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.
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.
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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