Sydney
(dpa) - The rest of the breakfast crowd at the Bluewater café this chilly
Sunday morning in Sydney are
puzzling over the boisterousness of those at the trestle tables at the back.
A clue to the
wide grins is the wet hair, the salty tang and the shivering: these are members
of the Bold and the Beautiful and have just completed a 1.5-kilometre dawn swim
in numbingly cold water from Manly Beach to Shelly Beach and back.
The club has
been going since 2008 when a few friends anxious at the prospect of being alone
in the Pacific Ocean prevailed on experienced swimming instructor Julie Isbill
to shepherd them on an early morning dip.
Over 3,000
people have since filled out the B&B pack. Three have been on enough swims
to clock up 1,000 kilometres.
There are
newbies almost every day for the 7.00 am start outside Manly surf lifesaving
club.
"It's
just stayed exactly as it was the day it started," said Jenny Menzies.
Beyond
registering and having your photo taken for the B&B album, there are no
other formalities. There is no cost, no timing, no results, no starting gun.
There are no rules about wetsuits, snorkels, flippers or whether you take a
direct line or wander.
The tradition
has grown up of breakfasting together afterwards.
Some, like
Ian Forster, turn up most days. Indeed, Forster has swum every single day this
southern hemisphere winter, 92 consecutive days, and without a wetsuit too.
"Every
day is different," said Menzies. "You see a different fish or a
different weed. Or the sand will be shaped slightly differently. I've never
tired of doing it. I'll swim until the day I die."
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Mortality -
or, at least, remaining mortal - is on the minds of some swimmers.
Kari Baynes,
a first-timer in August, swam with pool-swimming chum Lindy Woodrow, a veteran
of lots of competitive ocean swims.
"I've a
fear of sharks and surf," Baynes admitted. "I thought that if I do it
with an experienced group, with a large number of people, I'd feel much safer.
I like the fact that I felt people around me all the time."
Sharks are
spotted off all Sydney beaches. Some have shark nets to deter attacks and some
do not. The crossing to Shelley Beach is unprotected but while there are
frequent sightings of really big fish, there have been no incidents.
In winter the
ocean is calmer than in summer. Manly is a surfing beach and there can be big
surf, big waves, currents and rips.
"You
don't want to be swimming off the coast of Sydney on your own," Woodrow
said. "Kari enjoyed it. I swam with her. She swam with other people. She's
desensitizing herself to the fear of large ocean life like sharks and big
surf."
Baynes, who
plans to go on to competitive ocean swimming, was delighted to be in what some
have said is Sydney's premiere nursery for ocean swimmers.
"That's
how it felt: in a nursery," she said. "I don't mind looking at a bit
of sea life, but not the sea life with the big teeth. I swam close to people.
My theory is to be in the middle.
"Navigating
the surf, the waves, that's going to be my next challenge."
Menzies was
brought up on Sydney's northern beaches. The ocean does not scare her. What
gets her out of bed for the B&B swims is the camaraderie.
"You get
up, you get down there and you know you're going to see a friendly face,"
she said. "Doesn't it make you feel good to be alive! There's something
about it that gets into every cell of your body. You can be exhausted but when
you come out you feel fantastic."
Every day of
the year there is a swim. Some can be really memorable. One Tuesday in July
last year the group of 48 who braved the cold and the rain got to swim with a
15-metre southern right whale.
The gentle
giant was so inquisitive it came close enough to some swimmers they could hear
it breathe, even touch it.
Back in the
Bluewater café that day the group on the trestles at the back were likely
noisier, more euphoric, more boisterous and less shivery than usual.
Sid Astbury
Australia correspondent
dpa ●●● English
Services GmbH
I’m not an
ace swimmer. I wasn’t a swimming champ in my teens and I’m not one in my middle
age. I tell everyone that I’m a distance swimmer, that I’m not fast and that I
don’t worry about competition. But in the ocean swims I sometimes find myself
placed in my age group. This is so thrilling! It gives me a taste of what it would feel like to really be an elite swimmer. It only happens when the ace swimmers are off competing somewhere else or have something more important on. The Manly LSC Blue Dolphins is one such swim. For some reason a lot of the top-draw swimmers stay away. So, despite my lack of race preparation - missed squads because of visitors and a week of boozy late nights to celebrate my daughter’s Christmas visit - I dared imagine victory. 
This ocean
swim was 2km from Manly round a course in Cabbage Tree Bay. The day was perfect:
small waves, no wind and clear water. I was in the 50+ category, men and women.
After a rather poor start my vision of victory faded a little. ‘Not to worry,
I’m pretty consistent,’ I thought, ‘I’ll catch up.’ I lost the bunch I’d been
swimming with just before the last buoy and the vision of victory dimmed. On to
the finish. I didn’t catch a wave in, (I never do). I staggered a bit when I
tried to move from the horizontal to the vertical. ‘Never mind. A big chestful
of air, head up and belt up the beach as fast as possible.’ It was at this
point a fellow non-champ* competitor in my category started to overtake. ‘NO WAY!’
With a mammoth effort I changed into top gear and gave it absolutely everything
I had. My come-uppance was nigh. I stumbled, fell flat on my face, just short
of the finish line. Non-champ sailed past and took third position. Defeat. I came fourth in my age group and
spent the rest of the day sulking.
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