Swimming in Sydney Harbour ...

I was planningo to do the Bridge to beach swim - 11km in the harbour from the bridge to Manly... I am not so sure now.... will the swim still be on? any thoughts?

Anonymous

Little Bay ... What did you think?

The first outing of what could grow to become one of the great classics on the NSW ocean swimming circuit ... Malabar-Little Bay Stockland Challenge. Due to conditions, it was a circuit inside Long Bay at Malabar, rather than the full journey swim. When run over its full course, this swim offers a challenging, once-you're-out-you're-committed course around a broad, flat headland, and did you get a load of all that activity in the water off the headland? Not just backwash from the sou'-east swell, but there was movement there. "That water is really moving," said Willoughby hack Graeme Brewer afterwards, gazing out over the Pacific Ocean towards Auckland. There's a bombora out there, too. On an easy day, this swim would be a challenge. On a difficult day, you should consider seriously whether to attempt it.

Make no mistake, this will be a classic. This will be one of the ultimate challenges for the rank-and-file, journeyperson ocean swimmer.

Well done to Murray Rose and team on their first outing, pulling almost 500, indeed, making it a very healthy first time swim, although not the biggest. And well done to the Rainbow Club, the charity of benefit.

Drafting and heel wafting ... Is that wrong?

I’m not sure if this is an etiquette question or good idea.

I rocked up to Bondi last Sunday with hardly any training under my belt and found a well-proportioned man to sit behind through most of the swim. Sitting in his wake, I had an easy swim but the fact that he must’ve felt someone playing with his tootsies the whole way played uneasily on my mind. I felt most grateful for his slow, steady cadence and particularly the fact that he powered around the buoys.

I tried to find him after the swim and thank him for the ride... if you’re out there, you were wearing red budgy smugglers... thank you!... But was it annoying feeling my fingertips on the soles of your feet, or was it too cold to feel anything? :)

My question for the experts is, where is the best place to sit – behind or alongside the man displacing water for you – and what is the etiquette around drafting in a swim race?

Thanks,

Tamsin Pike

Topic of the day ...

Who let the sharks out?

Anonymous
(posted by os.c on behalf of Anonymous in the interests of generating a new and topical stream)

Please, please, you lot, leave your name or some identifier when you post comments. Use the drop down "Comment as" menu to leave a name.

North Bondi Classic - Pageantry and colour

Well, what a difference between last weekend's Mosh Pit Classic at Manly and today's North Bondi Classic, and not only in the water temperature ... What did you think? Post a comment and let us all know ...

Cole Classic -- what did you think?

Tell us what you thought about the Cole Classic under new management ...

We've heard lots of comments, some of which we'll include in our report. But tell us what you thought... click the Comments link below to leave your thoughts ...