A Closer Look at the Water Quality Testing at Corsair Bay
In October 2022, ECan downgraded the long-term recreational water quality of Corsair Bay to “Poor” and labelled the beach as “unsuitable for swimming”. The public and media interest around this event has been high, with confusion around what the term “unsuitable for swimming” actually means. READ FULL REPORT: A Closer Look at the Water Quality Testing at Corsair Bay...
Lake Taupo 40.2km Ange Moir
On February 18 2018 at 3.11am I entered the waters of Lake Taupo NZ, 15hours 38minutes later I crawled out at the other end. Today it seems hard to believe that 5 years ago I was struggling to swim 250m in 45minutes. When I entered my first Ocean Swim of 2.8k, I wondered at times if I was crazy, but I completed that swim and was hooked. It took me 2 years of working alone before I took a mate’s insistent advice to go to Dan Abel and from that point on I haven’t looked back. Dan and I worked closely together over these last...
Chopper Challenge
3rd Westpac Chopper Swim Challenge to take off in March With its 3rd edition just announced for March 2018 the Westpac Chopper Swim Challenge from Waiheke to Auckland is becoming a small fixture in the Marathon Swim Calendar. It all started in 2016, when three Westpac staffers and ocean swimmers realised over coffee that the Waiheke ferry wharf was exactly 20k from the Westpac Rescue Helicopter base. Given the significance of the Chopper to the island a charity swim seemed glaringly obvious. Dean Madsen had done the 12.5k from Milford to Devonport in atrocious conditions, Michael Buck was preparing for Rottnest (where he finished 2nd) and Olaf...
Round Rarontonga Swim
The idea of a circumnavigation #RoundRaro swim had crossed my mind on previous trips to the Cook Islands and promptly been ‘shelved’ as too big of a project. . For me realistic #RoundRaro plans started to form in the middle of the Cook Strait crossing in March 2017 in an IRB with NZ Hall of Fame swimmer Philip Rush and swim coach Chloe Harris in the water. It’s a busy schedule coaching in the UK and running FitandAbel in New Zealand #RealSwim. Philip Rushs advice was… “there will never be a good time, just needed to commit to it and do some consistent work and...
Dan Abel takes on the English Channel
9 July 2017 I swam the English Channel. There was so much support. Its been amazing. Thank you. I committed fully to attempt the English Channel swim this season only recently, when hanging out with Chloe Harris and Philip Rush in March in Cook Strait . Chloes tenacious Cook swim was inspiring and Philips words ' there'll never be a good time so just get on with it ' . I was booked for an English Channel attempt in August with a possible opporunity late July. And so it was Fri 7th July after my busiest 7 days of training to date, a chance pm phone call with my...
OCEAN SWIM SERIES ANNOUNCEMENT
My thoughts on Scott Rice and the https://oceanswim.co.nz/ The season schedule has just been announced. There are some cool swim locations around the country. I know it’s been topical especially for Christchurch swimmers. I have watched online comments with interest. Scott and I raced each other in the pool in the 90’s. I recall Scott having the vision to set up an ocean swim series back in 2003 ish well before our sport was truly ‘popular’. I remember Scott working at DB in sales while putting together his events company. As a fellow swim operator who is passionate about swimming I understand some of the early...
Open Water Swimming Marlborough Sounds style
Our recent move to Marlborough has opened up many new doors and areas for training and exercise adventures. Anakiwa being my new favourite. With many hours spent training for IMNZ, Anakiwa is a great base to swim along the beautiful coast line, bike through the Queen Charlotte drive and run on the track. New Zealand is also very lucky to have a resident population of about 200 Orca. Many of whom visit the Marlborough Sounds, especially between November and Feb. They love to come into the shallows and teach their young how to heard and catch sting ray. You know where this is going...
A Panorama of Blue
This is so much more than I ever could have imagined. The Cook Islands. Rarotonga, quite magical. The sea the most blue of blues offset by shades of turquoise and the verdant mountains beyond. Wow, warm water. Mesmerizing life under the sea the likes of which I had never seen. And then on to Aitutaki where the panorama of blue above and below the water line defied definition despite our best efforts. I was blown away. We lacked the necessary adjectives. 'It's ridiculous' was voiced frequently together with 'insane'. In the end we were reduced to silent appreciation. What a destination! Ringing Dan three years ago...
Don’t Set Limits
A big shout out and congratulations to Simon of London, UK. Simon came to Fit&Abel in June this year. At 52 years young he was scared of deep water, not a confident swimmer but most importantly he was uncertain as to whether or not he could ever learn to get comfortable in deep water , let alone open water. This was part of his first e-mail to us: “At 52, I have never mastered swimming and nervous to go near deep water. I would be really grateful if I could organise some 1 to 1 coaching to at least teach me the basics...
Tracking Your Swim Data
The swimmers logbook: provides an ongoing record of training. Some swimmers view them as a waste of time, an annoyance that must be added to daily. Others see the value in being able to review and compare training cycles, sets and repeat times. This can help identify strengths, weakness and opportunities. A logbook entry can record distances, times, heart rates, sleep patterns, success and failures, present and past … and just about anything the author desires in between. They can become quite a personal document recording battles, triumphs, injuries and emotions. Sure you can get some of this data off a swim watch but a...