WARM-UP OPEN WATER NEWS
BEST COACHING VENUES
Where are the best coaching venues in the country? It’s a tough one to whittle them down, but this month help came from Triathlon 220 magazine, who have compiled an online list of the top 12 coaching venues in the country. It came as no surprise to us, of course, to see our expert Jack Allison’s Tri-wetsuits’ venues on the list, or NOWCA Thorpe Lake and Heron Lake – both run by our columnist Rick Kiddle. What was a surprise is finding all 12 of them in the south-east… surely there are great training venues all across the country? Write in and nominate your favourite for our own top venues piece later this year, or see the original list here:
bit.ly/fouFmO
MARATHON RANKS Ever wondered how you compare to other swimmers? Sure you have! Now marathon swimmers can compare themselves, via an online database, with others across the world and throughout the history of the sport. World Swimming Majors(worldswimm
ingmajors.weebly.com) is the new swimming database that compiles 133 years of marathon swimming achievements. Steven Munatones, founder of the database, said: “We anticipate that the interaction that this database will inspire within the open water community will be such that it merits its own gathering place. In light of this, we have set up a separate Facebook group to facilitate communication that pertains specifically to theWorld Swimming Majorsdatabase.” Visit:
on.fb.me/hw6BPf
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BRAVING THE ‘SAILORS’ GRAVEYARD’
In a death-defying stunt this February, five men from South Africa tackled three ocean swims at the southernmost tip of Chile and Argentina, becoming the first people to swim around Cape Horn, where the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans meet. The five (Ram Barkai, 53, Toks Viviers, 47, Kieron Palframan, 36, Ryan Stramrood, 37, and Andrew Chin, 41) first tackled a 4km crossing of the Strait of Magellan in Chile, in winds gusting at up to 60km/hr. Four days later, the team made a 3.2km double crossing of the Beagle Channel, from Puerto Williams in Chile to Punta McKinley in Argentina and back. Then, after taking a couple of days to recover and travel, including spending a night on a small fishing boat in rough seas, the five jumped into the ocean once more for a swim around Cape Horn – known by seafarers as the “sailors’ graveyard”.
“We were literally swimming at the end of the world,” said Barkai. “The ocean is very deep, very dark and very cold. The shores are rocky and dangerous. We dived off the boat, near the southernmost lighthouse in the world, and swam into a strong current.” An hour and ten minutes later they had achieved their goal but were being washed dangerously close to the rocks. The Chilean navy, which had supported their quest, sent out a small boat to pick them up. “It was my most scary, most daunting and most out-of- my-comfort zone swim,” Ryan Stamrood said. The men named their endeavour the “Patagonia Extreme Cold Swim Challenge”, and stuck to usual cold water swimming rules. No wetsuits were allowed – only trunks, goggles and swimming hats – in water temperatures of around 7-8˚C.
IT WAS MY MOST SCARY, MOST DAUNTING AND MOST OUT-OF-COMFORT ZONE SWIM
The five brave men who battled the Patagonia Extreme Cold Swim Challenge
What’s next for the team? “Ram’s adamant that we’re all going to swim in the Arctic in 2013,” said Andrew Chin. “He’s only done a kilometre there and wants to do the full mile so that might be it.” Whatever it is, it’s clear this quintet of adventurers isn’t finished yet. Watch this space for updates on their cold water exploits!
REGISTRATION NEEDED – SOUTHWATER COUNTRY PARK Horsham District Council contacted us to let us know that while they welcome swimmers at Southwater Country Park (see last issue: Top Spots), they restrict swimming to members of clubs registered to use the lake at specific times. This is for safety reasons as they’ve previously had problems with unsupervised swimmers getting into difficulties. For more information contact
leisure@horsham.gov.ukn
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