Sunday, January 11, 2009

Lorne, Avalon, North Bondi, Hawks Nest

Got something to say about Lorne, Avalon, North Bondi or Hawks Nest on Sunday, January 11? Hit the Comments button below and post your blog now ...

11 comments:

  1. I had a particularly good stage Mckenzie's Headland to Icebergs in yesterday's Rough Water because of the "third umpire".

    Wondering where the heck to go to find the next mark after turning at McKenzie's, I heard a board paddler say: "Head for the tall building - the hotel". Which I did and sailed straight to the mark while those ahead went south.

    The North Bondi Surf Club boys were on the job throughout, directing traffic and creating a relatively narrow corridor for swimmers. It meant even the navigational drongos got it right.

    Is this a good thing? I think not. Spot Anderson babbles on ad nauseam trying to convince us trainees to navigate: swim straight to the buoys. He goes on and on and on about it. And he's right: you can transform your day with a bit of navigation. The thing is, when you're busting for air, aching all over and suffering spears of shark-attack terror, it takes something to assemble your mind to really navigate. It's a wonderful part of the mental struggle of ocean swimming and it should be left to competitors to sort it out, not the "third umpire".

    Bill Macartney

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  2. Just want to say thanks to all the people up at Avalon, good friendly bunch and this was my first Ocean Swim as well and I really enjoyed it.

    In regards to the above post, certainly at Avalon there wasnt much of that, more a case of a arm pointed in the direction that you should be heading, I think I followed the route posted that was 1.79km in the end.

    All in all a great day had by myself, I am hooked and looking forward to the Cole and North Bondi Classic as well now.

    Andy Logan

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  3. Had a great swim at Bondi! thanks to all organisers and volunteers! Looking forward to the next one!

    Just wanted to say shame on the lady in bright red swimmers in yellow cap for cutting the last buoy!

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  4. Buoy cutters: Enjoyed the Bondi Roughwater yesterday, but what's up with swimmers cutting buoys rather than battling the crowd rounding the buoys correctly, or at least rounding wide? There were plenty of craft available, so why not station a board or ski on the inside of the buoy to "guilt" these swimmers the correct way around the buoys and the course?

    Robert Salamon

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  5. Hawks Nest - Bay 2 Breakers

    What a lovely swim !
    A great location, well-organised, outstanding water safety and perfect conditions for ocean swimming.

    I enjoyed the cruisy first leg swim in flat water inside the bay.

    Survived a tortuous second leg run in soft white sand across the sand hills.

    The third leg ocean swim had all the clear water and wave action that you could expect from an ocean swim.

    Faced with a tough choice of swims in Sydney last weekend, I took another option of travelling to Port Stephens. It was well worth the trip.

    Richard Murray

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  6. Thanks to North Bondi for arranging a great swim and perfect " Lake Bondi " conditions.
    My only gripe of the day would be the continous commentary over the loud speaker it all got a bit much so a group of us " signed off " to listening to it as there was not a lot of value in what was being said, so when there were important announcements in regard to get ready for the 1km start .. it was missed and a number of people missed the start. I appreciate that I should have also been checking my own watch but as we know these events often do not run exactly to time. There was also a volunteer on the start line marshalling the start but that was also hard to hear over the loud speaker. I appreciate that the loud speaker commentary is there to create an atmosphere but it was all a bit too much and should be used for the critical announcement so that racers stop and listen.

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  7. I agree with the comment from Anonymous re the loud speaker at North Bondi. It went on and on non stop and in the end we tried to get away from it as it was giving us headaches. Appreciate the need for information, but this was over the top.

    My other gripe is that by the time many of us finished the 2KM event there were no drinks, fruit or bags left. I can live without the bags but a drink and a piece of fruit would have gone down real well. What made it especially annoying was that all morning the loud speaker commentary promised these items for competitors at the end of the race and at the same time kept encouraging more people to sign up as late entries so that they could reach the 1,000 mark. I understand that this is a fund raising event, however, surely the organisers would have known how many people they had catered for. This gave the whole thing a decidedly fishy smell of grabbing as much money as possible, and was a real dampener in terms of the spirit of the event which I had expected.

    The volunteers on the course did a fantastic job. This was my first ocean swim event and being a laydee I am not real keen being a long way off shore (this is the furthest out I've been) and I worry about what lurks beneath. Knowing that so many people were looking out for us was very comforting.

    As to the 'third umpire', well maybe hints and directions shouldn't be given to those serious swimmers in prize contention, but for those of us tail enders doing it for fun and the challenge the help is appreciated. After rounding the final off shore bouy, I couldn't see the next one near Iceburgs. I kept looking up but couldn't see above the swell. Also I didn't have many swimmers around me and was not confident that those in front were on course. I felt like I was swimming 'blind' for a while and really appreciated nearing a lady on a borad who was telling everyone to move further right. Yes it's a lesson learned re navigation, but for those of us who are inexperienced and new to this, we are only going to improve by doing events and learning as we go as there is only so much you can learn doing practice ocean swims with a group of friends. My thanks again to those wonderful volunteers on the beach and in the water.

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  8. I knew I was doin the extra yards...
    Im the sucker that had the GSP on for the Avalon Swim..magic day... Now I think its only fair that if I swum 1.79k (lets say 1.8) instead of the 1.5k listed, then I went 20% further.. I therefore conclude that its reasonable for me to reduce my time by 20%.. Now also swimming so wide I also lacked a certain number of people to trail off and this would have added at least another 10% to my time; not to mention not being able to run along the shark net (another 10%). So this gives me a corrected time of (carry one divide by 27 etc) 12 mins.. hardly worth it really.. but can I have my prize now...

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  9. Was it just me or did they whack a few hunjee metres extra on The Roughie on Sundy?

    Me ol' mate Fergie n I were a little disappointed with our times in the 2km compared to last year; and I thought my 1km was a bit on the slow side too. Neither of us reckon the races felt particularly slow and I was hopin for a bit of PB action in the pristine conditions.

    So after conducting a bit more research, I discovered that the winning times for both races were propotionally a bit on the long side as well, compared to last years 2km results.

    So did they overdo it, stretchin the course in an attempt to compensate for the calm conditions? Or did ol' Huey whip up some challenging currents that ran in several different directions just to give us a good workout.

    Well, a good workout it was; both races. And I spoze in terms of metres for money, we certainly got our monies worth. Hats off to the North Bondi clubbies and their seconds. 'Twas a well run event; except for the shortfall of postrace refreshments. At least the barbie hadn't sold out before I got in, like it did in the unseasonally cool weather of last seasons race.


    See yuz all for the daily double next month,

    Davo.

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  10. I really enjoyed the Avalon swim .As an oldy (61) but new to ocean swimming I found the volunteers and safety first class. We often dont give enough credit to all those people who give up their time to assist and make every competitors day pleasant and safe.Being at the back of the pack (eventually finishing last) I had a lot of directional assistance and advice from the guys on the boards. Thanks again for a great day. Look forward to next year .

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  11. Av was awesome. . . The Nth Easter carried us home that second stint down to LA and the gels that they handed out at the end fo the race were pretty good as well. . Definately doing it again next year. Just disapointed i didnt get to see the sharkies!!

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