Marathon swim day!
After the amount of swimming I had done on day 2, I was in quite a lot of pain and as a result I hadn’t slept very well so getting up at 5am was a real struggle. It ended up with me hiding under my duvet and my sister pulling it off and threatening to push me out of bed. From the time I got out of bed to when I met Vincent in the hotel lobby to discuss the accessibility plan for the day was about 5 minutes, which personally, I thought was quite impressive. As on the other days the plan he had come up with sounded like it was going to work well, so I went back up to the hotel room to actually wake up properly.
When I got back to the room, my sister was checking I had everything in my bag and suggested I take the small wooden cookie my mum had given me in my tow float for extra luck. It is just a wooden cookie with a heart on one side and ‘You got this’ written on the other side. My mum had it made for me and gave it to me at the train station before starting my journey to Montenegro for good luck in all my swims. I added it to my bag as I felt like that day was going to be the day when I had to dig deep.
We had tried to be at breakfast at 6am at the very latest each morning. Well, we didn’t leave the room till past 6am, so the breakfast room was almost completely empty when we got there. I scoffed down my food and hoped it’d give me an energy boost but to be honest, it didn’t.
At breakfast my sister asked how I was feeling and I told her that one of my fears was not reaching the cut off time. I’ve never not finished a 10km swim but I had never done a marathon swim in the sea before. I was also concerned that I had signed up to do the swim under the Marathon Swimming Federation Rules but I was doubting myself and wondered if I should take that pressure off me. My sister’s advice was to give it a go because even if I decided I did break the rules, I could complete the 10km and that would still be a huge achievement. My main concern with adhering to MSF rules was I wasn’t allowed to wear a watch, meaning I wouldn’t know how long I had left before the cut off time.
I was nervous, I was exhausted, sore and being honest I was only just about functioning. After breakfast it was the same routine as previous days; except this time instead of being first to pick up my tracker I was one of the last! I went and the boats to take us to the start were already there. I got on the T1 boat as before, but needed a little more help than the previous days and the chatter on the boat was much quieter. You could see the thoughts going through people’s heads, the mental preparation for a 10km swim is as important as the physical so we were all trying to get ‘in the zone’, including me.
We arrived at the start line in Dobrich (where we had swum and I had struggled the previous day) and swimmers started jumping in. The skies were grey and the wind had picked up meaning the swell was bigger. Unlike the previous days where the atmosphere was all excitement at the start, you could feel the tension in the air and water, there was less chatter and many more focused, serious and nervous looking faces that clearly had a goal for the day. James started the race, as with the days before; the faster guys sped off into the distance. The first thing I noticed as I started swimming was the swell, it was bigger than it had looked and just to make it more fun, it started raining too; I felt quite sorry for the safety/media kayakers!
Although the start was where I had struggled against the current the previous day, this time we were swimming into the bay where the feed stop had been, which was MUCH easier. It was then around the coast into the bay we had swum a loop of the previous day. This was also where our first feed station was – after 3km. I didn’t feel like I needed to take on any nutrition but my medication was there so I had my meds and my bottle of maltodextrin squash and later was glad I drank all of it.
It was quite nice being in the bay as the water was much calmer but I headed off in the direction of the monastery, instead of swimming round it we swam back out into the clear seas. It was at this point I spotted a beautiful, clear, rainbow between the mountains.
Once I was back out at the mercy of the Adriatic sea. It was brutal with absolutely no shelter, the waves were relentless, you could be swimming next to people but not know they were there, it was the same for the safety kayakers, unless you were on the crest of the wave you couldn’t see them. At one point I couldn’t see anyone or anything other than the cliffs and waves! It’s during those moments when it becomes a mental game, you have to have confidence in yourself and your ability, but not only that, you have to trust those in charge of your safety, put your head down and push on. The mental battles were intense.
I saw a kayaker for the first time in a while and wished I hadn’t because it made me consider getting out, I knew they could call a boat for me. I was in so much pain from being thrown about by the waves and regretting not putting painkillers in my tow float. I did finally find a plus side of the big waves though – whilst I was still talking myself out of not getting out the kayaker vanished so I then couldn’t ask him to call a boat!
Not long after I came over the top of a wave to discover a group of swimmers in front of me, I thought I was swimming on my own but clearly not! There was a bit of a language barrier but they were all discussing if they should call it quits and get out as they were struggling too. Just by looking at them I could tell they felt the same way I did.
A kayaker appeared and came over to us to see if we were OK and we all said we were struggling. He informed us we were only 200m away from the next bay and feeding station; with that news we all agreed to keep going!
They were faster swimmers than me so soon took off whilst I did some maths in my head and made a couple of deals with myself.
The maths was that I knew that the feedstation in bay 3 was at 6km and after that I only had one final bay to swim in and out of (4km). I guessed I was doing 5km in around 2 hours at that point meaning I would need 1 hour and 30 minutes after the feed station to get to the finish. As a result, I needed to be at the feed stop at 3 hrs 30 at the very latest if I was to stand a chance of finishing in the cut off time.
After figuring that out, the first deal I made was that I was going to forget about the MSF rules and hang on and have a rest at the feed stop. It was now about finishing, not getting a ratified swim. The second deal was that if I had been 3.5 hours or longer, I would get out at the feed station and save my energy for the rest of the swimming as I likely wouldn’t make the cut off time.
In a twist of fate, when I got to the feed station the big group of swimmers were still there so there was nowhere for me to hold onto the boat for a rest. Neil, the physio, passed me a drink and some food in a fishing net because it was the only way I could get it due to there being so many people by the feed boat. I then asked the all important question –
How long had I been swimming?
“3 hours and 22 minutes”
I will admit, part of me was disappointed, part of me was thrilled, I can definitely say all of me was surprised! I had my drink and set straight off swimming as fast as I could out of the bay because I knew it would be tough getting round the headland again.
The swell and wind had dropped and the 4th and final bay actually appeared much quicker than I thought it would. It was a little different to the other bays in that it felt narrower but deeper, it was a relief to have a bit of shelter again. It had a pyramid buoy at the point of it. It was the final buoy before the finish that I knew now was just around the corner. It was when I got to the buoy that I started to believe I was going to finish and not just finish the 10km but do it under MSF rules too!
As I wasn’t wearing a watch I didn’t know the time, I wasn’t sure if I had 5 minutes to get round the corner or if I had 25 minutes, I just couldn’t tell so as I came out of the final bay and round the final headland and could see a couple of boats I found myself smiling, I was going to make it. I was still on target for completing the 33.3km, still on target to finish inside all the cut off times and still going to be the first wheelchair user to complete an UltraSwim33.3 to show what can be achieved when the event organisers care about making open water swimming accessible for all.
As I was getting closer to the finish I couldn’t actually work out where the finish line was so I just swam towards the boats and hoped itd become clear and eventually it did. I crossed the finish line in under 5 hours, under MSF rules and I was well and truly shattered and in a lot of pain.
I looked at the ladder I needed to climb to get onto the boat and wondered how on earth I was going to get onto the boat because the only sensation I had in my legs and feet was pain. I couldn’t feel where they were properly so I decided to have a rest and use my tow float as a pillow and just float for a while.
Someone in a wetsuit crossed the finish line a couple of minutes after me and I helped her to undo her wetsuit and then I gave getting onto the boat a go. It meant I had someone in the water guiding my feet to the ladder and 2 or 3 people at the top helping me up and onto the boat. My left leg went into spasm and I couldn’t get it to stop. There were a few people on the boat who offered me a drink and food but I needed to just breathe through the pain for a while, and I felt like I had lost 3 layers of my mouth due to the salt. I ended up having a muffin, which actually helped my mouth and also made me realise how hungry I was – I couldn’t wait to get to Mamula Island for lunch at the 5* hotel!
Another boat turned up and transferred the swimmers and some of the volunteers at the finish to the island but unfortunately because my leg was still in spasm, I didn’t feel like I was able to transfer across. As a result I sat on the boat for a further 10 minutes before the 5 hour cut off time was called and we towed the finish line to Mamula Island.
I was keeping an eye on the time as I knew the next swim was meant to start at 2pm and I needed to eat lunch before the swim. We arrived at the island and the idea was to get me off the boat onto the jetty and then a golf cart would take me up the very steep hill to the hotel for lunch. Unfortunately, someone had left a rib boat attached to the jetty meaning we had to bob for 15 minutes, bobbing is what makes me seasick so after a few minutes I ended up vomiting all over the side of the boat.
I was becoming more acutely aware of the time, 1.30pm. I had half an hour to eat and be back swimming. We continued to bob and wait for the rib to be moved so soon I only had 15 minutes to eat and be back in the water. Eventually, we arrived on the island at around 1.50pm. I was straight off the boat and onto the jetty, helped to the buggy and taken halfway up the hill where my lunch was waiting for me because I wouldn’t have time to go to the actual hotel.
I started scoffing my lunch down and it was announced there would be a rolling start between 2 and 2.15 because this swim was just 3 laps round the island and wasn’t timed. Whilst I was eating my sister was putting my suncream on me, greasing me up and getting me ready so as soon as I was done eating I could head straight down and get straight in the water! Frankly, it was all a bit mental and mad. I got back in the buggy to go back down the hill at around 2.12 giving me 3 minutes to get in the water. I was helped off the buggy using my crutches, I then managed to get down the small step but I was struggling to get over the rocks and panicking that I wasnt going to start on time wasnt helping me. I ended up using my crutches all the way into the water and then passed/threw my crutches at the beach and at dead on 2.15 I passed through the start arch.
Credit: Lloyd Images
It wasnt timed so I just took it easy, the first loop was pretty much head down swimming and minding my own buisness. As I came up to the end of the first loop it was great to hear people cheering everyone on and hear Zoe commentating and encouraging swimmers.
Lap 2 I spent a bit more time looking around and watching the fish, I have always wanted to swim round an island so just the fact I was doing it was pretty cool (to me) and I decided I was just going to enjoy it, I mean why not when its not a timed swim?!
Despite it being a 2.7km swim it didn’t feel like each lap was nearly a kilometre long. On the 3rd and final lap I regretted not having my GoPro with me, the views were absolutely outstanding, the sun had come out and the water was almost sparkling in the sunlight. The water was incredibly clear and there were a lot of shoals of fish, all different colours and sizes and what was even nicer was there were lots of swimmers in the water grinning from ear to ear at how lucky we were to be doing such a unique and beautiful swim.
Once my 3 laps were done I had swum at least 13km almost back to back and I was directed to the boat transfer to get us back to the hotel. All the swimmers on it were the swimmers that were slower and we decided amongst ourselves that we were the people that wanted to get the most out of our money because we were swimming longer than everyone else.
It wasnt a long journey back to the hotel and my sister was on a different boat so met me on the jetty with my wheelchair but the day didn’t end there.
That evening, before the swimmers briefing I was doing the Swimmers Chat with Zoe. I had taken my channel swim presentation but I was so tired I didn’t think I could get through it as I was so tired. Instead, I played the video at the start of my presentation and then Zoe and I had a chat about what it is I do, what I have achieved and about what it is like as a disabled open water swimmer. After that, it was straight into the final days swimmer briefing!
The briefing always started with a recap of the day and I was featured with the photo of me floating on my back, exhausted and using my tow float as a pillow, it summed up the swim and the day perfectly. We got given the good news – we were going to make 33.3km! At the start of the week we didn’t know that we would because of the weather putting a stop and limiting our swims. The news got a HUGE cheer, we also gave a HUGE cheer for the safety kayakers that day because they were in some really tough conditions. The final bit of the briefing was the details for our channel swim the following day when we would be swimming from Croatia to Montenegro, but more on that in the next blog!
The evening finished with us eating in the hotel restaurant as I almost fell asleep in my dinner!