North Bondi Classic

Date : 08th Feb 2009

The day of my first sea swim comp finally arrived. It was the North Bondi Classic 2KM swim..

The build up :
I felt quite confident after a couple of sea swim sessions in the last week. I haven't done a long sea swim, but was hoping that my kick boxing fitness combined with my swimming technique should be sufficient to register myself in this event. It took me a while to convince myself to register for it..
The following well worded 'terms and conditions' on the site was giving me second thoughts for a while :
Risk Warning pursuant to Civil Liability Act 2002 (section 5M)

Ocean swims are demanding and potentially dangerous events. Risks include drowning, natural obstacles,man-made or -controlled obstacles, and marine attack. The Ocean Swim takes place in the open ocean. Swimmers enter at their own risk. You should have a medical check prior to entry, and prepare for the event by training. Water safety craft will patrol the course for the duration of the Ocean Swim. If a swimmer feels unable to proceed further in the swim, the attention of the water safety personnel should be sought.

The Ocean Swim organisers cannot guarantee your safety. The Ocean Swim organisers reserve the right to bring to shore by the water patrol any entrants which they deem to be incapable of competing further in the event. While in the competition area - including the beach and water environments - entrants must follow all directions of Waverley Lifeguards and Ocean Swim organiser’s officials and water safety personnel.

After much thought, I decided to sign up for it. Not only sign up, but also thought I'll do the 2K swim instead of the 1K swim (The 1km swim is proving very popular for older swimmers not trained for the 2km and younger swimmers 10 years of age and older.)

Pre-Swim :
The weather was about 34 degrees (with an expected max heat in the west to be about 45!!).. I got there just in time to see the 1K swim start. I wanted to be there to see it, as I've never seen an ocean swim comp before. The beach was packed with Swimmers and families..
Rahul the lazy ass backed out and let me down (AGAIN).. Fortunately, Mark turned up on time and was there to mind my stuff and make sure I actually return to shore :)
I went for a quick dip in the sea prior to the start of the race. I did realise that the water is cold, but thought it wasn't too bad (ohhh how wrong I was!!! - The water turned out to be 15 degrees and it was supposed to be one of the coldest most swimmers have experienced)

The Start line :
The swimmers started at various waves depending on the colour of the cap (which depends on their age/sex category).. I was initially hoping to join the back of the pack (The group which starts right at the end and is designed for slower swimmers).. however, since I was wearing a yellow cap and was in the age/sex category, I had to start off in that group. I must admit, I was really nervous even before starting the race.. The sea was calm and there wasn't any waves and I wasn't sure how packed and serious the swimmers will be when entering the water..
First to go was the younger swimmers ... next in line was my group!!

The swim :
After a long and anxious 3 minutes of watching the young swimmers swim away from the shore, it was our turn to go. Everyone rushed to the water.. I did not really race to the water, but entered straight after the main group of swimmers did. I don't recall much of the first few minutes in the water. All I remember was trying to keep up with the group and swimming in until a few minutes later, I experienced something that could only be described as a mixture of adrenaline rush, anxious and a mild hypothermia!!!.. I was actually thinking of stopping the race and either embarrassing swimming back to the shore or swimming to one of the life guards!! I even stopped a couple of times and kept looking at a life guard - I'm pretty sure he thought I was going to swim to him!.. Fortunately I just kept swimming and managed to see the first orange turn. It was only then, that I decided to calm down and get into rhythm. I also realised that most of my group has swum a lot further from me. So I decided not to speed up to them, but to get into to rhythm and swim at my own pace. It was all good and well until I swimmers from the next category started swimming all over me and kicking me at the turns... I decided to keep going at my own phase and giving way to all other swimmers..

The finish line :
The rest of the swim wasn't as bad at all. It was fun to read the waves and either swim with it or against it. It was a good feeling to finally see the end in sight and to be helped by the waves to get to the shore.. Once I exited the water, I started shivering uncontrollably.. We had to run about 50 meters to the finish line. It felt great to finish it all.. but I was still shivering a lot and was struggling to talk!! It took me almost an hour (included driving to Parramatta with heater on full blast) to finally get back to normal..

My official time was 51.53.. I didn't expect any remarkable times but was quite surprised (and a little embarrassed) to be almost in the last 100 swimmers in the 1200 swimmer event! On a positive note, I know I can definitely shave a lot of time off it in the next few races now that I know the drill and will not be as nervous!! :)
Will update the blog with my report on the Malabar to Little Bay Stockland Challenge 2.74km swim this weekend :)