Open water swimming...

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Wayfarer
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Open water swimming...

Postby Wayfarer » Fri Nov 04, 2011 12:00 am

Hey guys, what's good? Everything all right? How's the kids? Hope everything's all right.

Anyway, I was wondering about open water swimming the other day, since my new Blueseventy wetsuit came in. I'm scared to hell that I'm gonna drown. I don't wanna die. My girlfriend will inherit my motorbike, and my sister will steal my skateboard. That really sucks. So I was thinking of getting some kids floaties, folding them up and putting them in either my swim cap or wetsuit, so if something went wrong and I started drowning, I have a backup plan - just blow them up, and I'll (hopefully) be all right....

Is this the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard?
What are these salesmen peddling?

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Redbull
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Open water swimming...

Postby Redbull » Fri Nov 04, 2011 12:10 am

No.


Last weekend there were 2 x 5 metre whitepointers 50 metres off the beach at Rotto.

Drowning is the least of your problems.
The trouble with jogging is that the ice falls out of your glass

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Wayfarer
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby Wayfarer » Fri Nov 04, 2011 3:33 am

Image
C'mon champ! How many people die because of speeding bastards and drunk drivers each month? I'm assuming less people die every decade from shark attacks. Plus, I don't think this wetsuit tastes like tuna..
What are these salesmen peddling?

Ken Ho
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby Ken Ho » Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:09 am

Nothing stupid about having a back-up plan.
Mine is to swim jump in off a point, like Snapper, and swim around the coast, to be only 50 -100m out at any time. Works for Byron too.
I know there is a long social swim at Byron every Sunday, about 2km, and I'm sure there a plenty of others around the traps. I have not done it, but they probably have a safety vessel of some sort.
When I run or ride, I tend to maroon myself with the first part of the ride, forcing myself to keepmgoing to get home. Hard to think about doing that on a swim.
D you have a mate with a paddle ski or kayak etc who could be your safety boat ?
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Apple
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby Apple » Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:21 am

Yes.
You will be fine, you can't worry about every little thing.
Lean to swim and be able to do a km freely. join a squad. Try your wet suit in the pool first to get used to it. Lubricate it around the neck. Wet suits have buoyancy anyway. Nothing more fun than swimming in the open water. Try and do the ocean swims in summer.
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Redbull
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby Redbull » Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:26 am

Image
The trouble with jogging is that the ice falls out of your glass

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Redbull
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby Redbull » Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:31 am

Get one of these.

Nobody messes with the Enterprise and comes out ahead

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The trouble with jogging is that the ice falls out of your glass

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Wayfarer
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby Wayfarer » Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:07 pm

Ken Ho wrote:When I run or ride, I tend to maroon myself with the first part of the ride, forcing myself to keepmgoing to get home. Hard to think about doing that on a swim.
D you have a mate with a paddle ski or kayak etc who could be your safety boat ?
Oh yeah, I do that too.I don't have any friends that swim, and I don't really wanna abuse my girlfriend to bodyboard out, when she swims worse than I do :lol:
Redbull wrote:Get one of these.

Image
err... excuse me, but really? a redshirt? Didn't wearing a red shirt in the original series mean.. well.. you know.. 'guess who'se not coming back from this away mission'?

edit; holy crap; those are actual wetsuits :O MUST HAVE
What are these salesmen peddling?

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Redbull
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby Redbull » Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:12 am

Maybe no yellow ones cause those are the first guys taken out
The trouble with jogging is that the ice falls out of your glass

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clackers
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby clackers » Sat Nov 05, 2011 11:03 am

Didn't the Taylors years ago show by tossing dummies into a bunch of Great Whites that it was the suit colours that were the real problem? (Black equalling seal to an ancient creature with a lot of instinct and little intelligence)

Yellow could be looking good again for you ...

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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby Wayfarer » Sun Nov 20, 2011 2:58 am

clackers wrote:Didn't the Taylors years ago show by tossing dummies into a bunch of Great Whites that it was the suit colours that were the real problem? (Black equalling seal to an ancient creature with a lot of instinct and little intelligence)

Yellow could be looking good again for you ...
Clacker.. you really are a clacker :lol: Maybe I'll just leave the tuna flavoured sunscreen at home
What are these salesmen peddling?

sonj
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby sonj » Sun Nov 20, 2011 8:57 pm

The amusing responses to this thread remind me of my desire to take up trail running despite being quite a bit scared of snakes. So someone like me posted on CoolRunning asking for reassurance and they just got inundated with scary anecdotes & blurry pics of disturbed reptiles. Sigh.

But in my experience with ocean swimming the worst part is accidentally gulping down salty water and not gagging too much. Your wetsuit will provide some bouyancy and there's no shame in stopping, taking a deep breath (relax) and looking around to make sure you're not heading off to NZ.

Ken Ho
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby Ken Ho » Sun Nov 20, 2011 9:33 pm

Going to do the Byron swim tomorrow, Wategoes to Main beach. Or maybe Snapper to Kirra.
I'll let you know if I get eaten or drown.
You have officially become your parents.

sonj
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby sonj » Sun Nov 20, 2011 10:01 pm

Ken I rolled the dice/bones/8-ball and decided that you will live to tell us about it.

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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby Ken Ho » Mon Nov 21, 2011 9:09 pm

Not dead yet.
Sooked out a bit with the swim, stayed in close. Don't have that much swim in me yet.
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kellyu
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby kellyu » Tue Nov 22, 2011 12:08 am

Ken Ho wrote:Not dead yet.
Sooked out a bit with the swim, stayed in close. Don't have that much swim in me yet.
I've got a whole 150m freestyle in a 25m pool amount of swim in me. You've got more than most :-)
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Ken Ho
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby Ken Ho » Tue Nov 22, 2011 8:04 am

kellyu wrote:
Ken Ho wrote:Not dead yet.
Sooked out a bit with the swim, stayed in close. Don't have that much swim in me yet.
I've got a whole 150m freestyle in a 25m pool amount of swim in me. You've got more than most :-)
I am pretty crap. Never did get taught much as a kid and I'm not keen on pools. My son drowned in one, and I have a deep seated aversion. I'm OK if it's hot and sunny, but as soon as it's overcast or anything, the bunyips come out.
I've started using an interval timer though, which works well for my running, so we'll see how that goes.
The ocean is getting really nice here now, after being a bit cool in spring, so more ocean swims are on the schedule.
You have officially become your parents.

bracko
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby bracko » Mon Jan 16, 2012 4:44 pm

there are heaps of small swims in sydney... if you're THAT worried go to a beach and stroll up to the lifeguards, tell them exactly where you're swimming (ideally just swim 50m out from the flags, 50m across and 50m in to start) and if they could possibly keep an eye on you.

do you know anything about beaches? if no, perhaps best to do a "surf safety" course to learn how to read a beach, understand rips etc...

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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby bracko » Mon Jan 16, 2012 4:47 pm

bracko wrote:there are heaps of small swims in sydney... if you're THAT worried go to a beach and stroll up to the lifeguards, tell them exactly where you're swimming (ideally just swim 50m out from the flags, 50m across and 50m in to start) and if they could possibly keep an eye on you.

do you know anything about beaches? if no, perhaps best to do a "surf safety" course to learn how to read a beach, understand rips etc...
clackers wrote:Didn't the Taylors years ago show by tossing dummies into a bunch of Great Whites that it was the suit colours that were the real problem? (Black equalling seal to an ancient creature with a lot of instinct and little intelligence)

Yellow could be looking good again for you ...
there is quite a lot of evidence that sharks are actually very intelligent on the scale of apex hunters.

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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby Wayfarer » Mon Jan 16, 2012 5:28 pm

bracko wrote:there is quite a lot of evidence that sharks are actually very intelligent on the scale of apex hunters.
Don't be silly. Everybody knows that sharks are crazy. They swim around hell-bent on eating and killing everything in their path. All the time!
Image
Look how crazy he is! Haha...

So since November, I grabbed a wetsuit and somehow i can float in it. First race in it, got 500m in 8 minutes. Next race was a no wetsuit swim, 17 minutes.. and I sunk. Alot. Can't float without it :( My body fat in calipers was 2mm. The Exercise physiologist said i had the lowest score in lower body fat he's ever seen, and there's no wonder i couldn't float. In it, I can swim indefinitely, but without it, barely 100m... Anyone have a similar experience?

oh, speaking of rips, I got caught in one at Bondi. I didn't even know, I was just paddling and paddling and not getting anywhere (I thought it was because the waves kept going over me), until the life guard came out on his surfboard and told me I'm not getting outta there without him :shock:
What are these salesmen peddling?

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mark field
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Re: Open water swimming...

Postby mark field » Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:30 am

only thing i take with me on an ocean swim is a tourniquet, i get them at work and they fold up to about the size of a piece of Lego,and sit in the back of my speedo's, if by some bad stroke of luck myself or another competitor receive what is usually a test bite (to see if your worth eating) from a shark, its the loss of blood that does you in, so it could make all the difference. people might laugh, but if your the poor bugger that's bitten swimming next to me, you will be glad that i'm there. and lets be honest,id be glad that your there too, because better you than me :wink:
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