The Big Bay Swim - 3.2km

This morning, I did the Big Bay Swim from Port Melbourne to Williamstown. The route is 3.2km but due to the strong currents and the lack of markings of the route, I my swim would have been close to 4km. This swim is an absolute Personal Best. I have never swam this distance before, not even in a pool and this swim would be in the deepest water ever!!

The girls who did it with me were Claire, Renee, Lidia and Juzzie. We were all nervous about this swim as it would be all our longest swim. We all arrived there around 8am but we had plenty of time to chill out especially as the swim start was delayed due to a tanker being in the way.

The swim was a special one. We were first blessed by Father Bob McGuire. It was a heartfelt blessing as we acknowledged the owners of the land and also gave a blessing to a good swim by all.

When the start gun went off, many people ran into the water. At this point, I was one of the last people in the water, I was so relaxed and didn't even swim until I was chest deep in water!

Once I started swimming, it was fine. We had great directional mark ups up to the 1km mark. After that, there was nothing! That is also when the currents started to pick up and I was in deep deep water! My body was sinking as the waves were picking up. I have never had this sensation before in an open water swim. Shallow water waves (like the ones at Elwood, Sandringham or Brighton) is nothing compared to swimming in the deep ocean. The waves were so strong that at some points, my elbows were not high enough for the waves and were crushed upon impact.

The currents and the lack of direction brought me away from the shore which was a worry. Looking up, I could not see anyone in front of me. Not realizing that I had swam too far away, I had to stop a few times to let the lifesavers tell me where I am suppose to go! There were seconds of worry during the swim as I was in the middle of the ocean!!! But I ploughed through the waves and just kept swimming.

When a lifesaver finally came and told me that I needed to go around the pier, I knew that I was nearly there. The last few hundred meters were pretty satisfying. When I knew where I had to go, I swam faster and more efficiently and passed several people. I saw many people at the finished line and that's when I realized how far off course I had swam. I came in after Renee (she had a coffee in her hand at that point), Clare and Lidia. Juzzie came in shortly after me.
I completed the swim in 1:08:15 and depending on the distance I actually swam, it was awesome. I enjoyed the swim, even with the waves and being in the middle of no where.

Check how oily I am?!

"so....I didn't win this race did I?"

After the swim, there were some showers and a place to get changed. We relaxed a bit and waited for spot prizes to be announced. As not many people were there, the organizers made sure we would win something. I won some cupcakes, (Engine) swim cap and goggles.

It was a great day and another great achievement that I would never had done over 2 years ago. No worries for the Shepparton 70.3 swim of 1.9km now. It is just a matter of being able to ride 90km followed by a half marathon!!

Great Day!!!