Big Ricks Swim Team: The Windmills Of Your Mind...

A Swimmers Mind..!! It’s a strange and complex thing well it is for most swimmers, as for Ricks channel 6...Mmm well the jury is still out.
(This picture is a worlds 1st...its a look inside Big Ricks Captain`s head.
The open water legend that is Rob "Chunky Monkey " Cash
as you can see rob is a Deep Thinker..!!
Big thanks to the Great Donal Buckley for the use of this picture
link to Donal Blog
http://loneswimmer.com/2012/01/30/this-is-an-open-water-swimmers-brain/

Well we are not sure whats happening to Ricks at the moment, we are having deep thoughts all over the place( maybe due to pool dehydration.!!) ..so once again this week’s blog is a bit deep , well okay deep (ish) it is a Big Ricks blog after all .There is meaning in choosing the Amazing song " Windmills of Your Mind " by Noel Harrison ,( well okay only reason we picked it is because of the title.). as this week’s blog read along song...... .but its great song, and we dare you not think about whats going on in your mind as you listen to it and as you read Ricks Blog...Hope you enjoy..Rx

This could be another Deep Blog..!!! ;-) Question...What goes through your mind as a long distance swimmer...???, what are you thinking as you Jump into the sea, maybe at the dead of night, with nothing to see apart from and small light on your boat, what are we thinking.??...Its deep question.....! Ricks for sure know all about the windmill of mind games in the Pool as you stand behind your the blocks readying yourself to race as they have been doing it for over 30yrs, but Pool stuff is not to complicated as your race plan would have been drummed into you by your coaches for yrs and yrs, but without stating the obvious, apart the from the fact that in open water and the pool you are swimming , we wondered do all similarities between them sort of end the minute you enter the sea , or dive into the Pool .? or are Somethings the same , The moment before you start...maybe

The Great Man himself..., Do you know why Michael Phelps is really smiling .?? Well its not because he,s already won 16 Gold Olympic medals , he,s thinking ....Mmmm.
Thank god i turned down Ricks offer to join The Double Channel Team..;-))

Weather your Michael Phelps standing on the blocks for the 100m Butterfly final at London’s Olympics 2012, or Big Ricks Paul “BASHER “bates standing on Shakespeare beach in Dover getting ready for the 1st Leg of the double channel swim....Their minds will be going round with windmills of information ., getting ready for in the job in hand, well Michael`s will be at least...;-) ..Phelps will have a plan for sure , his mind maybe thinking, reacted fast to the gun, then good stream line of the blocks, maybe 8 to 10 kicks underwater, before a good break out into 3 or 4 good strong stokes before breathing, good tempo until the turn, again 8 to 10 strong kicks under water, and burst to surface increase his tempo until the finish and he wins another Gold..!! ... But what is Paul thinking.?. we wondered what do other channel swimmers think just before they start their great swims....??? You look down a 50m pool sure it looks a long way , but at least you can see the other end which is it only 24 seconds away, but as you stand on the beach in Dover,in the dark, nervously messy with your goggles looking out across the pitch darkness which is the channel, wondering what is out there..as you stand there what you do you see and what are you really thinking....!!

Big Ricks Basher , getting ready to jump into the unknown..its 1am . we think his brain is already in windmill state( Like always..!!) Paul was not saying much on the short trip 20 minute trip from Folkstone harbour to the drop of point to start our channel swim

Ricks are just looking into what Paul was thinking as he stood on the beach at 1.15am, were his thoughts the same sort of thought Micheal Phelps might be having.?? .., these are his comments....My mind started doing cartwheels the minute I heard the engine stop.. And the pilot shouted over...get yourself ready this is it...!!!...off course you are already feeling Sick with nerves , but my 1st and only thought as Fred prepared the steps for me to jump in were how cold was the sea going to be.??.We had done loads of cold water training for months, but it had always worried me just how cold it would feel when I 1st jumped in, i always thought what if it was freezing, to cold for me to swim, what would i do..??..Crazy thoughts to some maybe after all the training we had done to be ready for this swim, if the thought of the cold water was not bad enough , add to this it was pitch black and 1.15 am , my mind was all over the place as i stepped onto the ladder, took 2 deep breaths and Jumped In...!!

Paul jumping into the Darkness in Dover .!!
what would you be thinking..???

As soon as I hit the water, the fear that I’d had for months, the fear I had dreamed about over and over about the freezing cold, disappeared in seconds.”The Sea Was Warm”...I felt great for a moment, however that feeling of jubilation did not to last long as I suddenly remembered I was in the English channel at 1am on a Wednesday mo rning in July in the pitch darkness swimming towards a beach I was told was there, but I could not see it ..!! I was told it was only a minute swim away...i,m sure it was felt more like hrs... (Well okay only 5 minute’s maybe.) Finally I felt the sand beneath my feet and I walked out of the sea...and looked around...!!!

I’m sure everyone at some point in their lives has asked themselves what I am doing. What am I here...!! Well for me this was my moment... Windmills of emotions come to mind, I was on a beach , in the middle of the night in a pair of trunks, looking out into the pitch darkness, the only thing I could see was the torch light from the boat , only things I could hear where the waves crashing onto the beach..!!..i Was feeling a little nervous, feeling somewhat sick...and I did think for a moment I don`t wants to do this...I heard a shout from the boat...” Are You Ready..??? I thought for a moment as whether to answer no..!! I took another deep breath...shouted yes...to which I got a reply...well Get a move on then we haven`t got all day ..!!!..Perhaps this my Micheal Phelps moment, just like as when Michael is behind a block at London 2012, .Basher was on the beach at sea water edge...., the moments before you start a channel swim are the same as pool swim..., you have the nerves, you try to have that focus,...my plan was do the fastest 500m ever to catch up to the boat..!!then swim for hour and get out....!!! well that was the plan...and it worked...;-))) ..that moment on the beach on the 20th july 2011...will live with me forever..!

Paul, 25minutes into the 1st hour of Big Ricks 2011 channel swim...
what he and rest of us were thinking as we swam last year is a theme for another Blog .!!

Big thanks to the Great Donal Buckley for the use of this picture

link to Donal Blog

http://loneswimmer.com/2012/01/30/this-is-an-open-water-swimmers-brain/

Double Channel News..

Well the swim is getting closer by the second, its now only 92 days away..!! Its been a very Busy week, we have some good news..Big Ricks have new reserve for the channel swim...its Marcus John Alsop.....and yes before you ask , he is Ricks very own hard women Nicky "Sloppy Slops" .. Brother..!!..

Marcus "J" Alsop..

We are very lucky to have Big Marcus in the team, not only is he a top swimmer and all round great guy, BUT even more importantly he was also a very good friend of Mark, he understands totally why big ricks swim, as he has already swam in many of the events we all take part in throughout the year.welcome on board big man..

The Badger..
Gary Big Ricks Cold Water King.!!

Training is continuing as planned, everyone seems to be in good shape and good spirits..!! Good spirits because we all know the end is in sight..The end of winter training in the pool is almost over..!!...we are hopeful that we can get back into open water next month.!! i say we , but for one of the team it never stopped...Gary managed to swim throughout the winter at The Swan , without once having to use a gloves,or a wet suit.!! its a really top effort by big Edge...he has put the rest of the team to shame, he only has a few weeks before he can laugh at the rest of his team mates suffer in the cold....its the Easter holidays for the next few weeks so training is going to be slightly easier... we've had a great winter ..now the real hard works starts...back into cold water...!!!....

Now only 92 days until Big Ricks 2012 Double swim

Big Ricks Swim Team are attempting a 2 -Way swim of the English Channel between the dates of June 25th to 1st July 2012.. We know the thought of swimming 60 miles really is quite Boring to most of you..!!, BUT the thought you are helping people beat Breast Cancer and Heart Disease by sponsoring Big Ricks really is Totally Amazing .!!! This swim will be completely meaningless without your amazing generosity , We know times are hard so we really,really thank you from the heart for any support you can give us..Ricks x