Brooklyn Bridge swim in New York July 2012

It is now the end of May, which means it is time to report on my adventures for the twelve months ended 31 May 2013. This corresponds to the custom that the open water season in Australia finishes on 31 May each year.

So what have I achieved during this period?  I completed a total of 19 swim races, four in New York city, and 15 in Sydney, covering a distance of just over thirty-four kilometres. This has taken my total races since 2008 to 59, with a total distance covered of 112 km,

Some of the highlights of this season were:-

• winning my age group at the Brooklyn Bridge swim in New York in July 2012. This was my first victory in a swim;
• finishing third in my age group at Terrigal in April 2013, the first time I have finished in the top three in Australia;
• finishing in the top 100 overall in eight races;
• finishing in the top twenty in my age group in ten races;
• finishing six races out of seven in the NSW oceanswims series, finishing in the top 20 overall, resulting in eligibility for the end of season prize. This prize was a ten day swimming holiday in Vanuatu in the South Pacific in June 2013 with two open water swims. Not only did I qualify to go in the draw, but I actually won the prize;
• swimming with the bold and beautiful group of around 500 swimmers on ANZAC Day at Manly;
• swimming around the Statue of Liberty in June 2012;
• volunteering for the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim in June 2012, helping those athletes who completed the 45km swim leave the water. Just a shame there were no Australians in the race, though there are nine in the 2013 race;
• swimming around Governors Island in July 2012, another swim organised by the NYC Swim crew; and
• doing the Cockatoo Island swim in Sydney for the fourth year running.

Looking back over the season I am amazed where my hobby has taken me, and all the friends I have made from across the globe. I thoroughly enjoyed the people at CIBBOWS in New York who made me welcome at Brighton Beach on several weekends over the summer of 2012.

I remember thinking towards the end of Feb 2013 that this season was going to have me competing in a lot fewer races than the 27 I completed in the previous season. However, by the end of May, I had taken the season tally to 19 races, which was not a bad result.

I was mostly satisfied with my results, as during the season I did not spend as much time in the training pool as I had in the previous season. But at least I did get to race at a number of different beaches, which is always fun. I was also glad that I now have more experience, which only makes me respect the ocean more. On each swim I learnt something about my swimming and adapting to the conditions presented.

In addition to the swim races, I also swam recreationally in other places, including Vermont, the Berkshires, the mid north coast of NSW and Torquay in Victoria.

Lake Champlain Vermont USA

Green Island near South West Rocks in NSW

So another great season is over.  Who knows what the next twelve months will bring?