North Bondi Classic Ocean Swim: Beaut Day For It

 Not in a million, billion, quadrillion years would I ever swim this course on my own.

Are you mad?

But put me in the ocean with a few hundred or even thousand others, and it’s all systems go.

After another excellent 12 week ocean swim training season with CanToo, and having raised $1200 for Cure Cancer Australia, I joined my swimming buddies at North Bondi this morning to swim the 2km race.

Not so much a race as a swim for me, really.

And in we go, in waves arranged by age group. My first swim as a 50+

I can get really scared getting out through a heavy surf break, but thank goodness the waves were not too big here.

And our coaches, team captains and mentors know us well and were there to chat through the course and soothe our nerves.

And I have my calming swimming mantra to get me through:

My legs are strong

My arms are strong

My friends are all around

Once at the first buoy, I’m all good and just churned my way through the course. I blooming LOVE swimming with great big rolling swell moving through.

I ended up coming in with some of the other women in my training ‘pod.’ Getting back in was easy today.

Wee wave to my sister who took the photo (when I start my photography course I must learn how to Photoshop out cellulite!   Ah, the camera never lies….. )

We all broke into a run just to finish up.

Here’s me with our awesome team captain, Pitch. Big thank you to her and also to all the Cantoo open water coaches and to Laura our pool coach.

It was a great swim!

No better way to feel truly alive.

We walked past beautiful Bondi Icebergs Baths on the way home, and I made a mental note to get back there for a swim and to write it up for this blog – long overdue.

My big sister Mairi is  on the 6am flight out of Sydney tomorrow. I’ll miss her very much. We’ve been together for five weeks, for the first time since we were 16 and 18.

But her family needs her back, she was just on loan.  Boo hoo.

How was your weekend?

Any splashing in the sea?