Week 1: Welcome to the Class of 2021
Cool water didn’t stop the impressive swims
Normally, the water is around 10C when we start training each year, that was not to be this year. We had readings between 9.0C and 9.5C this weekend. The last season I remember starting at this temperature was 2013. It’ll all even out in the end, it just means that I adapt the training to match the conditions, no real change there. Some years we have to ramp up quickly, some years more slowly, ultimately our aim is to get you where you need to be safely and at the right time.
For those of you who have training subscriptions, work with your pod leader if you have any concerns about your ramp up. Remember we will follow a cyclical pattern wherever possible. Rest and recovery are important parts of your training plan. Whilst it’s tempting to push the boundaries week after week, I probably see more people attempt to over train than I do those who don’t do enough.
If you’re swim is early in the season, or you have a cold, long swim planned, then this is a great part of the season for you and we’ll make the most of it. If you’ve something mid to late season, you have more time than you probably think and you can relax and enjoy a slightly more sedate cyclical ramp up journey.
Your pod leaders’ observations
We were absolutely blown away this weekend. What an amazing group of swimmers we have this year. There was quite a buzz on the beach and the positivity was so lovely to see. You buddied up and looked out for each other. We can see old friendships rekindled and new friendships forming already. The power of swimming with other, like minded people, should not be underestimated. Connection is powerful.
It was lovely to see pod members introducing themselves to each other, names on WhatsApp now being put to faces.
Without exception, we were impressed by what we saw.
We saw people achieve things that they didn’t think they could, like double dipping or swimming without a wetsuit.
We saw people understand the advice that has been given and learn how to prepare better next time, be that layers, footwear choices or that less tight fitting costumes are easier to put on for the second swim when you’re cold and damp!
Warming up
Your process to re-warm starts immediately you leave the water.
For about 30 minutes after you leave the water you will continue to cool down, this is known as the after drop. You may feel absolutely fine when you leave the water and it’s tempting to take off your swim cap (mistake number one) and chat about what an amazing swim you had (mistake number two). Your priority is to ensure that the beach crew know you are out and to get into warm layers (and into your next costume if you have another dip) as quickly as possible.
Use the golden 5 minute window when you get out and before the shivers start to get dressed
Leave your swim hat on until last and until you have a woolly hat to replace it
Wet costume off quickly
When you think about what clothes to wear, lots of loose layers is best (think Sanka from Cool runnings below). Get them on quickly and focus on covering your core first. As the season progresses you’ll need less. You’ll know when that is he right time for you.
When you are dressed in your layers and have a warm drink, now is the time to compare stories and chat about what a fantastic swim you just had.
Be like Sanka, top marks for anyone who can dress this quickly too!
Talking of Cool Runnings and the Jamaican bobsled team, I think we should have a tropical theme next week. Who’s going to join us for that.
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:
Swimmers: 60 (over 2 start times)
Water temperature: 9.5C (1st swim of the day), 9.1C (last swim of the day)
Air temperature: 12.3C
Conditions: Sunny & calm in the morning with an ENE F3. The afternoon was cooler and overcast with a bit more chop to the water.
Sunday:
Swimmers: 36 (over 2 start times)
Water temperature: 9.1C (first swim), 9.0C (last swim of the day)
Air temperature: 7.7C
Conditions: First swim sunny & calm, then clouded over with a chilly breeze. F2 gusting F3 SSE.
Reflections……
There were many obviously impressive swims like Lucy AP, Helen, Katherine & Sarah all swimming 2 hours with Lucy also double dipping with long swims each day.
Other swimmers like Jon, Ben, Nick and Jane clocked up impressive time in the water as well.
And it’s not only about the big gestures, and long swims. There were some quite significant personal victories with Lucy B, Kirsty and Suzanne all doing more in skins than they had previously thought they could.
Did you have a personal victory? We’d love to hear about it.
It’s behind you!
A random single wave headed to the beach as swimmers were getting in on Sunday morning. Never put your back to the sea! Here’s a series of photos….
Volunteers & beach crew
All the pod leaders were on the beach this weekend. As you can imagine, quite a lot of planning has been taking place behind the scenes in the lead up to the start of the training season.
In order to minimise congestion at signing in (one of our COVID-19 concerns), we were all able to sign people in, thanks to the wonders of technology created by Geoff Gardner (thank you so much, Geoff). That did speed things up considerably. Whilst it takes us a while to prepare the app in advance, by you booking your sessions online, it means that we can spend less time on paperwork on the beach and we can get you going more quickly. Whilst there are some of our COVID-19 adaptations that we’ll be glad to lose, this one is one that is likely to stay.
I’d also like to DCT alumni Mel Tyrrell, Hugh Bennett, Hayley Brant and Rich Brant for volunteering this weekend. We’ve had a few others also say they’d be happy to help in future weekends. Thank you so much, it is greatly appreciated.
I had a few Class of 2021 members mention that they are keen to volunteer, thank you. Let’s first prioritise your training. There may be recovery weeks when you can help us after your shorter swims of course, a great chance to mix training and volunteering.
If you want to join the fun, why not pick a date and join the fun on the beach!
Pod Ponderings - Routines
Yes yes, I know, the word routine can be boring and a bit, well, the same.
"Same old routine."
There is a lot of power in consistent routines. There’s a lot of power in being able to simply run the process without thinking.
If you need help building a new habit (or breaking an old one) the book Atomic Habit by James Clear is a good read. It shows you how to use existing habit chains to create new ones that will stick. Use to it create or break big and little habits.
Some say that it takes 21 days to create a habit, and if you think about the habits that were forceably changed due to lockdown, that seems about right to me. Swimming stopped instantly for me, and the desire to do it remained, or so I thought. As the time came for outdoor pools to open, it was actually a struggle to recreate the habit again, but a few weeks on and it is, once again, a habit. I had the same with a new routine I started during lockdown, I created a fake ‘commute’, a way to help me feel that I had some more normal structure in my day and a return to a more normal going to bed and getting up time. Once the habit was created, I did this without thinking. I felt more awake in the day and more productive too.
Michael Phelps had routines
It's probably not surprising to hear that Phelps, the greatest swimming Olympian of all time (so far) had routines in place for his swimming.
He prepared the same before big races. He ate the same meals on race days. Two hours before race time he'd begin the same stretching routine.
His warm-up was identical.
This set of routines was what helped him swim to a world record while completely blind in Beijing.
Preparation is everything
Phelps’ coach worked with him from his youth. He instructed him to "put the videotape in" when he went to bed at night. This wasn’t a real DVD or VHS tape, what he meant was to do a mental rehearsal of the perfect race.
Phelps would lie in bed, eyes closed, and visualise every moment of the race. The start, diving into the water, his finger tips flicking the water at the end of his stroke. He visualised the lead up to the race, which he did in identical fashion each time.
In Beijing in 2008, during the 200 butterfly, an event that he had dominated without peer for the better part of a decade, the competitive swimmer's nightmare came true for Phelps - his goggles filled with water.
Most swimmers would panic.
Phelps was as calm as ever.
He'd imagined scenarios like this one in his nightly "videotape" sessions, and he had also done this for real in training.
Knowing how many strokes he had to do, Phelps powered his way through the last 50m completely blind, touching the wall in a new world record.
He was asked afterwards what it felt like to swim without vision. "Like I imagined it would," was Phelps telling response.
It was routine.
How can this help us?
So much of what we do is routine. Whenever I have a big swim, I follow the same routine. I get up (either from a night of sleep or a daytime nap), have a shower, get dressed (swim ready) and I eat breakfast (regardless of the time the swim is going to start). My bag has already been packed. On the boat, everything gets put in its place. I get ready to go in enough time that there’s no rush when the pilot tells me to go. I dive in, swim to shore, walk out, raise my arms and start the adventure.
It’s just the same as the routine I follow for training. Ok so there’s no boat involved, but you can choose to practice that too through a practice swim or in a relay.
I follow my training routine on the swim too. The same feed I use in training with the same frequency. I use the same mental thought patterns throughout the time between feeds.
When you can simply run the process, the day becomes a much easier prospect. It can run just the way you imagined.
Of course, things can happen that are outside of your control, or not what you planned. It’s worth thinking about all those things that could go wrong and deciding how you will react and then practice that physically and mentally. Then if disaster does happen, you’re not having to think it through on the day, you just run the process that you already planned. Maybe that’s being asked to give an ‘hour of power’ when you think you’re nearly spent, or being sick and losing a feed, or your favourite googles coming off or fogging up.
Why not chat about it in your pods and with other swimmers on the beach. Be creative, think about all the big and little things and how you will react. Create your videotape of your perfect swim and your videotape of any other processes and scenarios that you may need to follow.
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 24 hours ahead and be cancelled or rescheduled up to 24 hours ahead too. The system doesn’t arrange automatic refunds, so please message me if you cancel and I’ll arrange 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 and are choosing the pay as you go, remember that you are entitled to a discount on each swim. If you’ve forgotten your discount code, please let me know and I’ll remind you.
Remember to cancel any subscriptions when you no longer need them.
Next Week
Just like everything else in life, there will be:
Known knowns
Known unknowns
and Unknown unknowns
Known knowns
We’ll be back to the normal single start time of 10am, with everyone getting in at the same time.
You’ll be swimming and double dipping
The tide goes in and out
Let’s have a tropical theme
Known unknowns
There’ll be weather, it might be good or bad and we’ll adapt the plan accordingly
You won’t find out how long is planned until you sign in
Will the ice cream van be there?
Someone is bound to get Mandi minutes (this week it was me!).
Unknown unknowns
Well now that would be telling, wouldn’t it! I suspect there’ll be some things that we know that you don’t and I suspect there’ll be some things that we’ll all find out on the day. I wonder what week 2 has in store for us all?!
Photos
A few photos from the weekend….
Spotlight in the shop
We talked to quite a few people about earplugs this week. The difference they make to your perception of the cold is significant.
Just like googles, earplugs come in all sorts of different styles and it’s a personal choice as to what to choose. I have invested in custom made earplugs, but for years i used simple, off the shelf earplugs. My spares remain simple, off the shelf ones.
We sell the following three styles, all available online for posting to you, for collection from the beach or you can take a look at buy them at the beach.
Like the choice of goggles, the style of earplugs that suits a swimmer is a personal choice. We sell three different styles:
Shaped
🏊Comfort & Safety: Earplugs are made of soft silicone material, environmentally friendly and non-toxic. It's waterproof and very comfortable. Soft and durable, easy to wear.
🏊Professional Design: The ergonomic earplugs are shaped to fit comfortably inside the ear and lie flat on the outer ear, making them more comfortable than others. This ensures the safety of the ear and is a perfect object to protect the swimmer's ears.
🏊Easy to carry: The earplugs come with a reusable plastic storage box, which you can hold one pair of earplugs, keeping earplugs clean, healthy, organized and portable.
These come in a variety of colours.
Soft silicone flexible putty earplugs
Helps prevent swimmers' ears. Waterproof & Sound Blocking. The Rubber Ear Plugs are slightly sticky so they can stay in the ears really well. Also, easy to get out from the ears.
Say Goodbye to Ear Infections - Especially designed for those who love swimming and have ear tubes. Take this ear plugs while swimming or bathing to prevent water from getting in your ears.
Get Away From the Noise - The noise cancelling ear plugs can help you reducing the noise during sleep, study and work. Protect your ears directly without causing discomfort.
For Sensitive Ears - The moldable ear plugs are non-allergenic and made of super soft silicone can be easily molded to fit right inside the outer ear area. Also mold easily to different size of ears. Fits for baby, toddlers, kids and adults.
Come in white and blue, 3 sets of earplugs per box (6 earplugs in total)
Rocket shaped
Washable plugs made of soft and durable Kraton material.
Dual material ensures easy insertion & maximum comfort.
With a handle built in for easy insertion and extraction, these Moldex earplugs are incredibly easy to wear. They are reusable earplugs, made from a soft material to ensure comfort during long-term wear. These earplugs come with a pocket pack for storage, and are washable with mild soap and warm water.