned by Rod Craig (of Gooey Tube fame). We were also escorted by a silver and black spotted Harbour Seal named Sammy. The experience of swimming with seals is analogous to walking your dog. The big difference is that seals have very bad fish breath. There was quite a bit of chop in English Bay and the waters were 11'C (52'F)--still really cold. This would explain the wetsuits we were wearing. We swam for 1 hr. 40 min. in the ocean, followed by 2000 m in the pool. Beer, pasta and comaraderie followed.

Provincial Masters Swimming Championships

Speed is also a critical success factor for Channel swimming. As I approach the coast of France, the currents will be at their strongest. At this point, I will be tired, dehydrated and mentally exhausted. The last thing I want to happen is for the current to push me back out into the middle of the Channel. I will be counting on my speed and stroke efficiency to counteract these forces. Another example of where speed can assist me in my attempt is in swimming clear of the 700 or so large ships that cruise up and down the Channel lanes. To this end, I have been training hard in the pool with the Okaganan Masters Swim Club.

Maintaining pace times and "negative splitting" (i.e. swimming the second half a set distance faster than the first half) is an important aspect of my training. This entails swimming against the clock. In other words, I use the clock to pace my speed over a set distance. You can swim all the distance in the world, but unless you learn to pace yourself for speed, don't expect to set any records in the pool or open water for that matter. The Australian National swim team figured this out long ago and it reflects in their results on the international stage.

In addition to crossing the Channel, I have been training to break the 18:00 barrier for 1500 m freestyle. To achieve this, I need to hold 1:12 per 100 meters of freestyle swimming. Last year, I performed this swim in 18:20. The BC record for this distance is 17:44 set by former Olympic medalist Ralph Hutton--a pioneer for the sport of Masters swimming in BC. If there was any time in my Masters swimming career that I could have a shot at this record, now is that time. Breaking 17:44 requires that I hold a 100 m pace interval of 1:10-1:11. To attain this, I have been performing sets of 100 metre distances holding 1:10s on a total interval of 1:45. In other words, I am swimming at race pace with at least 35 seconds rest between 100s.

My hard work paid off........I set the new record for BC mens 40-44 age group in a time of 17:38!! This has given me a lot of confidence with which I will channel toward my big swim.

The Ocean is Cold and it is Snowing in Vancouver??

It has been an unseasonably cold winter in BC! A few weeks ago I made my first foray into the ocean at Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver (April 7th). While Vancouverites should be gardening and golfing at this time of year, it was snowing in the upper levels of West Vancouver and people are still skiing down the slopes of Grouse Mountain! So, I brought along my wetsuit "just in case." The water temperature was 9'C (48'F). That is very cold to my liking. In contrast, the temperature of the Channel will be 15-17'C at the end of July. Be that as it may, acclimitization to cold water will be critical to my success. Swimming in a 25'C pool will simply not cut it. So, dressed in a neoprene triathlon suit, I took the plunge and swam for 30 minutes. At first, the cold took my breathe away, but after a minute of sprinting, I got into a comfortable rhythm. While I was out there, it started to pour rain. There is no better place in than the ocean when precipitation is falling. I could hear the rain pelting the surface of the water. Crazy as it may seem, the sound of rain on the surface of the water is very comforting. Following my 2km swim, I raced for the cold shower (felt warm in comparison to the ocean), rinsed off and blasted the heat in my car to warm up. I was pleased with my recovery time and I only suffered mild symptoms of hypothermia--most notably a loss of fine motor control which makes dressing a little more cumbersome. My next ocean swim is in a few weeks where I hope the temperature will break the 10'C barrier. I still have some speed swimming goals to achieve before I fully convert to open water guy.

Training with the Gooey Tubes

I spent the last couple of days in Vancouver on business. While I was in town, I took this opportunity to train with a rogue group of Masters swimmers known as the Gooey Tubes (goo-ee-tubes).

Dare you ask.......What is a Gooey Tube?
- a cross between a Geoduck (salt water clam that has a very "large" siphon) and a Tube Worm
- both species are native to the BC Coast
- literally speaking, both species are the "lowest form of aquatic life"--capable of burrying themselves below the ocean floor

The Gooey Tube's Mission Statement
We swim like we really care

The Gooey Tube Board of Directors (above left to right: Graham Wellbourne, Suzanne Scriven, guest--yours truly, and Rod "the Rocket" Craig). These Gooeys are fast, knowledgeable about the sport, and they know how to have fun. Graham is one of the best freestylers Canada has ever produced. He was a Canadian National Team star when I was growing up in the pool and he is still swimming and competing at a high level in the Masters world. Suzanne and Rod are similarly very strong competitive swimmers. The purpose of my training sessions with the Gooeys was to work on some distance freestyle sets, speed work, and stroke analysis with Graham. Graham has a natural freestyle stroke and he is always exploring new ways of swimming efficiently through the water. He reads the literature from some of the world's top coaches and he watches and learns from the best in the sport. For any swimmer (age group, masters, triathlete) who wants to improve their freestyle technique, I highly recommend Graham's stroke correction clinics.

Summary of Gooey Tube workouts March 5,6,7th

March 6th (long course training in 50 m pool, Coquitlam)
*500m Warm up
*10 x 50m descend by 5 seconds every 2nd 50m
*Distance Free Set with minimal rest (purpose: work on aerobic recovery)
-1 x 400 m @ 5:50
-2 x 300 m @ 3:15
-3 x 200 m @ 2:50
- 4 x 100 m @ 1:25
100 easy
6 x 50 (odd easy stroke drill and even fast butterly)
100 easy
Total 3.5 KM

March 7th (long course meters)
*500 m warm up
* 10 x 50 descending by 5 seconds every 2nd 50m
* Sprint set (repeat x 2)
- sprint 12.5 m and 88 m easy
- sprint 25 m and 75 easy
- sprint 33 m and 67m easy
- sprint 50 m and 50 easy (31.5)
- sprint 63m and 37 easy
- sprint 75m and 25 easy
- sprint 88 m and 12 easy
- sprint 100 m (1:09)
*200 easy
* 4 x 50 kick IM order
*100 easy
Total 3.3 KM

March 8th (short course meters)
800 Swim, KIck, Pull, IM
200 stroke drill
8 x 100 on 1:30 (desc 1-4 and 5-8)
4 x 200 free on 3:00 (desc 1-4)
2 x 400m on 6:00 (1st mod @ 5:20 and 2nd fast @ 5:05)
800 m free (mod pace negative splitting--2nd 400 m faster than 1st) (time: 10:31)
200 easy
8 x 50 kick on 1:05 alt. flutter and dolphin
200 stroke drill
800 m free fast pace (out in 5:10 and back in 5:05 for 10:15 time)
100 easy
2 x 400 m free on 6:00 (1st @ 5:20 and 2nd @ 5:02)
100 easy
4 x 200 m free on 3:00 (1st 2 pull with paddles, 3rd pull and 4th freestyle fast @ 2:27)
200 easy
Total 7.8 KM
Note: I am very happy with the pace times I was able to hold toward the end of workout--especially in light of the distance I covered up to this point.

Stroke technique session with Graham:
* need to work on my hand entry and catch when I breathe. I tend to "slip" my hand out to the sides on my entry; and in so doing, I am losing a lot of power and efficiency. I need to work on some catch-up drills where I "connect" with the water on the entry
*tips:
- visualize my hand entry before turning my head to breathe
- swim overtop of the black-line on the bottom of the pool (my hands should not deviate outside the line)
- watch YouTube footage of Grant Hackett (Australia) and other top freestylers

Total KM for this week = 20, 000 meters

Winter Update

Some Channel swimmers are already training in the ocean. This is fine if you live in warmer climes but there is still some snow on the ground in the Okanagan Valley....hopefully not for long. I took the kids canoeing in the lake today. The surface temperature is 4'C! It will be May, at the earliest, that I dare wade into the lake donning my Speedo. I have ocean training swims lined up for end of April in Vancouver and late May in San Francisco.

My present training regimen consists of:

• Resistance weight training 1-2 sessions/week
• Run or bike to work 5 sessions /week (8 KM round trip and add an extra 10 KM if I cycle my kids to school)
• Swimming 4-5 days/week

As far as swimming is concerned, I am presently up to 20 km/week. Most sessions are 3 Km in length; and on Saturdays, I am pulling double workouts --averaging 9-10 Km over 3 hours. These are coached Masters' swimming workouts during which I swim a variety of distances and strokes on specific time intervals. The emphasis is on speed, aerobic capacity and technique. Although I will be swimming freestyle (front crawl) across the Channel, I like to swim all of the other strokes like butterfly, backstroke and breastroke. This variety challenges me to incorporate different muscle groups into the mix. It makes you a more efficient swimmer. Freestyle is by far the fastest and most efficient of all the strokes; ergo why I will be swimming it across the Channel. Butterfly is the most technically and physically challenging stroke. It is my favourite, but I am only good at racing it over a 100 to 200 m distance. The 200 m. distance is pushing it....it often feels like someone is throwing a piano on my back for the last 15 m. of that gruelling distance....and to think that some Channel swimmers have swum butterfly for the entire distance! That is truly impressive.

Here are some sample workouts from the past week:

Session One

600 m warm up (swim, pick, pull x 200 meters each)

1500 m freestyle (moderate speed holding 1:23/100 m)

12 x 50 m kick (IM order fly, back, breast, free)

600 m of freestyle stroke drill

1500 m freestyle (fast pace holding 1:18/100 m)

200 warm down

Repeat the above set for a total of 10 km

Session Two

800 m Basic (swim, kick, pull, swim)

200 m freestyle stroke drill

3 x (10 x 100 m) freestle on 1:45

* 1st 10 holding 1:17 pace

* 2nd 10 holding 1:15 pace

* 3rd 10 holding 1:13 pace

- the goal is to hold a consistent fast pace with lots of rest in-between to aid aerobic recovery

200 m warmdown

total distance 4.2 KM

I am using these pool workouts to prepare me for my one and only swim meet of the year....the Provincial Masters Swimming Championships in Kamloops, mid April. I have certain goal times for the 1500 m free and 100 m fly. Achieving these times will give me lots of confidence heading into the final stretch of my preparation for the Channel.