Monday, June 17, 2013

Sabine's beanie: message from Francene

Dear Monday 7am Swimmers,

Great session today - the beeper set certainly got you thinking about stroke rates and if you're in the right zone - a really good exercise.

We've come home minus one white and pink baby beanie, and was wondering if anyone inadvertently picked it up with their gear? Sabine would love it back, so if it turns up in anyone's kit if you could bring it along next week, or during this week and leave it in the trolley that would be fabulous.

Many thanks, Francene and Sabine

Friday, June 14, 2013

Race Report is now up!

Dear Swimmers

As promised, my Manhattan Island Marathon Swim report is now available for reading at:


Thanks again to all of you in the squad for supporting me through this journey and to achieve this massive dream - I just can't believe it!

Myself and Adam are now taking a "bromance" road trip from NYC to California in a Dodge Charger and having a week or two to relax and soak up all that this great country has to offer. I will be back in Perth on the 3rd July - see you soon!

Paul





Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Anyone know of a blind triathlete guide?

Dear Swimmers

We've been making some good contacts over here in the US and a great coach from Boston named Bill Steele and contactable on breakwaterbill@gmail.com has the following enquiry for the upcoming Busselton Ironman - can anyone help or know of anyone who can?

"I've been working with a blind athlete who will be racing this coming December in the Western Australia Ironman at Busselton, which I see is just down the road from you. Do you know anybody who has acted as a blind triathlete guide?

The athlete is a hard-working 26-year-old swimmer with multiple medals in the last three Paralympic games. He is new to triathlon and was drawn to Ironman training by the prospect of doing something different after twelve years of swim training. 

He is currently planning on going to Australia five weeks in front of the race, so there will be ample time to train with a guide. If you know of anybody who might be interested, or if you can pass this request along to the local tri clubs or organizations in that neck of the woods, perhaps we can get a conversation going between Ehhamed (the swimmer) and one or more prospective guides.

Please contact me on breakwaterbill@gmail.com"

Cheers 

Paul

Monday, June 10, 2013

We won!



Dear Swimmers

Just a very quick note and a couple of piccies in case you didn't see the report on Channel 9 last night that we won the 2013 48km Manhattan Island Marathon Swim!!!

I placed 1st overall in 7h14m and Ceinwen 4th overall & 1st female in 7h31m!! Lisa Delaurentis finished 8th overall and 5th female in 8h01m. As you will see from the official results:


...only 11 of the 42 starters officially finished the event due to a combination of extremely cold conditions in the water and a change in the tidal conditions midway through the swim from a later than expected start which culminated in most of the field having to be pulled out of the water and escorted by their boats 1km upstream to avoid the current. Andrew, Wayne and Geoff then progressed around the course with Paul D unfortunately retiring due to this incident. 

More on that here:


I am personally thrilled to bits with this achievement and it far exceeded my wildest expectations! I want to write more on this later this week once I've had a chance to reflect and soak it all in, but a combination of the tough / cold conditions, good / consistent training preparation and getting into both a positive physical and mental flow for the entire day all played their part in getting me around the course in número uno position. 

My support crew of Adam (flown in from the UK), Amanda (flown in from Perth), Evan (flown in from California) and locals Alex (paddler), Barrie (boat driver) and Hannah (observer) all played an absolutely pivotal role in this success and I could not have managed it without them. Thanks guys and thanks also to my wife Michelle and Jackson and Isla for all their support whilst Daddy did his training swims.

A special thanks once again to my absolute mentor and inspiration in marathon swimming, Shelley Taylor-Smith. Like before my English Channel swim attempt in September 2011, Shelley very kindly spent some valuable time with me going through what it might take to perform at my best around this course - one which she's personally won no less than a record breaking 5 times - that being said, I never truly believed I could win it, though Shelley had confided with Amanda (Nitschke; my awesome paddler, lifelong friend and squad member) that she had an inkling that I might - she knows her stuff and knows her athletes clearly!

Notably I managed to finish in front of 17 year old uber-fish Lochie Hinds from Sydney who was consistently training 3 times more volume per week than me for this event (120-130k .vs. 40-50k). I am sure the world of marathon swimming will see much more of this bright talent in years to come as he is very, very good, but it just goes to show that if you believe in yourself, your training and get the balance right in work, family and your sporting aspirations, who knows what can happen even on moderate training volumes and with a full time job and family. 

Here's some pics courtesy of Trevor Collens from the West Australian (http://trevorcollens.photoshelter.com/) and our own Adam Young:













Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Boat / Observer Assistance Required for NYCSwim "Manhattan Island Marathon Swim" this Saturday June 8th, 2013

Boat / Observer Assistance Required for NYCSwim "Manhattan Island Marathon Swim" this Saturday June 8th, 2013:

As you may have read in last week's Blog Swim Smooth's Head Coach Paul Newsome and six more of the Perth Swim Smooth Squad will attempt to swim the 46km (28.5 miles) circumference of Manhattan Island this Saturday as part of NYCSwim's annual Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (MIMS for short). The teams are all arriving in New York as we speak and readying themselves for this monumental event which starts at 7.40am (EDT) on Saturday and will take ~8 to 9.5 hours to complete, being assisted in part by various favourable currents and tides.

NYCSwim have unfortunately had a number of support boats and observers regrettably pull out of the event at the 11th hour and are eagerly seeking assistance from anyone in the NYC area this weekend who could assist in the following areas:

  • they require 5-10 motorised support boats (and driver!) in the 19-40ft length range equipped with VHF radios and a swim ladder. Unfortunately due to Hurricane Sandy last fall many boats were damaged internally and these issues have only been discovered as their owners are readying the vessels for the event this weekend. All drivers will be compensated for fuel expenses during the event.
  • they require 10-15 observers to hop aboard one of the motorised support boats that will allow the racers (42 solo swimmers) to safely navigate the Manhattan waterways. Whilst this will be a long day on the boat and an early start (registrations from 4.45am) it will be a fantastic way to see the Big Apple and help support a world class event!

If anyone can help out in any way or refer this email on to someone you might know who could, please do contact NYCSwim directly at info@nycswim.org asap - your help will be gratefully received.

Further information and two very important recorded webinars (both ~60 minutes in length) can be accessed via NYCSwim's Schedule page at http://nycswim.org/Event/Event.aspx?event_id=2302&from=timeline - check them out if you can - it's going to be a wonderful event to be part of!

Cheers

Paul


Monday, June 3, 2013

News from Canada / USA & PAYG Card Price Increase from 1st July 2013

Dear Swimmers

Hope you had a great weekend. We visited Niagara Falls and whilst slightly cliché as an area of natural beauty, I have to say I was blown away by the majesty and power of the falls, especially from down below on the "Journey Behind the Falls" and also on a special trip on one of the "Maid of the Mist" boats - superb! We also had my daughter's (Isla Rose) christening today followed by a huge rainstorm in 32ºC heat - awesome; here's some pics:













We are less than a week away from our Manhattan Island Marathon Swim next Saturday 8th June - full details on how to follow us are here:


…everyone has arrived in New York now and are in position ready to rock'n'roll - can't wait! We will keep you posted.

PAYG Cards Price Increase:

It is with much regret that I write to inform you that we must increase the cost of the current PAYG session cards to accommodate a massive $1,000 per month (33%) increase in lane hire at the Claremont Pool, effective as of 1st July 2013. This has just been proposed and passed by the council.

In order to minimise the effect on you and to hopefully seek your continued support and patronage, we have aimed to keep this price increase to an absolute minimum to simply cover these costs. I have calculated that based on the average number of attendees per week over the course of the year, that if each session increases by just $1.00 we should be able to just cover this substantial increase in our overheads. 

We recognise that whilst all businesses as standard protocol increase their fees typically every 12 months, we have always tried to keep our pricing fair and reasonable, but equally appreciate that you pay a premium price for a quality coaching service in a great venue. I do sincerely hope that you can understand and support this and I thank you in advance for already remaining supportive of the squad going into these colder winter months.

You still have the opportunity to purchase a card at 2012/13 prices until the end of June. To buy a card now, click here: http://swimsmooth.com/perth_buycard.html

Price increases and what it means per session:
  • Casual visit = currently $15, price as of 1/7/13 = $16 (i.e. $1.00 increase per session)
  • 10 session card with a 12 week expiry = currently $130, price as of 1/7/13 = $140 or $14.00 per session (i.e. $1.00 increase per session)
  • 25 session card with a 16 week expiry = currently $285, price as of 1/7/13 = $310 or $12.40 per session (i.e. $1.00 increase per session)
  • 50 session card with a 20 week expiry = currently $500, price as of 1/7/13 = $550 or $11.00 per session (i.e. $1.00 increase per session)
Our 1-2-1 Video Analysis & Stroke Correction session will increase to $189 from $165, and from $120 to $139 for our follow-up session.

Hope that all makes sense and is fair and reasonable.

Cheers

Paul