Magnetic Island to Townsville swim

Most of the gang post-swim

Last weekend we headed up to Queensland for the Magnetic Island to Townsville swim. We had 11 swimmers from Sea’s the Limit take part in the 8 km swim. This is only the third year the swim has been run without shark cages. Previously, they only had enough cages for about 10 swimmers; this year, there were over 100, so it’s certainly picking up in popularity. The sharks didn’t bother me half as much as the talk on the island of a rogue croc which came ashore in Picnic Bay a couple of weeks ago.

There was a fair amount of wind for the swim and it was quite choppy – I actually had waves break over me in the middle of the bay, which made it a tough outing for the paddlers. I really enjoyed it although I found the 22 degree water way too warm for swimming hard.

We had five swimmers – Justine, Mick, Suzy, Katya, Michelle – for whom it was their longest swim to date and all finished in remarkably quick times. We also had four ‘podium’ finishes – Chad, Anna, Katya & Michelle. It was a great result.

The following day the bay was like a millpond – no wind and completely flat. Isn’t that usually the way. We spent the day exploring the island. There was a lot of brown algae in the water which meant some of the bays looked pretty unattractive and certainly not for swimming. But then we arrived at Radical Bay. Ahhh, bliss. It was stunning. I got straight into the water and swam – not because I felt the need to train, but simply because it was so beautiful. It’s been a while since I remembered quite how much I love swimming but for that half hour, I swam just because I wanted to.

Back in rainy, cold Sydney and down at Balmoral Beach on Wednesday morning, our swim was delayed while we waited for the thunder and lightning to pass. At one point we were about to get in the water, thinking the worst of the storm had passed, when a massive lightning bolt lit up the sky. We sat it out a little longer…. We finally managed to squeeze in half an hour before we had to go to work – it was 13.6 degrees. That 22 degree water from the weekend seemed a distant memory.

The break has mentally refreshed me and I now feel ready. Whatever I have to do to get across that Channel, I will do.