Week 12 - Bouncy water
“Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalise on what comes”
Week 12 in review
The Dovercoaster continues.
This Saturday was due to be an ‘On Tour’ weekend. With a forecast of a Force 6 gusting Force 8 from the South West, Hythe was a big no-no. Normally, when Hythe is bad, Ramsgate is better, but with a forecast as big as that, even Ramsgate would be a challenge.
We are blessed with Dover Harbour. The harbour walls offer a lot of protection. So, in the words of Dr Ruth, instead of being ‘On Tour’ we had a staycation. Even if part of the harbour is out of bounds, there’s always somewhere swimmable. I can only recall one training session in the last 16 years when the forecast was so bad that we had to cancel completely. Because of the walls we do have more choppy conditions than you’d often see in the channel. Our ‘On Tour’ sessions give us exposure to the swell that is more common.
In an uncertain world and sport, we do at least have the certainty of being able to train.
This weekend wasn’t the weekend to do BIG swims. An hour in big water like you had this weekend, is worth far more than an hour in training efforts, so well done one and all. Whether you swam for 10 minutes or 5 hours, you stood up and were counted. Well done!
Thank you to the volunteers who got wet from the rain and the waves to help you train.
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:
Swimmers: 16
Water temperature: 17.2C
Air temperature: 19C
Conditions: F6 gusting F7 SW. Rain and gusty wind. Choppy with swell and algae
Sunday:
Swimmers: 15
Water temperature: 17.2C
Air temperature: 18C
Conditions: F6 gusting F7 SW. Choppy, swell: bouncy!!
Shout outs to …..
Absolutely everyone who stepped up and swam on a bouncy weekend. Brilliant training which will put you in good stead. The following did the bigger swims this weekend:
Laura S; Lucy AP; Martin J for your 4 hour swims
Dominic B; for your 5 hour swims
Drew B; James C; Mark P for your 5 & 4 weekends
Thank you!
Thank you to the following volunteers who were on the rota for the weekend:
Level 1: Mandi B
Level 2: Sarah D; Kevin M; Sarah P
Thank you to all Level 3 volunteers who helped out a little or a lot. A special call out to Keith who gives of his time and knowledge freely when available.
I’m personally very grateful for each and every volunteer. Thank you. You are incredible.
We are looking to expand our Level 2 volunteer team, if you are interested, visit our volunteers page or contact our volunteers lead.
Channel Swimmer on the beach!
The news stories are coming thick and fast now. Apologies if I miss including you in this section - nudge me and I’ll humbly edit.
These are the swims that I heard about in the week of this blog:
Swim Tayka Team Peru for you successful channel relay on 10th July: 15hrs 8mins, pilot Robert Thompson
Walter’s Worries
Rough weather
My furry ear is always listening. I may have a fixed look on my face, but I’m listening. Your worries are safe with me. I can anonymously ask Emma to talk about them. Unsurprisingly this week you talked to me about rough weather and getting practice dealing with challenging conditions. You also talked about the psychological effects of completing tough training sessions.
I can completely relate to concerns about the weather, though given that I don’t (yet) swim, my concerns are more about the effect that the wind and rain has on my furstyle!
Paddlefish Ponderings
Walter, it’s so helpful having your eyes and ears on the worries of the moment. Thank you for being there, even when I’m not.
Until now, 2023 had treated us pretty well. That can lull you into a false sense of security that it is always like that.
I get it. This is an unwanted additional challenge on top of the Dovercoaster (it is of course why we’re on the Dovercoaster). We can so easily become that inner child who declares ‘it’s not fair’, or ‘why now?!’. All our carefully laid plans are cast aside, for some at the worst possible time.
Suddenly, at this point of the season, we become unduly worried about getting injured. We can worry about having our carefully planned training disrupted. Whilst very logical concerns, you’re unlikely to get injured and it can be a massive boost to the effectiveness of your training.
Those who did the intensity week this year had a really challenging week of weather and you knocked out the training regardless.
At the conference we talked about our conscious mind and our unconscious mind. We did this in the context of planning and goal setting.
Our conscious mind is the one that we consciously think with. It’s the one that is used for deliberate action. It is our goal setter.
Our unconscious mind is the one that runs all our automatic processes. It makes sure that our heart beats, that we breathe, it runs our habits. It’s also our goal getter. Our unconscious mind is pretty literal. If we were to age it, it would be the age of a small child.
We spend much of our life planning and controlling things. Then along come things that we can’t control. The unconscious mind can have a strop. Go on, you can picture that inner child ‘humpf’ and cross arms. In comes the conscious mind and reminds you of the goal and the best of the unconscious mind kicks in.
Remember to be specific about your goal. Let’s give an example. If, in a different context, you had a goal to make money. Imagine you’ve been to the pool for training and when you went to your favourite locker, you find that someone left their £1 coin behind. Unconscious mind - ‘yay, I reached my goal, I made money, I can stop now’. I’m pretty sure £1 wasn’t the intended target, but you hadn’t said how much money you wanted.
So, think about your goal. Remember to be specific. Your unconscious mind can unfold the arms and start to get creative about all the positive ways it can use what’s happening to get you the outcome that you want.
If I think back to my first season in Dover, the weather was horrendous. Every week the ‘washing machine’ was on spin cycle. It rained most weekends.
I vividly remember coming over that final brow of the hill, down the A20 and seeing choppy angry water. My whole body would slump in the seat. ‘Not again’.
Part way through the season I needed to reframe my thinking. I came to appreciate that this was amazing training. Prepare for the worst and chances are the day won’t be that bad.
I learned to love bumpy water (and still do). It’s fun. Time seems to fly by. The energy in the water seems to somehow transmit the energy to me. I love it!!
Don’t get me wrong, given the choice, I’d choose a pre-dawn start, a beautiful sunrise, calm seas and a landing on the cap; and I have had crossings just like that. I’ve also had solos and relays where the conditions have been challenging. That training meant that it was all ok. My first attempt at the channel was so rough that it took several attempts to get down the ladder from the upper deck before I could even get on the dive platform. I was so nervous that I didn’t even notice that the conditions were challenging. Even when swimming I didn’t notice. It’s only when I look back at photos that I realise that it wasn’t very nice!!
So, with hindsight, I’m very glad that I had that opportunity in training. The challenging became normal. Just like swimming for 13 hours over a weekend is ‘normal’ - go outside of our bubble of channel swimming and people will be quick to tell you that this is not ‘normal’.
Reframing the issue as a benefit is the difference that makes the difference.
So I’ll leave you with an alternative quote to the usual ‘prepare for the worst, hope for the best’….
“Think of life as a giant, fat cat you’re in charge of. Sometimes you can control it, but other times, it’s going to do what it wants and you have to roll with it. And sometimes you can do everything - everything you’re s’posed to do- and it’ll still shred all the things you hold dear... The only thing you can really do with life is rub its belly and prepare for the worst.”
Looking ahead
On Tour
Once a month we will be On Tour on on a Saturday:
Saturday 19th August
Saturday 16th September
The location will either be Hythe or Ramsgate, depending on the weather forecast. The final decision will be made on the Thursday evening before this swim. These sessions are shown as ‘On Tour’ in the booking system, they are considered ‘standard’ training sessions and are included in training packages.
Night swims
There are no further night swims planned for this season.
Spotlight in the shop
T-shirt with hieroglyphics image on front and Dover logo on the back.
You may have noticed that I’ve not been on the beach each and every weekend like I normally am. Because of this I have removed the option to order online for collection at the beach. Your choices are now:
Order online and collect from my premises in Surrey (we’ll arrange a day and time)
Order online for postage
Buy from me on the beach
Some of the beach crew have basics like red / yellow hats and lights and you can buy for coach or be invoiced.
This week I’m going to highlight some of the clothing we have. If you like the beach crew polo shirts we have ones in different colours. We also have a t-shirt with a design made by a previously successful channel soloist. Get yours whilst stock last. 💜
Photos
A few photos from the weekend….
Key Contact methods
We have put these contact methods in place so that you can get answers to your questions in a timely manner without any one person being overwhelmed. Please use these routes rather than any other direct routes that you may have considered in the past.
On the beach after training. Our Level 1 volunteers will be happy to chat whilst not engaged in core safety processes.
Weekly community call. This runs on a Monday evening from January to September and is hosted by a member of the leadership team. We've set this time aside for you. You can find details of these call within the membership area and within the booking system.
Membership queries can be directed to our Membership lead
Safeguarding concerns should be directed to our Safeguarding Lead
Other queries that can’t be answered at the community call should be directed to the Swimmer Liaison lead.
Other more informal routes to support:
Reminders
Remember to book your sessions online. Bookings close 48 hours ahead. Any bookings after that will need support and that comes with a £5 admin fee.
Bookings can be cancelled or rescheduled up to 48 hours ahead. 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.
Please remember to cancel your membership when you no longer want it.