What's goin on with all this psuedoscientific equine excrement about high tech body suits makin ya go faster in the water? As if!
I can't wait till some hirsute Mark Spitz type of dude, with a shaggy mullet, an Austin Powers fur back, and a massive 1970's Aussie cricket legend of a catarpillar on his top lip, comes along n gives youz all a touchup. We might have to wait for Movember to come round again before we see that.
It works for spiders in the swimmin pool; storin air in the hair. So why can't it work for us too?
If the Cole goes the whole hog down the City2Surf path, then perhaps it won't be long before we see someone doin it in a gorilla suit from the back o the pack. Put your order in with your local costume shop now coz I reckon this ideas got legs (so to speak) and they could be a bit hard to come by closer to race day.
Remember you heard it from me first.
Davo.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Was it just me?
Was it just me or did they whack a few hunjee metres extra onto the course of The Roughie at Bondi on Sundy?
Me ol' mate Fergie n I were a little disappointed with our times in the 2km compared to last year; and I thought my 1km was a bit on the slow side too. Neither of us reckon the races felt particularly slow and I was hopin for a bit of PB action in the pristine conditions.
So after conducting a bit more research, I discovered that the winning times for both races were propotionally a bit on the long side as well, compared to last years 2km results.
So did they overdo it, stretchin the course in an attempt to compensate for the calm conditions? Or did ol' Huey whip up some challenging currents that ran in several different directions just to give us a good workout.Well, a good workout it was; both races. And I spoze in terms of metres for money, we certainly got our monies worth. Hats off to the North Bondi clubbies and their seconds. 'Twas a well run event; except for the shortfall of postrace refreshments. At least the barbie hadn't sold out before I got in, like it did in the unseasonally cool weather of last seasons race.
See yuz all for the daily double next month,
Davo.
Me ol' mate Fergie n I were a little disappointed with our times in the 2km compared to last year; and I thought my 1km was a bit on the slow side too. Neither of us reckon the races felt particularly slow and I was hopin for a bit of PB action in the pristine conditions.
So after conducting a bit more research, I discovered that the winning times for both races were propotionally a bit on the long side as well, compared to last years 2km results.
So did they overdo it, stretchin the course in an attempt to compensate for the calm conditions? Or did ol' Huey whip up some challenging currents that ran in several different directions just to give us a good workout.Well, a good workout it was; both races. And I spoze in terms of metres for money, we certainly got our monies worth. Hats off to the North Bondi clubbies and their seconds. 'Twas a well run event; except for the shortfall of postrace refreshments. At least the barbie hadn't sold out before I got in, like it did in the unseasonally cool weather of last seasons race.
See yuz all for the daily double next month,
Davo.
No Third Umpire Please.
Yeah Bill,
I'm with you. I don't reckon we need the immediate intervention of a third umpire in ocean swimming.
I don't often applaud the mistakes of others but I do derive a modest degree of satisfaction to see faster swimmers than me heading of on a wild goose chase, and then meeting up with them at the next mark knowing that they've just spent a lot more energy getting there than I did. I suppose the only concern is that the clubbies have to keep such wayward swimmers away from the rocks and beach break (if there is one on the day), or indeed New Zealand, and it would be a lot harder to manage them if they were spreadout all over the place like Brown's cows.
However I reckon you are right in that half the job of ocean swimming is being able to hold a good course in the rough and tumble of the field and the sea, and indeed turn the latter to your advantage wherever possible by such means as tracking for swell or foxing for a wave. And for those who like me are a little optically challenged (and I don't mean just plain ugly), I can thoroughly recommend investing in a pair of those you beaut View goggles with the prescription lenses. They've made a massive improvement in my seeing the bouys and landfall alike.
I hope I haven't given away too many tricks. I suppose if you know what I'm talking about then you're probably doing it already, and if you don't, then don't worry yourself with such weighty matters.
Happy navigating,
Davo.
I'm with you. I don't reckon we need the immediate intervention of a third umpire in ocean swimming.
I don't often applaud the mistakes of others but I do derive a modest degree of satisfaction to see faster swimmers than me heading of on a wild goose chase, and then meeting up with them at the next mark knowing that they've just spent a lot more energy getting there than I did. I suppose the only concern is that the clubbies have to keep such wayward swimmers away from the rocks and beach break (if there is one on the day), or indeed New Zealand, and it would be a lot harder to manage them if they were spreadout all over the place like Brown's cows.
However I reckon you are right in that half the job of ocean swimming is being able to hold a good course in the rough and tumble of the field and the sea, and indeed turn the latter to your advantage wherever possible by such means as tracking for swell or foxing for a wave. And for those who like me are a little optically challenged (and I don't mean just plain ugly), I can thoroughly recommend investing in a pair of those you beaut View goggles with the prescription lenses. They've made a massive improvement in my seeing the bouys and landfall alike.
I hope I haven't given away too many tricks. I suppose if you know what I'm talking about then you're probably doing it already, and if you don't, then don't worry yourself with such weighty matters.
Happy navigating,
Davo.
Shark plague, my arse!
For many of us (particularly the fellas) 'tis the fear that dare not speak its name; lest it should erode our sense of bravery. I'm sure that pilots have a similar attitude towards crashing or soldiers being shot. It is a calculated but not altogether controllable risk. I suppose that if we humans were particularly averse to such risks we would never have climbed down out of the tree or wandered out the cave, let alone entertain such dangerous pursuits as circumnavigating the globe or flying to the Moon.
If we analyse the risk of shark attack we can draw a couple of fairly comforting conclusions:
1. We are not on the menu. If sharks which have been around for nigh on 450 million years and we have been around in various incarnations for less than 3 million years; and popping in for a dip in significant numbers on a regular basis for only a hundred years. So if sharks, being creatures of habit were particularly dependant on the likes of us for a feed, they would have starved out of existence quite some time ago.
And;
2. There are many, many sharks out there and many, many types of sharks out there. Even though their numbers are dwindling due to reduced fish stocks and seal populations etc, there are still a lot more of them in the water all the time than us on any given sunny day. So once again, if they need to switch food sources in hurry to survive, methinks we're gonna sorely disappoint them into extinction.
The bottom line is that sharks, like spiders and snakes and all the other nasties are a lot less interested in us than we are in them. Yes, there have been horrible stories of shark attacks over the last century; some particularly frightful ones involving feeding frenzies on sailors awaiting rescue when their ships were sunk during wartime. But with rubber duckies buzzing around us and the watchful eye of the clubbies on the look out when we race, I reckon the risk is negligible. I certainly hope it never happens to any of us, but it may one day and there will probably be plenty of witnesses and possibly even TV coverage, and the proverbial excrement will certainly hit the fan.
It's a matter of personal choice, and I chose to swim. How about youz?
Davo.
If we analyse the risk of shark attack we can draw a couple of fairly comforting conclusions:
1. We are not on the menu. If sharks which have been around for nigh on 450 million years and we have been around in various incarnations for less than 3 million years; and popping in for a dip in significant numbers on a regular basis for only a hundred years. So if sharks, being creatures of habit were particularly dependant on the likes of us for a feed, they would have starved out of existence quite some time ago.
And;
2. There are many, many sharks out there and many, many types of sharks out there. Even though their numbers are dwindling due to reduced fish stocks and seal populations etc, there are still a lot more of them in the water all the time than us on any given sunny day. So once again, if they need to switch food sources in hurry to survive, methinks we're gonna sorely disappoint them into extinction.
The bottom line is that sharks, like spiders and snakes and all the other nasties are a lot less interested in us than we are in them. Yes, there have been horrible stories of shark attacks over the last century; some particularly frightful ones involving feeding frenzies on sailors awaiting rescue when their ships were sunk during wartime. But with rubber duckies buzzing around us and the watchful eye of the clubbies on the look out when we race, I reckon the risk is negligible. I certainly hope it never happens to any of us, but it may one day and there will probably be plenty of witnesses and possibly even TV coverage, and the proverbial excrement will certainly hit the fan.
It's a matter of personal choice, and I chose to swim. How about youz?
Davo.
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