What a surprising day at North Bondi! Storms, squalls, overcast, drizzly, lightning and thunder -- we had it all in the lead up. But the sun actually came out. And despite fears over the water quality, it actually wasn't bad. Reasonably clear, a few little stingers, a bit of flotsam, but really quite nice. Two swims: 2km and a very long 1km, which was more like 1.5km.
Aquagirl was at Hampton. Our reports will be online Sunday night. Meanwhile, what did you think?
Great swim, fantastic organisation, nice crowd, no Fairfax - all good. Will be back again next year.
ReplyDeleteSuperb organisation. One nitpick. Can the volume be turned down when the announcer is not actually giving information. Chatter at that many decibles is hard to take after an hour.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, great work North Bondi SLSC.
I enjoyed this one more than the Roughwater even if for some reason even though I was slower. They forgot to turn on the wave machine on Lake Bondi again, I could get used to these calmer swims!
ReplyDeleteIntriguing choice of freebies in the goodie bag. Osteoporosis pills, vitamin tablets and celebrity weightloss milkshake. Are you saying I'm old and fat North Bondi?
And whose idea was it to dress up the water safety board paddler boys in luminous orange conical bouy shaped costumes? I couldn't work out what was a bouy and what wasn't until the last minute. Maybe some eyesight improving vitamins in next year's goodie bag would be helpful!
Great swim, well organised. Those little bitey things are particularly annoying, but that is a small price to pay to be able to swim week after week in such beautiful places. The 'little bitey things' by the way, are probably thimble jellyfish larvae according to a dermatologist friend. You can read about them by clicking on the link below:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dermnet.org.nz/arthropods/sea-bathers.html
Hey there, does anyone have any recommendations on goggles which don't fog or leak? Or tips (besides the obvious ones light tightening them) on preventing fogged goggles. In the last month have tried...
ReplyDelete1) Zoggs Predator - lost at mona vale swim catching a wave
2) Aqua Sphere Vista - leaked throughout race
3) Aqua Sphere Kayenne - leaked throughout race
The run out to the first buoy was magic. Big schools of little fish. Little stingrays. Waving weeds. Loving those new, fog free goggles.
ReplyDeleteWell done North Bondi. Minimum fuss maximum pleasure.
Dave
As Tom said, it certainly was an intriguing mix of goodies. My 2 teenage children swam today and as they are young, fit and healthy I can't see much use for them in this house. Maybe they can give them to their Nan? The rash shirts 2 years ago were awesome.
ReplyDeleteMy official distance report for the North Bondi Classic this year. The 2km course was a precise 2001mts, as far as the GPS in a waterproof case says.
ReplyDeleteMore details in http://bit.ly/c73AIj
SDS is getting good PR value up and down NSW from my red rashie from 2 years ago - starting to perish now. Sorry not to update it today.
ReplyDeleteThought a few swimmers got "lost" swimming back from the south end? Rough water course was apparently 100-200m shorter than today due to the wind on the day.
ReplyDeleteCheers Tom
Who is the Maroota Peach Farmer? And what happened to his/her/it's blog?
ReplyDeleteAwesome swim. Well organised and good fun as we have come to expect from the crew at North Bondi. It was better than the roughwater which was more the violentwater, though organisationally similar.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tom re: the Fluoro Buoy shaped life guards. I was swimming towards more than one of them by mistake at times. Some colour distinction would be perfect. In an ideal race none of the swim caps would be the same colour as the buoys either.
Next year we'll be back slimmer and with better joints... (but only the faster swimmers got a chance to get the bags... running out before those who may well need them got a chance). The fast get faster... ?
Thanks guys. I'll be back.
Great fun, brilliantly organised. Did anyone get a GPS reading for the 1k, seemed much longer.
ReplyDeleteNote to blokes: They were men's vitamin pills. Obviously the leftover stock that didn't sell in the health food shops. It's no wonder women live longer.
ReplyDeleteAnyone want some chilli beef jerky?
Still, I loved the goody bag.
And the swim was bliss.
Note to brother-in-law: Stop waving me in over the finish line with a piece of fruit and drink in your hand, you smug bastard.
Glad to see the 1km was again longer as it was such a beautiful experience to swim among the thousands of fish. I agree w above comment re goodies in the bag, and interestingly we are all encouraged to take the men's vitamins........ Can I also commend North Bondi on the exceptionally decent entry fee. Looking forward to next year already.
ReplyDeletecatrin
loved it. my first time ... at the age of 41 ... will be back.
ReplyDeletere the sea-lice bites everyone was complaining of - dab a little bit of vinegar on the bites, works a treat to relieve the symptoms and speed up the healing process.
ReplyDeleteto anonymous who wants a good pair of goggles - you should invest in a fantastic pair of view goggles which can be purchased from this very site! I personally wear the selene and I can attest to their wonderfulness. They are the best goggles I have ever worn! And no, I do not work for or have any affiliation with the ocean swims site or view just in case you are interested.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Anonymous' question about goggles, I had the same experience...until I tried View goggles. I have Shinari V-130. They never leak but I did find after a while that they started to fog (as they all seem to)..but then I bought the View antifog and it has fixed it. I sound like an ad for View! I got mine through oceanswims.com.
ReplyDeleteHere, here!
ReplyDeleteI wear the View prescription lense jobbies and I've never missed a bouy since. And they deadset leave the competition for dead in both bathospheric (i.e. they just don't leak) and cost benefit department. And like Anonymous above, I'm a regular customer of theirs, but I certainly have no pecuniary interest in their business.
Regs,
Davo.