All Day And All Of The Night...!!

All Smiles  after the 3 hour Channel test swim is Over.!!
Apart from Gary, who i think has fallen asleep standing up.

All Day........!

Sunday the 22nd of May was the day of Big Ricks channel test swim... we planned to do  three x, one hour swims with an hour rest in between each, if was planned like this to see if we were all up to the challenge of the swimming an hour then trying to get warm before having to swim another, just like we will have to do come July in the Channel..!

This is Paul's stock of food and sports drinks for Sunday
sports power bars,nuts,jam,etc..

Conditions on arrival at Swan pool at 8.30am  were far from ideal as you can see in the Video above.., but as Ricks channel coach  'The Mighty Dan Earthquake'  told us ..these conditions would be seen as normal in the channel..!! think he was trying to cheer us up , as some of the team were looking a bit nervous...!!

The Team trying to warm up...!



Before the of, Ricks team joined the other swimmers doing there 
various test swims today, Hats of to all of you, to Karen and Rachael who completed there 6 hours test swim. and also to the guys and girls who did there 2 hour test in readiness for doing the Mad Arch to Arc race in a few weeks. )



Okay 1st hour done..!!! we swam okay...manage 6 laps ( that's about 4.5k to 5k ) in 64 minutes which we think is good..apart form the choppiness of the water everything else was okay..water temp was no problem at the stage...really the only time we  got really cold was when when we were getting out , and that was mainly due to the wind.

Camp Rick..
We had 1 hour to get warm, have some food and drink before going back in. 
so set up base near the waters edge, all that was missing was the Camp fire..



As you can see..Doug was in no fear of getting cold....!!
it may have look  funny to the rest of us and to Dan, but Doug had the last laugh
 as he was fit and ready to swim well before the rest of us every time .

 Okay second hour completed...!! about 10k swam now, the second hour a lot tougher,the water seemed to get to even more choppy about half way in, also we started to feel cold and tired after about four laps , but we manged to do 6 laps again and surprisingly we were only a minute slower than the 1st hour ..

Not Sure what to say about Captain Cash Here...either someone has just told him we are swimming for a third hour..? or This is what 2 hours of swimming in freezing cold water looks like when all you have to eat is egg fried rice.!!

Big Ricks Paul ( Yellow hat), breaking the news to everyone that we are going
in for another Hour..! As you can imagine everyone told him where to go.!!;-)

we did it....over 3 hours , for 18 laps , getting on for 15k swam and god did it feel further...everyone in the team swam great, if it was never in doubt that we were fit enough to swim the channel but now having swam this test i know we are  mentally ready to swim for hours and hours if needed   


The Boys in their very fetching Dressing gowns 
 are all smiles after finishing the test..
it was a job well done.

 And All Of The Night........!  

Big Ricks Night Swim @ The Swan..
( 10.15 at night ,froze but we can still smile )

Okay...a day after our test swim, ( Monday 22/5/11) and we are back at the Swan at 8.30 at night., getting ready for a practise night swim...!! all of us are still very sore and tired from the previous days 3 hour swim , so maybe it was not the best timing to do this tonight, but with bank holidays etc coming up over the next week or 2,  it was now or never , plus it was the only time we would be able to do it safely with Dan .

Waiting for it to get dark....
'we must be mad.'

its time to swim.

The Swan @ 8.45..Now come on
does that not look inviting ..? 





could this be the first sighting of the lockness monster..??

no its okay its only Darran and Doug

Well we stepped into the dark about 8.45, water was to bit fresh but not to bad, we could still see okay at this point, Dan was looking after us along with another team of swimmers who are doing the arch to arc race,...we are not  doing laps tonight's , as it just would not have be safe , so were doing about 500m loops  to buoy and then back to bank where we start and so on...that way we could get out asap if we were in trouble...

Dan looked after us in the water and fellow swimmer Paul
would look after us on the lake bank should he be needed



Gary was the last to leave the water..!
we think that was around 10...



 

                     Now who can this be coming out of the water....? is it Shark ,its it whale..
                               no...its only Captain Cash and the Badger



the water was colder...or it felt colder ( Dan said it was all in our minds ) but when we got out everyone had the shivers big time..! this swim was very use full do for all of us, as we know if we are to swim a fast time in July we will have to start very early ..about 4 or 5 am most likely when it will be Dark....!! Big Thanks to Dan and Paul for their help and support tonight , and making it enjoyable and safe..!!

The Meat doing the River Dance  to try and warm up.!!



Basher..The wimp was the 1st to get out at 10...



Captain Cash having a fight with his manly dressing gown

Super Looking Cold...daz swam great

Right its time to Go....10.30

Channel tune time...okay this weeks tune is not much of a humming song i grant you, but its certainly is a classic.! and is its the only song we could find  that has " All Day And All Of The Night"  in the title...its  a top  song by the Kinks...( Plus as you can see from the video.,most of the team still  to this day dress this way.! )...

                              Its 53 Days To Go....

Big Ricks team are swimming the channel in aid of Cancer Research UK and The British Heart Foundation . If you wish to Support us in anyway ,then  click this link and Please give what you can. Every penny you give  will go to help save Lives..!! 

                         Big Ricks Channel Fundraiser Page

This Weeks Sessions;
Wednesday 25/5/11 @ Swan Pool ( water temp 13/14 degrees, felt a lot colder )
6 laps done 100 % effort..62 minutes and Froze.. (1 laps is approx 750m to 800m long)
Monday 23/5/11 Night Swim @ Swan Pool ( water temp 13/14 degrees, & blowing a gale)
we started @ 9.pm and swam for an hour until good totally dark.
guess we swam about 3k to 4k... 
Sunday 22/5/11 @ Swan Pool ( water temp 13/14 degrees, & blowing a gale)
3 x 1hour swims..
1st hour...6 laps in 62 minutes (1 laps is approx 750m to 800m long)
2nd hour 6 laps in 64 minutes 
3rd hour 6 laps in 65 minutes
Thursday 19/5/11@ David Lloyd Gym pool 25m
easy 30 x 100s of 1.35
Wednesday 18/6/11 @ Swan Pool .(water temp 12/13 degrees...)
6 laps done..@ 75% effort took 63 minutes ( approx 4.5k -1 laps is approx 750m to 800m long)
Monday 16/5/11..@ Swan Pool ..(water temp 12/13 degrees...)
6 laps done @ fast pace .took.61 minutes ( approx 4.5k - 1 laps is approx 750m to 800m long)
Sunday 15/5/11..
some of the team were @ The Great Salford Swim...1 Mile race water 14 degrees
The Rest were @ The Swan doing 7 laps ( 5.5k) water temp 12 degrees


Please feel free to contact Big Ricks Swim team ..our email is.. bigrickswimteam@gmail.com  It  would great to hear your thoughts on our channel swim, or perhaps you wish to have a go at open water swimming..i am sure we could help get you started..;-))...