The night swim started through fairly calm waters so I pushed to get through the coastal tide zone in the first hour. Incredible phosphorus exploded with every arm stroke but the tinted goggles prevented me getting a good read on the distance and swim angle to the boat. The one consistent thing I could see throughout the trip was my crew on the back of the boat, watching – it was a great comfort. It felt like I was zigzagging every minute or two to stay parallel to the boat. My feeds (typically liquid) were scheduled for every 30 minutes and the first of the night was well after my predicted stroke count of 2,000. This told me that I had the required speed and then some!
The first fed was critical after the July mistake of not enough liquid. I angled towards the boat (maybe 10 meters away). Ciaran (one of my crew) held the fishing pole and dropped the bottle in front of my head. I flipped it open and starting guzzling through the big hole – ah sports drink! I drained the last of the 500 ml, dropped the bottle and took off. In the first feed, I had taken in 40% of the liquid that I previously took in over the 8 hours in July. The lack of liquid contributed to my July dehydration and subsequent hypothermia. My stroke count passed 2,000 and it was time again to feed. The first hour was super fast and I downed 500 ml of a carbo-replacement mix.
The wind started to pick up at this point and was coming at 45 degrees from behind left. I got a tiny wave push from behind every now and then but not enough to compensate for the speed loss due to the waves. The waves were slowing my stroke and knocking me off direction – the zigzagging continued.
Hours two and three of darkness went well with regular thirty minute feeds moving between water, sports drink and carbo-replacement. As a surprise they would occasionally tape a package of energy “goo” to the bottle every now and then and I squeezed them down. Wind speed increased to Force 3 then Force 4, the direction shifted and it was now coming from my left. No more slight push from behind and the wind and tide were from opposite directions kicking up even more chop. At this point I hit my first patch of floating weed. I’ve been in worse – so kept moving. We saw probably ten huge boats all lit up – some 200 meters in length. The only advantage to rough seas is that I never felt a wake. At one point a tanker appeared out of the fog a few hundred meters in front of us. The boat lights went crazy and I was sure happy to have all seven on that boat minding me.
During the fourth hour it became clear that while the sun had risen, we would not see it today. Heavy overcast skies and poor light put my decision to wear tinted goggles down in the “big mistake” column. For the first and only time during the swim I took 3 second to drain the goggles of the salt water that was burning my eyes. No change afterwards (it was an imaginary leak – no water at all in the goggles) – so just ignored the burning after that. I continued to strain to see the distance and angle of my swim to the boat. Prior to this I only saw shapes on the boat but now they started to wave me back from time to time as I strayed and I got the occasional flashing light as well when the waving didn’t work. I was still motoring along and downing 500 ml quickly during each feed stop. Up to this point I had passed fluids twice but not in the large quantities I would have expected.
About the Author: Ned Denison played water polo goalie in the USA and England for twenty years before taking up open water swimming in 2000. His move to Cork Ireland allows all year sea training (no wet suit)in temperatures ranging from 7C to 17C (45F - to 63F). Active in Cork Masters - www.corkmasters.ie - and up to 200 local open water swims annually in Ireland keeps him fit. Ned plans to join 50 other Irish swimmers on 30 Sept 06 for the Alcatraz race and then take on the 26 mile Santa Barbara Strait the next week.
