Friday, April 14, 2017

Time to Dip Your Toes in the Sea





Littlehampton looking innocent at low tide, Photo by my daughter Jacqueline Rackham

My husband Steve has been having a big turn out of boxes of old cuttings, letters and articles from our early days in triathlon. Some of the letters are from people who had read one of a number of motivational articles that were in national magazines when in those days I was something of a rarity in taking up a challenging sport when I was past fifty. Its quite funny looking back through those letters and flipping through a few of the article because now there are plenty of older women enjoying my sport and even now when I am competing in the 75- 79 years age group there are women snapping at my heels in the 70-75 group who took up the sport only a little later than me. Photo below in Edmonton, Canada, World Championships 2014.


Some of the letters were from a mixed group of people who having dipped a toe into triathlon were asking advice about equipment and training. Open water swimming is the most scary thing to new triathletes who have entered a couple of pool based triathlons and are feeling a little wobbly about entering their first triathlon with an open water swim. Below, that left arm is unmistakably mine during the Aquathlon Championships in Lake Michigan Chicago 2015

 
I always advise them to join a club so that they will find a group to train with. I was brought up in Worthing from the age of five when my mother returned to her home area after the war, when she had picked up her babies and scurried up to my fathers family in Yorkshire. They were very hard times for years after the war and my Dad was out of work for a while when he came home from serving in the army but thankfully had learned another trade during those years. He was qualified as a plumber and electrician but could not find work in either of those trades and eventually got a job at the gas works and then later as a carpenter at Lelliotts in Worthing making boxes to fit the sun blinds and awnings that they made. He kept that job for years until he retired. Below is the Pier to Pier swim on the Isle of Wight, not sure which year.


So I grew up by the seaside and on any sunny day I would be down on the beach with my cousins and friends whilst both my parents were out at work. Going in the sea was always great fun even though at that time I had not learned to swim properly but went in way out of my depth fearless in my ignorance of the dangers with an old tyre inner tube.

Above is the start at Arundel Triathlon 2015 I think. Raw Energy Pursuits Mick Dicker in the vizi coat and Beltie in the brown jacket. I took that from my marshaling position on the other bank of the Arun. Here I am with race director Niki Treacy photo bombing me!




Later at my senior school, Sussex Road School for Girls we were taken to Heene Road Baths during term time for swimming lessons and I was soon swimming breast stroke and back stroke happily. I remember there was a mile test at the end of term and although I was not a fast swimmer, I could get through that. It was an odd test by today’s standards because we did not swim up and down in roped off lanes but instead the route was up one side of the pool, across the deep end and back down the other side, crossing the shallow end before starting again. At Heene Road Baths the main pool was thirty three and a third yards long. Below is the river Arun at Arundel.

 
Open water swimming held no fear as such for me when we started triathlon and Steve, James Clarke and I went in the sea to do some open water swim training. James already had a wet suit but neither Steve and I did to start. I had a cheap sleeveless suit for a while and eventually we all bought wetsuits. Below is the river Arun at Littlehampton.


Since those days we have taken loads of new friends into the sea for their first shot at open water. Some have taken to it quickly and a few have found it a bit daunting for a while. In Littlehampton there is a strong current to get used to as well as the waves. The only way through to swimming comfortably and happily in the sea is to get in to practice as often as you can and most importantly you should always swim with other people and not on your own. Arun River swim below. 


We are already in April and it is time to get the wetsuit out and see if it has shrunk since you last wore it and if it is tighter than it was maybe now is a good time to shed a few pounds back to that racing weight. Mass start in Ironman Austria in Klagenfurt here below.


 I notice that Tuff Fitty Triathlon Club are having a wet suit testing evening in Arundel Lido at the end of this month. The sea temperature is still only 11.2 degrees according to the surf report locally.  Steve and I are hoping to get in the sea before that but Steve thinks I should wait until the nasty gash on my shin that is already nearly two weeks old but has not dried up completely yet has healed. The older you are the longer anything takes to heal. Fact. 

     Here is the sea in Littlehampton behaving badly during a winter storm in 2016 

The more you can get in the sea the better and the quicker you will get used to the very different feeling of swimming in water with a lot of movement to it, confidence comes with practice and practice really does make perfect. Storm arriving below.


 The waters on the Sussex Coast rarely have anything to worry about lurking under the surface bar a few cuttlefish or jelly fish very occasionally and a bit of sea weed which some people also find a bit off putting.  If you have not been swimming in the sea very much apart from on holiday in crystal clear still water you should also make sure that you check out the beach where you will swim at low tide so that you know where the groynes are because they are a bit spiteful if you swim into one that is submerged at high tide.

Enjoy your swim





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