If someone says that you’re not really a swimmer because you weren’t a swimmer at a young age, remind them you’re the product of the most important swimming race in your life …
Sperm & egg
Just a reminder …
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Category Archives: I wonder
Swimsuit models never look like Open Water swimmers
These are typical swimsuit ads, you see them all over the place. You know the only cold that this pair has ever felt was when he left his cashmere scarf behind that one time in that lovely little boutique in Chelsea after he came back from a weekend in a yacht in St. Tropez and he was feeling the chill of the April air and he met up with her for lunch after her fish pedicure and afterwards they walked her Chi-waa-waa in around Kensington. Or so I imagine.
Warning, get your sunglasses. Here’s me, 6 months ago, probably at my weight best! I weight about 4 kgs more at the moment after 6 months of open water swimming … but my tan is better!
Donal in spring 2011
Here’s another picture of Rob & I, just after finishing the Sandycove Challenge last year. We are the two without wetsuits obviously, and I’m the one without a cap. I was the exact same weight then as now, 78 kgs, and I’m 171cms (5’7″ … and a very important bit, which is technical height measurement term that IS NOT IN ANY WAY IMAGINARY). That’s the two of us in the centre of the picture. It’s sometimes called The Channel Body. Stereotypically handsome Irishmen! Not.
Rob & I after Sandycove Challenge 2010
Would you buy those togs after seeing that as an ad? Not those exact togs obviously, we’re OW swimmers, they get pretty skanky. 
And because I love opportunities to use these pictures, here’s my adopted Hungarian child. In his thong, same day.
Gabor!
Sometime earlier in the year I put up a post with pictures of the different types of athletic bodies across different sports. I was going to originally put the first picture of me above into it for the laugh, (which was why I’d edited in a black background). I think in theory everybody over the age of 30 dislikes the body composition issues we see in society, but at the same time, it’s difficult to be honest about ourselves when we don’t meet these bloody ideals. I’m not the most handsome man in the world. As a cold open water swimmer, I’m always a bit (to more than bit) overweight from carrying some extra fat for warmth (I had originally written little bit, without realising it, my subconscious still trying to compensate). You’d swear though that any fat was the worst thing that ever happened to humanity, instead of remembering that it has specific purposes, like insulation and energy storage, especially in our line of sport. Live an active life, and just keep doing stuff. In the long run, you’ll be fine.
So I guess all this rambling just means; get real, swim companies. There’s a whole world of real swimmers out here.
These sounds …
I swam toward the promontory, passing various unsurfable reefs, the vertical cliffs high and bright in the southerly sun, reminiscent of Dover and the White Cliffs, except red and ochre, and my own. About three-quarters of the way down, I stopped to listen. To the sound of swell.
You know what waves sound like. But do you know waves from wind sound different that waves from groundswell? Swell waves are more regular, and produce a deeper sound. If the swell is big enough, the sound will be of course be loud, and on the West Coast of Ireland at Spanish Point and Lahinch and Doolin, on huge swells, I’ve felt the swell and breakers shake the ground, literally shake it. But that’s not the sound of which I’m thinking.
There’s another sound, a deeper, more visceral sound. It’s the sound of the swell coming into the coast, the sound of the actual water moving, not the breakers. And the sound of the ocean bottom being rearranged and being transmitted, being transducted, from beyond your sight to your other senses.
You hear below it your hearing.
You feel it and taste it and smell it, like it reverberates at the resonance point of the long bones of your arms and legs and ribs, rattling your heart and the drum bone of your skull where it beats you into submission and it becomes a synaesthesia of sensation, and once you’ve realised it, it will forever be a part of you.
And in the quiet, when you give yourself the space and the freedom of imagination, you will always be able to summon it because now it’s inside of you, always reverberating and echoing in your spaces, the interstices of your imagination and your living.
And there before, during and after is also another sound, one I can never capture, regardless of equipment. The sound of myself in water. I hear my breathing modulated in a liquid medium. I hear the splashing of my arms, legs and head. I hear the water wash around me. I hear my exhalation fed back to me. The sound of life becomes solid and tangible. I can see my life in the water.
These Sounds. Of swimming and the sea.
***
These are my favourite posts to write, the ones where I am inspired by the pure actual act of open water swimming, where I feel free enough to start working on the idea. Something like this often takes me hours to write, short as it is, and will often be months from the first idea to publishing it. I started this one about six weeks ago, one of a pair, the other still to come.
Announcing the Loneswimmer for President campaign
Given the farcical state of the Irish Presidential election, the dogs and I sat down and discussed it and I decided to throw my name into the contest.
Now I know many of you are overseas, and desperate as you are to vote for me, I thought I should explain the Irish Presidency is a Non-Executive role as Head Of State. For those of you in Ireland, this means that even with zero political experience, I still can’t mess up too badly. The worst I can is embarrass us all and spend all the expenses. Free grease and googles for every Sandycove Swimmer. Come on, you’ve given €75 billion to foreign banks, wouldn’t you like to see me using the expense account to support local swims? I’ll use it for free entry to all Open Water swims, with a state dinner after every swim over 5k! Free flights on the Presidential Jet for all Channel Aspirants, to any Channel. Do I get a Presidential Jet? How about a Presidential Rib?
But what’s my manifesto, you ask?
First – to ensure continuity with the two previous Presidents, I promise to change my name to Mary and indeed, I have already asked Dee to also start calling me Ma’am and Uachtaráin.
Second – The two previous Presidents set out to be Bridge-builders. To continue this theme, I promise to swim under those bridges. And bring others with me. We will swim in every* river in series of national free swims. I will initiate a national debate on the state of Irish Open Water swimming, and will put the Presidential Seal on free silicone hats for all swims.
Third – I will use my personal bodyguard (surely I’d have a bodyguard, right?) from the Army and Coast Guard to provide boat and safety cover for all swims over 1k. The LE Eithne will provide safety cover for the Sandycove Challenge. No more Swim Ireland!
Fourth – The use of Farmleigh House will be granted for the annual Channel Swimmer’s party. I will lobby for have the Monday after the Sandycove Challenge made a new public holiday.
Fifth – The Council of State will include Ned Denison and Eilis Burns. I will seek the introduction of a National Honours System, with everyone who has swam 10k or more guaranteed of selection for an award of Son, (or Daughter), of Manannán.
Sixth – I will lobby the Executive Branch of government for the removal of VAT on all swimming products. And to use National Lottery Funds to install changing rooms, toilets, hot showers and jacuzzis at all popular open water swimming spots**. All Channel swimmers will benefit from a special tax-exempt status and crew costs will be covered by a special EU grant scheme.
All I need from you is the nomination and the support of 20 County Councillors and a small donation toward my campaign.
At the start of this post, you were wondering about my sanity, but now you’ve seen the Grand Plan, you realise everything I say makes sense. You know it does …
Just remember: Vote early. Vote often.
* Except those rivers that are, you know, too ichy. ** i.e. Guillamene, Clonea & SandycoveA politically-incorrect view of the Ronan Keating/Richard Branson Irish Sea relay swim
Image via Wikipedia
Most of the swimmers and many others reading this will have heard of the Richard Branson / Ronan Keating Irish Sea Relay swim. By the way, look at some of the headlines. (“Richard Branson to swim the Irish Sea”). We had a bit of fun about it on the Sandycove email list when it was announced. But a few times I’ve seen statements to the effect of “it’ll be good for our sport because it’ll raise its profile”. And of course, since it’s a big charity fund-raising event, it’s considered crass to question this aspect. To question these basic principles is to be churlish, egotistical or selfish. So one has to keep quiet. I disagree. (And I know I’m not the only one). Think about the Olympic stadii in various places around the world. Those in well-developed and wealthier countries become part of the national sports infrastructure. Some others don’t fare so well, like Greece. Greece was the smallest country to host an Olympics. Apart from the huge cost, even before their current problems, four years after the 2004 Olympics, the various facilities were mostly unused. Partly because Greece isn’t big enough to support their ongoing use efficiently. That huge investment doesn’t translate into useful facilities or any resurgence in sport in Greece. Instead it left a debt that will have to be paid for a long time. I believe the analogy to the Richard Branson swim and Open Water is similar. But I’ll try to be more specific.
- Richard Branson and Ronan Keating don’t love Open Water swimming.
You know how I know that? Because that’s the main reason we do what we do. Because every one of us prefers the sea to a pool. We all love swimming. To be out there. For the challenge or the camaraderie or the sheer existential pleasure. It’s a tautology. We swim because we are swimmers. Sure, we all had to start, we all developed the love of it. Maybe they will too, you say. Maybe they will indeed. But have you read anything about it so far that indicates they love it? No. There’s only moaning about cold and not being good swimmers or being afraid of the water. I also believe that you would have to be fairly naive to believe there’s no self-promotion for Richard Branson going on here.
- It’s disingenuous.
In the early advertising there was much claims about a so-called World Record. Repeatedly it asked what record before this tag was dropped. I emailed the Marie Keating Foundation months ago and asked this question myself, but received no response. For the benefits of publicity they exaggerated the difficulty. It’s a team of 12 swimmers for dog’s sake. Those of us with big swims done know we like to try to explain the difficulty. We also know how some people with little or no experience sometimes belittle our achievements. (Or our friends, which I have a real personal difficulty with, when people put down my friends, but that’s another story). But never, ever have I heard a swimmer exaggerate one of their swims. Many are downright self-deprecating, like Lisa or Finbarr. We celebrate real achievement and don’t like to see others claiming something is more difficult that it was.
- It will not bring any people to the sport.
How anyone can think it will bring people to Open Water is beyond me. Let’s call it the David Walliams effect. All English Channel swimmers know this. “If David Walliams (an English T.V. comedian) can swim the Channel it can’t be that hard”. The same people don’t know David Walliams was a swimmer all his life and trained like we all do. We all respect him because there’s no way to cheat the Channel. He’s one of us. He’s the real thing. Anyone who gets across does it by hard work. It’s one of the reasons all Soloists respect each other. We all know what it takes. So a few years later is there one extra person who became an open water swimmer because of David Walliams swimming the Channel? I’ve never met one, though I’ve met a lot who knew about it. That’s hardy absolute. But if you wish to refute, please provide some figures. The same thing will apply to the Branson/Keating swim. If you are the kind of person who needs a Celebrity Endorsement to take up Open Water swimming, you will NOT take up Open Water swimming … because what it needs more than anything else are the love for it I mentioned above, and a sense of determination. Who is going to get into cold Irish or English water because Ronan Keating did? In a wetsuit.
- Big charitable events take from smaller events
In over a year I raised about €2000 for the RNLI. By swimming the Channel solo. I’m not a great self-publicist. And I was busy training. While charities will no doubt benefit, it’s also highly likely, as this pattern always repeats, that others will suffer. Someone who knows nothing about swimming who donates €50 on the Marie Keating Foundation “because it’s such a brave thing you are doing” is not going to do the same to the girl in the next town doing a Solo but without much publicity. In this case charitable donations are a zero-sum game. The donations are not really for the swim itself, but for the publicity.
- Much fuss about little.
It’s a 12 person team. Seriously. I was part of a double English Channel relay of five. Lots of you are also relayists. This was actually the bit that made us all chuckle so much initially. Who out there thinks this team are going to be hanging off the back of a re-purposed trawler or sitting on rolls of rope vomiting in the rain while waiting their swim leg? Of course I could be wrong about this.
I am reminded of an incident in Irish Swimming a few years back which some of us will recall. Someone we know here made a very difficult and brave decision to go public on a reported North Channel swim and publicly question its validity (a swim that has never since been validated). He did it because he loved the sport and believed that an unsubstantiated North Channel swim would have severe consequences for the sport if left unchallenged. I think the Richard Branson swim will actually have a similar effect. It will detract from our sport. Celebrities parachuting in, taking lots of media attention, for a not very significant swim, will detract from actual achievements in open water swimming.
Call this what you want. Churlish, ungracious, selfish, unsubstantiated or wrong. Get started on the hate mail. (Yes, I get hate mail).
But don’t call it an isolated opinion.
Swimmers will recognise this colour
Gallery
It doesn’t matter
Edit; Hmmm, a sudden surge in interest in this post on a day where I get abused? So you do know behind the front page I can see where traffic is coming from, right? Chuckle.
-I’d had a bad morning. It had been the worst day I had this year, I think. So I went for a swim, ’cause that’s part of who I am now. It had to be in a hostile environment. Very hostile. So I put on the armour I worked hard for, the Irish green, and which I am very proud to wear. ‘Cause you know you can talk all you want, but you don’t get the green because you know how to say “energy systems”. You earn it.
Donal, Ciarán, Coach Eilís, Jen, Rob, Gábor
So I sauntered in. And I looked at them. And I smiled.
And as I swam I told myself: “This doesn’t matter, you are the swimmer here. You have friends that you love helping out and swimming with. There are people out there whom seem to respect what you say. You can feel the water. There’s only one way to get that feel, and it’s not on paper. You’re 1134. No-one can take that away. And yesterday you passed half a million metres for the year so far, maybe it’s time for some more chart porn. You know how you love charts. And what about the crazy swimming idea you had yesterday? We need to work on that. Go find some figures for that equation from last night and arrange some testing with Clare. We might be able to get Alan C. involved. Hey, a swimmer travelling across the Atlantic to train with me! “
But by that stage I was probably approaching schizophrenia territory. So I busted out a fast (for me) 10 x 200m main set ’cause I am swimming better this year, I hope… It all went better than expected, (the swimming that is).
Other WordPress users, especially Evan, I love the new WordPress Just Write feature!
Coming soon: the whole story.
Dublin Swimming Club survey; what OW swimming in Ireland needs
Ossi forwarded a survey this morning to the Sandycove email list from the Dublin Swimming Club:
Warning, blue font ahead in my response!
“Dublin Swimming Club is 130 years young this year– making it the oldest swimming club in Ireland – it even predates the GAA! As part of the club’s anniversary activities Dublin Swimming Club is surveying as many people as possible who compete in the open water / sea swims in Ireland. There is a simple online survey which will take 5 – 10 minutes to complete. It is completely anonymous.
Please click on the link http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NRFGT22 to start.
The survey results will be announced at Dublin Swimming Club’s race on July 3 at Windsurfers. The findings will also be published online during the summer.”
If you are an Irish swimmer, please take part.
My thoughts about it:
The survey doesn’t seem to realise, at least from my point of view, and from the thrust of the questions, that there is far more to OW swimming than racing. Even when asking, Why? it asks in the context of racing. It really doesn’t matter if I am reading it incorrectly, as part of the nature of surveys to explore the ambiguities they throw up. But I’m glad to be see this being done, I think it’s a great idea.
“Q: Do you have any tips (other than not getting in) for dealing with the cold water?”
Read my website: www.loneswimmer.com.
“Q: What is the most helpful hint you would you give to those considering getting involved in the sport?”
Read my website: www.loneswimmer.com!
“Q: Can you suggest one improvement that could be introduced to improve open water swimming in Ireland.”
My slightly longer and more considered response than the brief version I posted into the survey.
Ireland and Swim Ireland especially needs an Open Water Swimming conference. It needs to involve and listen to, a variety of those involved in it, whether from a participation point of view or an achievement or organisational point of view , like Ned Dennison, Joe Donnelly, (whoever the other provinces equivalents are), Martin Cullen (Ned & martin on the S.I. OW committee), Lisa Cummins, Anne-Marie Ward, Eilis Burns, ILDSA, Sarah Clifford, Chris Bryan, representatives from Sandycove Island, the Guillamenes, Dublin’s 40-foot and North Wall, etc, etc, to explain and discuss just what we and this sport is about, and the diversity of our sport, from winter polar bears to marathon and endurance swimmers and 2012 & 2016 Olympic hopefuls and across the age range.
The conference could allow us to focus on a possible solution to the greatest current problem in Irish swimming, that of swimmer retention past the teenage years, and thereby grown the sport as a whole, and grow OW specifically, and become a greater part of the Irish marine experience by energising local Open Water Swimming communities and making Open Water swimmers feel less like outsiders…
And of course any survey needs to make its finding public and any problems with the survey design and ambiguity of responses.
Steve, you could come over and chair/facilitate it!
Of course, I doubt anyone in Swim Ireland is reading this. I’m one of the freaks after all.
Swimming the Alpha waves
Copper Coast Bunmahon to Dungarvan 5 ft swell Feb 07
Anyone having the misfortune to have a surfer as their partner will know how capable surfers are of missing any occasion regardless of importance.
Something that’s common amongst surfers while out surfing is an enhanced sense of relaxation and a decreased sense of time. It doesn’t always happen but it does seem more prevalent on certain days, days in which the water is calm and there may only be a light offshore wind, and the swell isn’t too large. Add in a long wave period and time between sets, and surfing a reef rather than a beach and you have the perfect conditions for the surfers mind to disappear.
Onshore winds, breaking beach waves or large swell disrupt this, whether from having to work harder or from greater adrenalin. But on those other days, an experienced surfer is often just sitting their board (I wonder if some equestrian grammar would apply to surfing) waiting for waves. It becomes an exercise in calmness and meditation, so time and the outside world disappear.
There are six main types of electrical (EEG) waves produced by the brain Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Mu and Theta. Beta waves are normally predominant when we are awake, alert and concentrating.
EEG Beta Waves
Alpha waves usually occurs when we are falling asleep or waking up and are associated with relaxation and have been shown to be associated with creative people. However it has been shown that Alpha waves are often produced when we enter a meditative state. Therefore Alpha waves often associated with stress reduction. (Important since stress is one of the most dangerous states that we all endure). Contrast these two graphs. The Beta Waves remind me of an onshore sea. Jagged, choppy, unpredictable, whereas the Alpha Waves have the smoothness of offshore winds and swell, of great waves and calm water.
Alpha brain waves on an EEG
I’ve almost never become aware of entering the state of enhanced Alpha wave calm while pool swimming, (though I wonder if the few rare times where I’ve completely lost track of time and lengths and ended up crashing into the wall were such occasions).
But I have no doubt that that sense of enhanced relaxation is one of the reasons that compels us sea swimmers to the ocean. And there’s another possibility, that the enhanced buoyancy is subconsciously reminiscent of amniotic fluid. When pool training we operate on times and lengths, sets and drills, counting up and down.
But in the sea, you can just swim.
I couldn’t think of a better way to put that, it seems so banal… just swim.
Just.
Swim.
Just swim the Alpha waves.
The Big Question: Introversion and distance swimming – any correlation?
EDIT: when I look at my list of potential future subjects, after I’d written this, I began to think I had a few subjects that I might consider Big Questions. This is the first.
Much of this is true for me (maybe 90% +). I wonder how well it correlates with distance swimmers as a group (not sprinters!). From here. I imagine introvert’s ability to be alone within their own heads is an advantage, and part of the reason we struggle to explain distance to others. When people ask about the “boredom”, it never occurs to me explain how my mind works. I sometimes might try to break down why it isn’t boring but I never get anywhere. Those who are already distance swimmers already understand and have their own mental strategies. Though I think the figure of 25% as introverts is wrong. My reading has always shown around 40% are introverts.
Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.
This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.
Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.
Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Introverts are not necessarily afraid of people. What they need is a reason to interact. They don’t interact for the sake of interacting. If you want to talk to an Introvert, just start talking. Don’t worry about being polite.
Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.
Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.
Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.
On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends in low numbers. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.
Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.
Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.
Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.
Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.
Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.
Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.
Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds.
Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It’s not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it’s just that their inner world is much more stimulating and rewarding to them.
Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.
Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down. Their brains are too sensitive to the neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Introverts and Extroverts have different dominant neuro-pathways.
Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.
A world without Introverts would be a world with few scientists, musicians, artists, poets, filmmakers, doctors, mathematicians, writers, and philosophers. That being said, there are still plenty of techniques an Extrovert can learn in order to interact with Introverts. (Yes, I reversed these two terms on purpose to show you how biased our society is.) Introverts cannot “fix themselves” and deserve respect for their natural temperament and contributions to the human race.
