Week 3 - On Tour
This was a learning weekend for many people, me included. It was the first time that we’ve run training in two locations simultaneously. I’m gutted that I missed the fun at Ramsgate, but it was great to see the beach buzzing with Aspire swimmers building team relationships. The technology meant that I could see who was still in the water in Ramsgate, so I did have you all in my thoughts and I had a picture in my mind of what things would be like.
The Aspire model of teams with boat leaders works really well in this environment and gave an added level of security as each swimmer had multiple people looking out for them all of the time. Many hands make light work afterall.
The pod leaders told me how impressed they were with everyone following the swim zone guidance and timings well in an unfamiliar environment. Thank you and well done.
Weekly Review
NB Please scroll to the bottom for a selection of the photos taken
A warmer than average season so far
Anyone with a swim this year, particularly an early one, is blessed with the fact that the water is warmer than average for this time of the season. How lovely 😊. However, with that also comes the need to ramp up quickly. I’m sure that some of you were surprised by longer swims than you were expecting. Our aim remains the same, to get those of you who need qualifiers to get them in time and for you to be prepared for your swim.
Shout outs
Congratulations to:
Patrick for your 5 & 7 weekend (including Patrick penalties for geographical issues).
Andy for your 6 hour swim
Adele for your 4 & 3 weekend
Jon & Lucy for 4 hours
Steve, Mel & Danny for your relay qualifiers
Also well done to anyone new who did more than they were perhaps expecting thanks to the water being warmer than anticipated.
Well done to ALL swimmers who had a big gulp when the ask was more than you were anticipating and yet you did it anyway. You should know by now that it’s difficult to predict! The ability to handle the unexpected is in itself fabulous training.
Learnings
The tide in Dover can push you outside of the swim zone if you don’t sight regularly. If you struggle with directional control, you can stay well inside the boundaries - there is no need to swim to the edge.
Forecasts can change. The lumpy water in the middle of the session on Saturday wasn’t forecast, nor was the drizzle at the start of Sunday!
The afterdrop affected a few people this weekend. To miminise this, use those first golden minutes wisely. Get out quickly, get to your kit, get changed, then chat. If you need help dressing, just ask, cold fumbly fingers can make changing difficult.
Always have a plan for what you intend to achieve and if you are unsure of your ability to handle the temperature, stay in an area with good access to the beach for a rapid exit.
Feeding was a new experience for some swimmers. Practice is needed for this important part of your swim. Speed is important, so keep yourself down low to keep your body out of the breeze, get your drink down, and get going. The chat is for after training!
Footwear was a challenge for some. i know that Crocs (other brands are available) are not a fashion statement, but they are practical. Anything fiddly or that requires coordination with chilly toes is not a good idea.
The motion of the ocean tested everyone’s constitution on Sunday with a few green faces. Training is a good time to test everything, including sea sickness medication.
Swim stats
Note: Water temperature taken during the swim session in the harbour. Air temperature, wind direction & wind speed taken from the Port of Dover app.
Saturday (Ramsgate):
Swimmers: 19 (Ramsgate)
Swimmers: 61 (Dover)
Water temperature: 13.5C
Air temperature: 18C
Conditions: Flat to start, very choppy in the middle, flat at the end. Sunny all day. F3 to F5 gusting F6 Easterly.
Sunday:
Swimmers: 83
Water temperature: 13.2C
Air temperature: 13.8C
Conditions: F3 gusting F4 NE. Choppy. Cloudy, drizzle to start.
Volunteers & beach crew
It takes a lot of people to make our training work. I’m still struggling a lot with my Covid recovery and so I am very grateful to everyone who helped out, enabling me to take many moments to catch my breath. In particular, I’d like to call out assistance from Mandi, Paul & Dirk as pod leaders. I’d also like to call out all the Aspire boat leaders and other helpers. Team work makes the dream work.
If you have appreciated the support that you’ve received in the past, why not come along and volunteer for a session or more. Whilst we’ll accept any help on the day, it is really helpful to know that we have support.
Our group is only sustainable at current pricing with your support.
If you want to join the fun, why not pick a date and join the fun on the beach!
The adventures of Dover Dave
Dave is living his best life! He had a fantastic week with Patrick at work and in the pool! He’s now shadowing Tony for a week. I wonder where that will take him?
If you’d like to host Dave for a week, please let us know on the beach. We’d love to see a photo diary of Dave’s summer in our Facebook Group.
Paddlefish Ponderings - Stages of Competence
“Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence.”
Anyone who has done any business studies will likely have come across the Stages of Competence theory. It doesn’t just apply to the world of business though. It applies to any environment that is new to us and in which we wish to develop. That includes open water swimming.
Let’s talk through the four stages that you will progress through. You’ll pass through these in order, without skipping any steps. For many things, stage 3, conscious competence is all you need.
It can be argued that those who reach the final stage, unconscious competence, cease to be learners and can become blind to new opportunities to do things in a better way and unwittingly can find themselves back in unconsciously incompetence! Ouch!
Progression from stage to stage can come with ‘Aha!’ moments. Things suddenly 'click' into place for the individual - they feels they have made a big step forward, which of course they have. You are probably having these moments at this phase of the season. It’s normal!
Unconscious incompetence
This is where we all start with something completely new.
we have no idea just how much we don’t know.
we not aware that we have a particular deficiency in the area concerned
we may deny the relevance or importance of the skill
In order to learn the skill, we must become consciously aware of our incompetence before we can go on to develop the learning or skill. The best way to do this is to also understand the importance of that skill or learning and how it will help overall.
I’m curious as to the things that are going through your mind when you think about this. What did you once not know at all and come to realise how naive you were?
In the world of open water swimming, the list is almost endless and it’s what makes for an uncomfortable first few weeks and a rapid learning curve:
the importance of earplugs
the after-drop
easy to get on layers after your swim
flip flops are very hard to negotiate with cold toes
pebbles hurt to walk on
the impact of the tide
your ability to swim in a straight line
swimming in the sea is different to swimming in the pool or a lake
water temperature isn’t the only thing that impacts how cold you feel
When we book our swims, we don’t always have all the knowledge that we’ll need and yet at this point we are completely unaware of this, until this next stage…..
Conscious incompetence
The first few weeks of training can be ‘interesting’. We learn a lot, quickly. It’s not uncommon for swimmers to have a crisis of confidence at this stage. This is bizarrely a good thing! It shows that you’re moving from the first stage to the second stage and becoming aware of things that you need to learn.
Keep the faith. Learning is a process and it will happen. We’re here to guide you on that journey.
Bit by bit, we’ll teach you the process that you need to follow on your big day.
Examples include:
the importance of getting changed quickly
tactics for breaking down big swims into manageable chunks
swimming in the dark
feeding
working as a team and accepting help from others
Sometimes, it is at this point that we can see your potential but you now can’t see it. We may encourage you to borrow our belief in you until you find your own again.
Conscious competence
This is the outcome of all your training. The first few weeks of training are all a bit new. Like this weekend, I often make a comment towards the beginning of the season that the time will come when I say ‘3 hours’ and you’ll say ‘what only 3 hours?’ and people laugh and say ‘I’ll never say that’. Yet you do. This is the evidence of you moving to this stage. Your comfort zone has shifted beyond your belief. At this point you suddenly become consciously aware that your training has made a difference and you can, once again, see the possibility of a successful outcome.
You are aware of the things that you need to do and how to do them. You do still have to consciously think about it.
Examples include:
You know how many layers you need for the conditions in hand
You know how long different parts of the harbour take you and you can predictably get back to the beach on time
You understand the need to give your number in and sometimes still need to be asked (you may even forget to give your band in!)
This is enough. You can swim the channel (other swims are available) at this level as you have the skills and knowledge to do it, even if you have to give some conscious thought to it.
Unconscious competence
This is where things become auto pilot. You don’t even have to think about it anymore. You’ll find yourself intuitively packing your bag with all the right kit in all the right order. You could probably have a reasonable guess at how long I suggest that you swim.
This stage applies to you and your beach crew. For example, we learn who’s crocs are who’s and throw them to you without thinking. We can quickly assess the swimmers at feeds and spot who should cut their swim short and who would benefit from an extra stretch - that’s years of experience brought back in an instant.
The problem comes when you realise that you know all that you need to know and stop learning.
Why is that a problem?
We continue to evolve, we continue to learn. In DCT we pride ourselves on this. We follow the science. You may think it’s always been done the same way and it’s true that some things have remained constant. Other things have been tweaked over the years in response to new knowledge. We invest in training. We listen to experts.
Just imagine if the sport hadn’t evolved:
There’d still be rowing boats escorting you across
Pork pies, corned beef sandwiches, brandy and dutch butter would form your feeds
You’d cover yourself in channel grease
Your suit would be knitted
What if DCT had remained the same:
No website
No expert led seminars
No night swims
No adaptation of feeding
No kayaker
We evolve or we regress!
So, takeaway message, if you found yourself in that uncomfortable position of become aware of things that you don’t know, fabulous, embrace it! That is great progress. A more comfortable place is just around the corner.
Reminders
Remember to book your sessions online. By far the easiest way is through the app. This QR will take you to the app where you can book directly and see what you have already booked. You can cancel and reschedule.
Bookings can be made up to 48 hours ahead and be cancelled or rescheduled up to 48 hours ahead also. The system doesn’t arrange automatic refunds, so if you would like a refund, please check out our refund policy and get in touch if you would like a refund.
Those of you with training subscriptions, enter your email address and click in the discount code box and your automatic voucher should appear. Let me know if you have any trouble with this.
Those of you who are members, please remember to cancel your membership when you no longer want it. You can do that within a membership period and still have all the benefits of it, this will prevent it from auto renewing next year. You can do this within your account, by following the link in the confirmation email when you took out your membership, or by asking me to do it for you.
Keith Oiller is the Swimmer Liaison officer for the CSA and can often be found on the beach during training. If you are a CSA swimmer or are thinking of booking a CSA swim, Keith would be delighted to chat with you.
Looking ahead
Night swims
We’re offering two night swim opportunities this season.
Late start on Friday 20th May: this is an opportunity for a short swim (maximum 1 hour) late on a Friday evening. Training on the Saturday remains as normal.
Early start on Saturday 11th June: this is an opportunity for a long swim (maximum of 6 hours) swimming from the dark into daylight
On both of these swims you’ll need to wear two green adventure lights.
As we are not able to assess new swimmers in the dark, we do not accept new (to us) swimmers on these swims. If you want to join us for one of these night swims, you’ll need to join us before as well.
On these swims, during the hours of darkness, we will have additional safety measures in place with a restricted swim zone. This will be explained during the mandatory briefing.
Intensity week
Back by popular demand, we have our mid-season intensity week. If you’re looking for a fun environment to get a solid block of training in, why not come along and join in. We’ll be blending some long swims with some creative ways of training at a variety of intensity levels.
Spotlight in the shop
Did you see the sun? Wasn’t it glorious!
If you need something to shade your head when you’re nice an warm, our baseball caps are just the thing.
Photos
A few photos from the weekend….
