Sunday, April 27, 2008

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.