2010:The Plans, the Races, the Iconic Swims...

40 FT WALRUS SEA SWIMMING CLUB

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Hi all,

Welcome to the legendary Forty Foot Walruses Sea Swimming Club's first 2010 posting :)

The sea does seem a little chilly so far but during the next few weeks it should be truly tropical again. Despite these chilly starts we are currently hitting the Forty Foot for a 'tea-bag' every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 0700... followed by a bluepool (bp) session.

Wednesdays in Belvo is still popular at 0700, and some are trying last Monday in the month 2100 in bp also!

Home of the elusive 40 Foot Walrus

40 Foot Walrus Open-Sea Race
Our glorious leader - Al, has been busy co=ordinating sea faring logistics, etc with Swim Ireland, Harbour authorities, etc ... and the second annual Forty Foot Walrus Open-Sea Swim is now a central feature of the Swim Leinster -Open Sea Calendar.

We are organising the swim on Independence Day: 4th July from Dun Laoghaire Pier to the 40 Foot/Sandycove Harbour crossing the always-challenging Scotsmans Bay.

Mens race 17:00, womens 17:30.
Entry is 10Euro - entrants must be registered with Swim Ireland
(if you wish to register with our club email us! cost for reg. 60Euro).
Join the walruses!!!

See you all there!

Iconic Swim: Ireland - The Cliffs

Al and Damon are busy determining and analyzing recently uncovered deep-sea current charts, shark infestation studies, sea monster blogs and squid sighting stats in a secret location just off Rockall. Hopefully they will report some official determinations and survival rates for our yet to be confirmed Irish based 2010 iconic swim.

Laughing in the face of danger!!!

Iconic Swim: Alcatraz

In July 2010 some members of the legendary forty foot walrus' squadron will laugh in the face of danger, and travel to the Pacific Coast of California to undertake a breathtaking attempt to swim from Alcatraz Prison Island to San Francisco City. This daring sea swim across shark-infested San Francisco Bay was never achieved successfully by any escaping prisoner during the prisons operation.

Again... Laughing in the face of danger!!!

Anyone interested should check out: http://www.tricalifornia.com/index.cfm/ALChal2010-main.htm

Memberships / Subscri:

Just a gentle reminder for members who haven't lodged their fee to do so please. Email me for details of bank a/c. :)

1 week till Walrus Swim - 2 weeks till Nessie - bit longer till Hellespont!

Hello all!!

Hope the training is going well.

It’s now just over a week to go to the 40ft Walruses’ inaugural race…. on the 28^th June. Whether you are a doggy-paddler or attempting to beat Paudie “the skin suit” Murphy, come on down and give it a go. It is just over 1km, from the East Pier to Sandycove. We hope to have a successful first event and are looking to make this a permanent fixture on the Open Sea calendar. Some of the guys have put a lot of time and effort into organising this, so it would be good to see local club support. I might even come out of retirement for this one!!

And of course that is followed quickly by…. THE NESSIE CHALLENGE… on the 4^th July. Really looking forward to this swim… hope everyone’s training is coming along well. Looked at the original training schedule for the first time in a while… a lot of swimming to do over the next 2 weeks!! And don’t forget those sponsorship cards - looking to top last year’s amount.

Like last year, anyone attempting the swim should have at least one freshwater lake swim completed before heading for Scotland. Buoyancy is a lot different in fresh water than in the sea and we don’t want anyone getting any surprises on the shores of Loch Ness.

Dips and swims over the next week….

40ft at 12 on Saturday – come on down for a dip… or attempt to get some practise in for next week’s race. Some of the guys are of to the waves in Kerry but there should be the usual crew around.

With the tides next week, the mornings look like the 40ft will be the spot. Can’t make Monday but hope to be on the water most other mornings. If anyone is interested in a good lunch time swim, the tide will be perfect at Seapoint on Tue or Wed… maybe down to Blackrock baths and back. Think it is a little over 2.5ks??

And don’t forget the fresh water swims… Lough Bray has been suggested. As many as possible of the Nessie swimmers should aim for at least one evening this week and one next week…. How does 7pm on Wednesday work for everybody?? Or suggest suitable time/day. Spectacular spot for a swim….. so well worth the drive.

Finally, well done to the Walruses who took part in the Glenalbyn Masters Swim on Tuesday… think we had at least 2 top 10 finishers!!!

Happy paddling!

Damon

To find Lough Bray, see the below link…

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=Lough+Bray+Lower,+County+Wicklow,+Republic+of+Ireland&sll=53.904338,-4.042969&sspn=18.15531,39.375&ie=UTF8&cd=2&geocode=FbyHKwMdSdqf_w&split=0&ll=53.185542,-6.298513&spn=0.008988,0.019226&t=h&z=16

8000 words

Sandycove swim 2mo - Sponsorship Forms - Nessie Hotel - Your Help

Dun Laoghaire Harbour Swim 08

YoYo,

I hope you had a fab sunny long weekend. I'd a big burnt nose for days after.

Nessie & Hellespont swimmers I trust your training is flying along!

The Sea Swim Calendar starts 2mo:) Sandycove at 12. If you plan racing get there for 11.15 or so because registration for the race can take a little while. If you havent registered with the club yet but want to race come along and we'll sort it out. Sundays swim is in Portmarnock at 12.15 and there'll be a few of us there if you fancy coming to that 1.

Sponsorship forms will be with you via email this weekend! So you can start hitting up your friends and family. Last year as a club we raised €10,000 which was absolutely savage "AbSav". Climate is a little different this year but hopefully there'll be acouple of quids raised.

Hotel for Nessie - gettem booked if you aint got it done yet. Loch Ness Lodge Hotel NOT the 5 star Loch Ness Lodge.

Sponsor for Our Race - As you know we are running a race on the 28th of June from the back of the east Pier in Dun Laoghaire to Sandycove pier. It's a 1.1km swim and we expect about 150 swimmers. We need a sponsor for prizes! We need 13 Prizes on the day, so if you have any suggestions of sources of prizes on the day do let us know, sponsors can pollute Sandycove beach with their banners and stuff. Cheers.

Man with a Van on Race Day- On the Race Day we also require a man with a van to take swimmers gear from the pier to sandycove. Do you know anybody who could assist? Cheers again.

The dip in the 40 foot at 12 will be going ahead as normal for anybody not racing around the corner in Sandycove so come on down if not for one for the other!

Dont mention Blue Flags.

Happy Paddling,

Alfonso

Sun Sun Sun Sun Sun Sun

Howdy folks,

Its gonna be a cracker of a weekend! Hope to see you at some stage.

I had some great photos but lost me bleedin camera.

We'll be in the 40 Foot at 12 2mo and zip around a mail if you fancy any other swims over the weekend.

Bring a camera if u got one, we'll pop photos on ze blog.

Nessie Swimmers nows the time to book your Hotel.

Please zip me a mail when you've booked as I need to let the hotel know to minus the rooms from those we got set aside.

Good luck to everyone going to Athy for the triathalon.

HooHah!

Fat Al

Week - Milestone Swim - Hotel by Loch

Howryagoin,

Its 7 Saturdays till we cross the Loch and 15 Sundays untill we swim from Europe to Asia!

Nessie swimmers you are on 2kms in the pool this week and 800 meters in the sea.

Hellesponters you are on 4kms in the pool and if you do 800m in the sea you are motoring along.

Congrats to everyone who completed their milestone swim on Saturday.

The Leinster Sea Swims start in 3 Saturdays (6th of June). There's usually a swim every Sat & Sunday, they are deadly craic and can be a really useful part of your training. You can do them to race or simply to swim. They are handicapped so anybody can win on any given day.

You can find the full calendar here (Myself, Kedders, Butler and Paudie made the cover photo for this years calendar as you'll see).

Which reminds me, pick up the Irish Times on Saturday, our PR guru Donal was interviewed by them for an outdoor sports feature which should appear in their Magazine supplement.

There have been a gaggle of swimmers meeting up for midweek swims, we had a great swim in Seapoint on Monday. Keep an eye on the group mails detailing locations and times. With 6 weeks till Nessie its important to get acclimatised to the non-pool swimming. The current sea temperature is akin to what you will experience in the Loch.

We will be staying in the Loch Ness Lodge Hotel. So make your bookings when you can. If you want to get a roomie send an ol group mail.

Enjoy the 40 foot on Sat, its an 800m sea swim which is a little more than Sandycove and back, as long as its not too wavy that's a grand swim. I'm away myself but there'll be a couple of heads there who've swam it many times.

COME ON LEINSTER!!!!!

Happy Paddling,

Al

Week 12 - Milestone Next Week - Bit of Distance on Saturday

Howrya:)

What a week of sport! Leinster trounce Munster, Iniesta's injury time winner dumps Drogba and co. out of the Champions League and Graham Souness finally grows a pair! "Who did you manage Eamonn..???" Classic!!!

The Milestone swim will take place in the National Acquatic Centre next Sat the 16th. Get there for 4pm start swimming at 4.30, directions on their website www.nationalaquaticcentre.ie/location.php
Dont worry if you arent confident about making the distance, its important you come along and do your best, one of the objectives of the milestone swim is to give you an idea of where you are and what you need to do.

Week 12 is in full effect. Nessie Swimmers you're on 2kms this week and next. Europe to Asia swimmers you're on 4kms this week and next.

We'll start upping the distance in the sea this Saturday. The tide will be good a high at 12. We'll do a 400m swim.

If you fancy a weekday morning sea swim there's been a few of us in the 40 Foot at 7am once or twice this week. Its been great. We've had the wetsuits on and been doing a bit of distance. If you prefer evenings cool, send a group mail. The 40 foot, Killiney Beach and Seapoint at high tide are all great!

Happy paddling,

Al