Ocean Inspirational Swim Stories + Feedback
Glenn Marshall enjoys his first Ocean Swim event!
Hi guys. Just wanted to say thanks heaps for organising such a great Auckland Harbour crossing swim. This was my first State Ocean swim and I was blown away with how well it was run you guys are like a Swiss train! Thanks also for making the call to proceed in the choppy conditions on the basis that its better to let the majority have a crack which is what ocean swimming is all about. You guys rock. Cheers.
A note from the traveling Bill Ireland from the USA…
Thanks again for a very enjoyable and challenging race. I was impressed that you folks ran the race in what seemed to me to be poor conditions but I was glad you did. My wife and I have just gotten back home after touring(and tramping the Queen Charlotte) but I wanted to pass along my gratitude to you and to Scott Rice for a very enjoyable ocean swim experience. I hope to make it back for one of your other swims some day.
My partner, Keith, decided for me that I needed to get into ocean swimming when he gave me a wetsuit for my birthday in August last year. Thanks mate!
I was comfortable swimming in the pool – but confess it was a whole different ‘ball game’ transfering the skill to the ocean. I struggled big time – experiencing difficulty breathing and I wondered whether I would ever get it together. I finally tamed the anxiety and negative messages in my head and swam comfortably around the island in Paihia a week before the Harbour Crossing.
I entered, went out too fast and experienced an attack of anxiety before I’d even reached the first bouy! I had to give myself a severe ‘talking to’ in order to carry on. I told myself that I would try and make it to the 900m bouy and if I got pulled out of the water because I was too slow then cest la vie – but if not I would keep going. And that was really the turning point for me. I didn’t get taken out of the event, I kept going and I made it to the finish line in 01:37:02. What a feeling of achievement! I was totally buzzing.
Since then, I swam the Russell to Paihia in 01:25:50 (yeehaa) and yesterday swam the ‘sand to surf’ (in Pilot Bay, which was nice and flat) in 01:00:36. It is fantastic to experience the thrill of completing the events and especially to see my own improvements. Next up – King of the Bays. Bring it on!!!
Ocean Swim Series is a great motivator
Well I am so pleased to have completed the Capital Classic this weekend.
Well I am so pleased to have completed the Capital Classic this weekend. I prolapsed a disc in my back 2 years ago now and was scheduled for surgery but didn’t have it. Now through swimming and stretches it has improved incredibly. Although still experiencing minor pain I signed up for the Ocean swim series this year as a goal and motivator for training and the ongoing benefits of improved health. There are still a lot of times when I have to just make myself train, but the Ocean series is a great motivator 
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An Ocean Swim Story
My partner and her brother finished within seconds of each other. I am so proud of them
I registered because I and my partner were here from UK visiting her brother in Auckland and he was keen that we did the swim. It was my first time in a wet suit for 40 years. Technology has moved on. I had trouble with the buoyancy of the suit. I had not had a good morning, having forgotten my ferry pass and had to run back to the hotel to fetch it. I also had the wrong swim hat and had to find an approved one. Having started the swim, I struggled to keep up with my wave, and once I rounded the buoy at the edge of the marina, it was a bit more choppy. Every time I turned on my side or back I was dizzy. Whether it was anxiety or my propensity for sea sickness, I was so ill I started to be sea sick.
A steward kept tabs on me and continued to ask if I needed help until it was clear I could not continue and had to be fished out. There are no results for the fullest sick bucket posted but I reckon on a litre or two once I was on the rescue boat. From then on my main worry was my partner worrying where I was. However I subsequently learned that those who were fished out were identified and immediately notified. I was not the first to be rescued but others came aboard as the swim progressed. I was able to observe safety operations from the rescue boat and it was fantastic, and they kept a good eye on all the remaining swimmers right to the end.
We were last to enter the finishing point and the rescuers rightly received a good cheer. They were supportive and good humoured. I cannot thank them enough. My partner and her brother finished within seconds of each other. I am so proud of them
First time ocean racer; infact, this was the first competitive sporting thing I had done in 25 years!
Got back into the pool 3 months ago after an extended period of no exercise whatsoever. 1st thing I did was register for the Harbour Crossing. Fear of an early death on the Waitemata was my original motivator (I’m ONLY 47), but as i progressed, the time (sub 1hour) kept me keen. My first experiences of ocean swimming (and first try in a wetsuit) the week of the race had me panicky (I know – YES, IT IS DIFFERENT!) but I was like a kid on Christmas Eve by Saturday.
Loved the race – wonderful atmosphere at the start, great psychological challenge and looking forward to the next swim in a few weeks now. My 90 year old Dad (still swimming daily!) had always wanted to do this event. Having him at the finish line was special for both of us – no crying of course, but it was understood (being Kiwi blokes, ‘n’ all)!
Hi my name is Bradley Cullen I am 10 years old.
My mums thinks I should get a hair cut because when I came out of the water to ran up the sand I took off my cap and the man on the speaker though I was the 1st girl home. I had to tell him I was a boy.
Hi my name is Bradley Cullen I am 10 years old. I entered the surf to sand ocean swim at the Mount. I was the 1st one out of the water and up to the finish line. I had such a great day I usually only train in swimming pools so this was very different, but lots of fun. My mums thinks I should get a hair cut because when I came out of the water to ran up the sand I took off my cap and the man on the speaker though I was the 1st girl home. I had to tell him I was a boy.
