Day two, here we go! We all had a 4 am wake up. However, John got the time wrong, so we were a little late for Cassie and Frikkie who were already waiting at the harbour. From the harbour, we headed out to our endpoint from day one.
The water was not clean, and the current was not in the right direction, so we decided to head out to sea to find cleaner, faster water. When we reached 15km out to sea, the current was still travelling in a South-North direction. We made the call to head back towards land and start 15km further south instead, swimming back to our start point.
It had been 4 hours after my wake up before we got in the water. We are learning every day, and it is part of the process. With a staged swim like this, there are many variables to consider, and many ways things could go wrong.
It was such a relief knowing we had made a good call, as we had a great counter current pushing us along. At this point, my pace was averaging 12 minutes per km. I was excited.
Furthermore, the conditions were ideal with warm clear water and beautifully mesmerizing jellies. I counted over 6 different types of jellies! John did a phenomenal job of keeping me safe from bluebottles.
The beginning part of the swim was somewhat frustrating. It was difficult to get into a rhythm, and I was focusing on my stroke as my left shoulder was a little uncomfortable from the day before. Sarah had analysed the footage from Wofty’s pictures and picked up a few technical errors in my stroke. Errors of this nature done over long periods would cause a lot of strain on my shoulders. So, I needed to make sure I was correcting them to avoid any long-term injury. I soon realised that part of my stroke adaption was due to the chafe I was experiencing under my arm. I decided that for tomorrow’s swim I will need to cover the chafe with special tape recommended by my wound specialist at Core.
All in all, it was a good day, and I was pleased with my progress.
Swimming ‘backwards’ is tricky as you cannot judge the conditions ahead of you. You need to ensure you finish the distance within the time frame allocated to the swim. After the swim, I did some backstroke to try loosening up my shoulders. After this, I got back on the boat for the ride back to DUC. When we reached the harbour wall, we were greeted by a whole pod of dolphins. It was magical!
We packed up and headed to John’s house for breakfast; scrambled eggs and avo on toast. I then went home and had a nap before having a sauna ice bath for my recovery session. I then prepped for tomorrow and had dinner. The night ended off with downloading pictures of the day. Elzanne was on the boat today, and she took some amazing footage. And then bed.
Tomorrow is another day!
Day Two Stats
Start time: 8:10am
Finish Time: 10:54am
Pace: 12:09km
Distance: 13.5km
Start location: S 30° 05. 340 E 30°58,995
End location: S 29° 57. 233’ E 31° 00. 810’
Water temperature: 25-26degrees
Water quality: clean most of the way with about 10m visibility
Sights seen: jellys and bluebottles
Stings: 2/3
Calories: 2824(during swim) 4583 for the day
Strokes: 4248
