Open Water

TMBSC OW season 2016

As a club we have had a number of open water specialists who carried the open water mantle by themselves e.g. David Randall and Jane McCormick. As the popularity of the sport grows, so do the numbers of our swimmers embracing the outdoors. We thought that it was long over due that we add a section to celebrate our swimmers’ outdoor achievements!

Warrington Dolphins 22nd annual championship, Budworth, 4th June 2016

This is a friendly, local event. It offers skins and wetsuit swimmers the chance to swim over a range of distances.

Michael Boyle, 3 mile (wetsuit), 1^st in 1h8m59s

Dave Randall, 2 mile Veterans (skins), 2nd in 50m 58s

Ian Griffiths in the 3 mile senior (skins),5th 1h25m11s

BLDSA Wykeham Lake, Sunday 5^th June

David Randall (Senior) 5k  3^rd, 1:33.19

Great North Swim, Windermere, June

The home of the Great Swim Series and this year for the first time they introduced a 10k wetsuit swim. We had a number of swimmers taking part:

Steve Metcalfe 2:18.32 (4^th)

Mark Slater 2:31:04 (16^th)

Mike Boyle 2:46.09 (33^rd)

Over night relay at Boundary Park, 18^th/19^th June

4 of the The Trafford Metro Channel team, used this as preparation for their double channel relay crossing.

The team of Laura Bowden, Helen Sadler, Niki Williams, and David Randall  won the event in a time of 8 hrs 55 mins.

Great Manchester Swim, Salford Quays, 2^nd July.

This mile swim is an annual favourite and it’s easy to see why.

It’s a great event for those new to open water swimming and those more experienced swimmers wanting a fast swim. For newer swimmers, it is a wetsuit swim and the layout of the course means that you can use the walls to guide you rather than needing to have tuned up your open water skills, and it means that spectators can walk around the course at the same pace as you whilst you swim.  This lends itself to a friendly swim with a great atmosphere!

We hand over to Steve for a first person report:

Notable performances came from Andy 4^th overall in a time of 21:14, Martin 43^rd 24:45 and Sandra 26:13; Andrea for her first open water swim; and to Michael, 25:35, and Kimberley, 33:35, who were only 6s and 11s  slower than the previous year despite the challenging conditions! 

BLDSA, Bala 3km, 9th July 2016

David Randall swam 3km in 56 minutes and 16 seconds, placing him 2nd in the 45+ category!

ASA Masters Open Water Championships, Rother Valley, 24th July

1500

Coach Dan Pepper competed in the same age group as Olympian Robert Pavoni, came 4th in 25-29 age group in a time of 22:33

3000

Laura Bowden, 43:14, 2nd (25-29)

Nat Massey,  45:08, 6th (25-29)

We had 2 swimmers in the 45-49 year age group Steve Metcalfe making his debut outing at the Masters OW came 5th in 41:54. Ian Griffiths, continued his improvement and knocked over a minute off his time from last year and came 10th in a time of 56:43!

Well done everyone! Looked like some tough competition; especially in the men’s races!

Travessia Les Isles Medes-L'Estartit 50th AnniversaryRace, 1^st August, 1650m

Steve Metcalfe in his first season took on international events!

There were 700 entrants, but 642 turned up due to a jelly fish storm the day before (sounds lovely!). Came 13th in open age and 3rd in over 50's. Spanish Masters work in 10 year age bands!!

Warrington Dolphins, Liverpool Docks, 4 miles, 6^th August

David Randall, 3^rd open age ,1st over 60, 1:46.28

BLDSA Derwentwater, 5.25 Miles, August

David Randall, Open age 3^rd and 2^nd Veteran, 2:31.06

TMBSC Masters team tackles 2 lengths of the English Channel.

We hand over to Helen for a first person account of their epic swim:

On 26^th August 2016 at 4:06am, 6 Trafford Metro Masters Swimmers set out from Folkestone harbour with their pilot Kevin Sherman aboard the Connemara to take on their challenge – to swim the English Channel to swim to France and back again!

The team of Laura Bowden, Helen Sadler, Niki Williams, Marie Jones, Mike Dilworth and David Randall had begun preparations 18 months previously. These involved as much open water swimming as possible; each member completed a two hour qualification swim as per Channel Swimming Association rules without a wetsuit in water below 15.5 degrees; swam at night in the pitch black and swam in the sea….with jellyfish!

At 4:06am, under night skies with green flashing lights attached to her goggles and costume, Laura bravely jumped off the boat and into the water to swim to the beach to await the signal to begin. As soon as this was heard Laura swam powerfully to leave the English coast a long way behind during her first swim.

Each swimmer then took their turn to swim for one hour. In strict rotation the swimmer in the water was given the signal that the next team mate was getting in and was going to swim past them by way of a take-over. The rules of the Channel Swimming Association forbid the swimmer in the water being assisted in any way so the swimmers are not to touch each other when they overtake.

Although there had been a storm the previous night and some early morning mist, as the sun rose, conditions improved and a perfect swimming day unfolded. Calm sea and unbroken sunshine gave the team the best weather they could have hoped for. The regular backdrop of cross Channel ferries provided some excellent photo opportunities and there was not too much to hamper the team’s progress during the morning although Mike had to swim through a “carpet” of seaweed on one of his swims hiding hundreds of jellyfish! Helen and Niki though were accompanied at some distance by dolphins during each of their first swims. Poor David had to contend with some rubbish that had been dumped in the sea.

The team swam strongly reaching to within a mile of the French coast in around 9 hours. A further hour’s swimming to overcome the current enabled Mike Dilworth the coveted honour of making land in France. A well-earned experience as he had swum stoically for a large part of his first swim through a huge bloom of jellyfish. Mike duly received the signal to re-enter the water and begin the return leg some 10 hours and 6 minutes after the team had started.

The swim back to England saw both Niki Williams and Marie Jones face their fears and tackle jellyfish; Niki dodging them as best he could and Marie suffering a number of painful stings on her face and arms. Team spirit from the boat and her solid determination willed her on to complete her hour despite the obvious pain she was in.

Swift progress back towards the always visible English coastline was made in the remaining daylight before the team were back to wearing flashing lights and continuing in the dark with only the lights from the boat to guide them.

The lights of Dover harbour became their focus as David at hour 18 completed the third cycle of swims and Laura began the fourth. The current was strong and relentless making the task of passing to the left of a beacon on the land seem nearly impossible. This coupled with fatigue began to take its toll on morale and confidence. Helen struggled with the cold on her final swim but was spurred on to complete the hour by the whole team shouting encouragement from the boat.

Niki made great progress on his final swim enabling Marie the honour of being the swimmer to finish their challenge making land in Folkestone though rather than Dover as the tide and current had dragged the team four miles down the coast. Marie swam to shore in the boat’s spotlight until she could stand and her costume be clear of the water to enable the officials on the boat to stop the clock at 1:57am and sound the fog horn to mark that the challenge had been successfully completed 21 hours and 51 minutes after it had started.

This was the fastest 2 way relay crossing of 2016 logged with the Channel Swimming Association.

Well done!

Great Scottish Swim, Loch Lomond, 27th August

Martin Edwards 12^th overall in a time of 24:59

Greater Manchester Open Water Festival, Sale Water Park, 3rd September

Andy Cooper won the 3.8k (wetsuit) in a time of 49:03

Nicola Rodgers came 2nd in the womens 3.8k (wetsuit) in a time of 1:08.55

Chill Swim,  Coniston 5.25 miles, 3^rd September

Kath Thomas, 2:07:26,  1st in her category and 10th overall (men and women)! 

Vanessa Atack 3:16.28, out of over 500 swimmers she came 15^th in her category. 

Uswim Abersoch, 5miles (cut to about 4.25 due to conditions), September

David Randall, 1^st

BLDSA Lynn Regis, 5KM, September

David Randall, Open age 3^RD, 1:20.58

BLDSA Awards

David Randall, won the BLDSA Willy Van Rysel Trophy (overall male 60+ swimmer). He finished 2^nd overall in the BLDSA Veterans (45+) Grand Prix  and 10th overall in the open age BLDSA Grand Prix.

Niki Williams finished 11th in the open age BLDSA Grand Prix

A length of all the Lakes in the Lake District

A challenge for the whole of the 2016 season - Neill Hughes and Mark Smith completed a length in all of the Lakes in the Lake District! 

Big Chill Swim, 9^th and 10^th December

With one of the last competitions of the year, Martin Edwards swam in 2 events: 120m freestyle in a time of 1:28.3 coming 5^th overall and 1^st in his age and the newly introduced 30m ice fly in 19.33 coming 1st in his age and 6^th overall. Just to put these times into perspective the water temperature is a spine chilling 5 degrees or so and these are from a push not a dive! Great swimming! 

What a great year of open water swimming! Well done everyone! Bring on 2017!