DCT Week 10 - back to reality
Saturday 4th July
The UK Government moves the relaxing of lockdown in accordance with Step 3. Having read all of the information produced on the lockdown relaxation place, I had established that step 3 was the earliest that I could restart training. Even then it’s not easy. Social distancing is still very much with us.
Normally, our greatest risks lie in the water. This year, many of the more concerning risks are on the beach and the simple things that we used to take for granted.
We all have to consider social responsibility and the impact that we’re having on others.
This is not a normal year and the way we are supporting swimmers is not the way we would like to and is not in our normal format. However, we’ve always said you should learn to expect the unexpected and this sure was unexpected. Those who rode a months’ worth of Dovercoaster last year must be thanking their lucky stars that their not riding the Coronacoaster. Those that rode the Dovercoaster until the season finished and are now riding the Coronacoaster are a very special group who are made of special stuff. Your story is one to be told for years to become. It will become folklore.
Anyway, in this weekly blog, I’ll describe what happens in our short Dover Dips, and as so many of you are taking DCT to where you are, I’d also like to hear about your training. Drop me a line, send me some photos and I’ll include you in the next blog post to be posted. I’d like to show what an amazing group this is and that we are strong wherever we train.
#StrongerTogether
#TeamDCT
Sunday 5th July
So it’s week 10, but also week 1. Normally the first week of training is launched with much celebration.
This is not a normal year.
Normally we hope for good weather, not just for the swimmers, but also for the volunteers on the beach. This year, with visions of overly packed beaches and the risks that brings in our Covid-19 world, I’m actually hoping for bad weather so that less people find the beach attractive!
This is not a normal year.
8 am - drizzly and windy
So imagine the scene. We arrive at the beach at 7.30am to set up for the first batch of Dover Dippers to exactly what we asked for - windy drizzly weather!! At the point that I noticed that one side of my jeans were soaked from the fine drizzle, I had to remind myself that this was actually perfect!
It’s quite a look, isn’t it?!
We were ready before 8 with our PPE - aprons, gloves & face coverings and a brand new app developed by Geoff so that we could remove the risk of multiple people handling signing in books that can’t be sanitised.
Anyone who’s been in this sport for a while will be used to seeing odd tan lines from goggle marks and hat lines. This year I suspect the volunteers will be sporting a PPE tan line, that could take some explaining, particularly if we also swim and get goggle and hat marks to complete the set. Even in this working from home world, with the wonders of video meetings, it will still look odd!
8am Dippers: 3
10am Dippers: 5
Our group sizes are deliberately small. It’s very strange not worrying about hand numbers as we can easily manage by name.
This is not a normal year!
There was some brilliant swimming by all today’s dippers in conditions that were far from easy. I’d forgotten the beautiful smiles that you get from swimmers who have had a great cold & bumpy swim - the endorphin smile. I’d missed that.
Perhaps this does have some normal after all.
The day improved in as much as the drizzle stopped and the sun came out. So the second dippers had nicer weather but the full force of the wind at high water. The washing machine was on spin cycle.
Clearer but bumpier - with our croc sanitising bucket brightening up the beach!
It was lovely to see some other very familiar faces training independently too. Well done Jon on your 5 & 4 this weekend in pretty tough conditions.
Looking ahead
I’m looking forward to welcoming swimmers onto our first camp - our Ramp-up training camp which runs mid-week. Week one starts tomorrow followed by one more week next week.
This is specifically aimed at helping you ramp your training back up safely, particularly important if you’ve had Covid-19 or may have had it and not realised.
So, over to you - where have you been training and how was it for you?
Booking system
As a reminder, to ensure that we keep our numbers at a safe level, you will need to book online (the link is below). You can book right up to 12 hours ahead (subject to spaces remaining) and cancel or reschedule up to 24 hours ahead. Rescheduling can be done by you, if you wish to cancel and do so before 24 hours ahead, please get in touch if you would like a refund.