Swimming from the North Shore to the Viaduct Harbour in Downtown Auckland is not something you can do everyday. So when the chance came about to take part in the annual Auckland Harbour Swim it seemed like a really good idea to sign myself up. After all its only 2.8km, and there is a pub at the end for added incentive. Easy Peasy!!!
Well my training had been going well. A week in Rotovegas on the booze, errr, schmoozing potential clients, was the ideal build up. A mad dash to the Warehouse to get me a cheap wetsuit on the Friday afternoon and i was all set.
It was an early start. The race starting on the north shore at 9.25am. About 900 people were foolish enough to sign up. Feeling a little nervous having seen just how far away the Viaduct Harbour is from the North Shore, matters weren't helped by a warning from the officials that a 2m swell was ripping up the centre of the harbour - anybody who was not confident in their ability should back out now!!! There was no question of that for me.
So i took the plunge. It was freezing. But my cheap wetsuit soon warmed me up. We had 15 minutes to do the first 400m - easy, and then we were out in the middle on our way to a celebratory pint at the other end. After struggling for what seemed hours i finally made it past the headland that sheltered the start from the elements. Then the swell struck.
To be honest it was quite a frightening experience. A km off shore in the middle of the harbour, fighting a 2m swell, not being able to see anything through your goggles, or over the tops of the waves. I felt totally isolated. It was a long way to go and i seemed to be making no headway what so ever. But giving up was not an option. To make matters worse my heap of sh*t wetsuit kept coming undone. It seems in a cost cutting drive by the Warehouse they had forgotten to put a zip on it that actually worked. I was constantly being flushed with freezing water and being dragged under by the weight trapped within the suit. Not a good experience. It must have come undone a good 10-12 times. The wetsuit was going back. Full refund please!!!
Anyway, i slowly progressed towards the calmer waters of the Viaduct. It seemed to take forever. 1hr 30mins after starting i was clambering out of the water to generous cheers and applaus to finish the race. Wow. What an experience. Congrats must go to Max and Melaina who completed it in under an hour!!! And the winner, and Olympian, did it in something silly like 33 minutes!!!
Bring out the Gimp!!!
Oh, one final thing. I got beaten by a dog. Gutted. Next time i will kick that mutts ass!!! Yep thats right, for all the scary moments and pain and effort it took i would definately do it again!!!
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