Irish Champion of Champions 2009

Saturday June 20st-
The race began at 9:30 am at the Speckle Door 5k down the coast. We started are swim up the coast to Sandycove and then 2 laps around the Island to make the first leg of the race a little over 5 miles. We were swimming straight into the wind and chop which made it so I had to work harder to cover the same distance. From the start I took a very strong lead and was in front of everyone but I took a line that was around 600-700 meters off the coast while most people were 200 meters away. By the time I got to the back of the Island to start my first lap I was lost and not sure where I was supposed to turn so I had to stop and waive down a boat to ask them, by that point Ned Denison the race organizer had passed me. On are first lap around the Island I caught back up to him and passed him taking my lead again. I finished with over a 50m lead in a time of 2:04.59 for 5 miles. Followed by Ned Denison (2) and Julieann Galloway (3).

At 2pm we started the 3mile leg of the race. My arms were sore from the first part of the race which made it difficult to keep up a high tempo. Julieann and I were swimming stroke for stroke until she took off the last 800 meters and I fell off. I decided not to push myself because I already had over a 1 minute lead on her from the first race and we still had one more race to go. Julieann finished 22 seconds in front of me and we were almost 6 minutes in front of 3rd place for that race.

At 5pm after a long day of racing and waiting we finally started the last part of the race, a 1 mile sprint. Julieann and I new it would be a close race and that I had a slight lead on her from the 5 mile race. It turns out I had a 42 second lead on her but we did not know that at the time. We all took off and again I took the lead from the very start because in a 1 mile race it can be very close and I wanted to have clean water to swim in and be able to change my line with out anyone in my way. I finished the 1 mile race in 21 minutes 32 seconds followed by Julieann with a time of 22 minutes 21 seconds.

Top 5 finishers
First place over-all and First place men's- Nicholas Caine, Time- 3:30.30
2nd place over-all and First place female- Julieann Galloway, Time- 3:32.01
3rd place- Ned Denison, Time- 3:38.51
4th place- Owen O'Keefe, Time- 3:48.49
5th place- Sylvain Estadieu, Time- 3:49.50

Due to currents and other factors the 9 mile race was probably 10 miles instead

Ireland

I arrived in Ireland Monday the 15th and had my first training swim that night in a river in Fermoy the water was 15 Celsius. (Picture above)

Tuesday morning the 16th I was up at 4:25am to go to Sandy Cove for a swim at 5am the water ranged from 13-15 Celsius and then that night we swam in Iniscara which was a great place to swim and a very warm 18 Celsius.

Wednesday the 17th I was up at 4:20am to swim in Sandy Cove at 5am again the water was 12.5-15 Celsius. When i arrived to swim it was pouring rain, dark, cold, and very windy. On the inside of the Island we were protected from most of the waves so it was only windy, rainy and cold. When we made it to the outside of the Island it was not protected at all. We were swimming in 3-4 ft waves with very strong cross winds and hard rain. It was a great training swim because we never know how are real swim will go so it helped prepare us for almost anything.

Results from Nationals

June 12th 2009- 5k National Championship: 27th place, Time: 1:02.58

During the 5k I went easy and used it as a warm up swim to get ready for Sunday's race and learn more about the course and currents. We swam in 2-3ft swells with very strong cross winds, rough conditions.

June 14th 2009- 10k National Champion & World Team Trials: 35th place, Time: 2:09.47

Great swim with fairly flat water with some wind towards the end of the race. For both the 5k and 10k the water was very warm 85-87. Canada used this meet as their World Team qualifying meet so their were eight swimmers from Canada who raced and finished before me.

Upcoming Races

June 12th 2009- USA Swimming 5k Open Water National Championships, Fort Myers Beach, Florida
June 14th 2009- USA Swimming 10k Open Water National Championships & World Championship Trials, Fort Myers Beach, Florida
June 20th 2009- Irish Champion of Champions Race (9 miles), Cork Ireland

Alcatraz Race

On January 3rd 2009 I took part in the 2nd Winter Alcatraz Race hosted by Water World Swim. The water temperature was 49-50 degrees fahrenheit with sunny sky’s and flat water. I finished the race first place overall and first place in the skin division with a time of 20 minutes and 13 seconds.

Pilot

I have received my contract for my swim from my pilot Eddie Spelling and sent it back to him in England along with my deposit on December 11, 2008.

Training Camp

The local Cork Ireland swimmers are building a 2 week long distance swim camp around my visit June 13th to 27th 2009 and the famous Freda Streeter (Channel General - and member of the International Marathion Swinng Hall of Fame) is coming over during the middle weekend to help train all.

A big thank you to all the people who are helping put this great event together.