(To Read any of the stories more clearly, then just click on the picture and zoom in)
Big Ricks Team would like to give a big thank you, to Peter and Keely at The Swimming Times for all their continuing amazing help and support to Ricks team. we really can not thank them both enough for the time and space they have given us in the magazine.
We hope we give everyone a good, fun, and informal read for the readers of the Swimming Times of what its like when six very old men and a Young (ish)lady, come up with the crazy idea to swim the English Channel ....!! We don`t know if we are doing it right or wrong.?,whether we are doing to much or to little ,or if we are getting the right or wrong advice..!! in the end only time will tell...but at the moment we are having great fun Trying.! well, if you can call freezing your ass for hours on end fun..!!..but...the Truth is ....We are loving the whole experience .
Thank you again Peter & keely ..
Big Ricks Team
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..!!
The Team.. Doug,Richard,Paul,Nicky,Darran,Rob.Gary
The Big Ricks Team would like thank everyone for their amazing generosity and support for our attempt at swimming the English Channel in aid of the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK.
The Team felt we needed to give a Special Thank you to Big Ricks Swim Teams members Nick and Victoria Platt, who along with all their staff at Henwood Court have raised by walking, crawling and jumping there way up Mount Snowdon the amazing sum £1,298.60 for the BHF. Nick and Victoria have given us their permission to show what they have raised as an off line donation on our Virgin Money Page. Henwood Courts Just Giving Page http://www.justgiving.com/victoria-platt
The Kings Arms In Sutton Coldfield (Robs on the left of the pic Paul on the right and The Meat in the middle )
The Team also felt we needed to give a Special Thank you to The Kings Arms pub in Sutton Coldfield , (which is Richard "The meat " Browhjohns Local), THe Kings landlords Rob and Paulput on a fund raiser evening last weekend for Richard and the Channel Team and as a result fo thier efforts ..the pub raised an unbelievable £1.128..
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..!!
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..;-))...
This week’s Big Ricks channel humming classic , had to come from one of the many top bands that Manchester has produced. we did think of the superb Joy Division or the equally fabulous Smiths....!! but in the end we had to go for the bad boys of Manchester...it had be Oasis and 'Don`t Look Back In Anger......! why not Click to play to listen as you read
Big Ricks Swim Team @ The Great Salford Swim 2011 back row Rob, Jenny, Victoria, Nicky, middle row Paul, keil, Nick, Darran, Richard and at the front Ted.
Finally after endless months of training ..Big Ricks were fit and ready for their first open water event of 2011..., and what a event it was ..! The Event was The BBCGreat Day of Sport in Manchester . Ricks team, along with 40,000 people braved the bad weather and were in Manchester this Sunday. From amateurs like us to the world's leading athletes it was a day for us all to enjoy..and what a day it turned out to be.... -.
The day began at 10.00 with Haile Gebrselassie again winning the Great Manchester Run !!, then During the afternoon it was the Great City Games which took place in the centre of Manchester with the likes of Jessica Ennis, Christine Ohuruogu and American sprinter Tyson Gay all in action. But.....
Big Ricks team had not come all this way to run.!, oh NO, we came to Manchester to be part off The Great Salford Swim . Us along with 2000 other swimmers came to do the unique one-mile open water race in the beautiful Salford Quays , and we couldn`t wait to swim it..
Big Ricks Blueseventy Boys..!!
Well the first 5 of big Ricks team rolled up at very wet Salford Quays at 9.30 ,It was a bit early as our heat wasn't until 2.00 in the afternoon..But we can came down especially early so we could help one of Big Ricks sponsors Blueseventy , I`ll be fair we weren't asked to do a very tough task..but we loved it.....
We were positioned at start of the race, with a rack of spare wetsuits in one hand ( they were for swimmers who had hired the wrong size suit and needed to change it ASAP, many did.!! ) and in the other we had a Very large tube of Anti Chaff Cream.!..why Anti chaff i hear you ask...??, Well the cream really is essential when wearing a wetsuit . without it the suit will rub your neck to pieces as you swim.! which is very painful believe me..!
The Anti Chaff boys and girls along David Davis. David was taking part in the elite mens races
Well despite the cold and rain for 4 hours we had great time...we really did feel like we were part of the event, best part was we were able to chat to all the swimmers and their families before and after they swam, Many of them were doing an open water swim for the first time. We gave what advice we could to try and calm their nerves ,and off cause gave them good coating of chaff cream and sent them on their way.!,
one of the highlights of the day was having Olympic swimming god Ian Thorpe Walk past us as and comment " is this what it has come to lads , standing in the rain and cold in the middle of Manchester putting anti chaff cream on strangers " don`t you just love him.!! also we were lucky to have our picture taken with 2 time British Olympic medallist star David Davis.! he was top man and gave us some great advice how to swim faster later in the day .!
Victoria smiling through gritted teeth...
Hmm..she is wondering has she got time for another wee before the off.!!
Now why is Ted smiling so much.??...
Hmm..I hope you haven`t done a wee in your suit Mr Edwards.!!
Captain Rob looking a bit ugly ,old and worried before the off.!!
and Nicky is making a wish she gets passed half way by 15 mintues..
Darran looking like the king of cool as alwasy..all smiles just before the off , 20 or so mintues later he had won the 44-49 age group.!
By 1 the weather had got alot worse but no one was worried about the weather..! by this time all of Ricks team had turned up at the start, we were split over 2 heats 1.20 for the slow coaches ( Nick,Vic, Ted and Keil.!) and the fast heat at 2 with (Nicky,Jenny,Rob,Richard,Darran and Paul ) it was a first time for a few of team at Great Swim event , and god did they look nervous..Vic and Ted and Captain Cash as can see from there pictures..!! and for the others it was there 7th great swim and so it looked like it was just another day at the office, Darran for one ( how cool and calm does super look.!! )
Big Ricks Men Team @ Salford
All smiles Now its over..!! Roll on the Great London Swim in July
The great news is that all off us swam well but most importantly everyone enjoyed the swim , the weather conditions weren't the best on the day for sure ,and as result made the water very choppy in places and off course lets not forget how cold the water was...14 degrees.!! is chilly for anyone even the channel boys...!, but in spite of this everyone was smiling as we had our pictures taken at the end of the swim..
Darran "Super Chest "Dyke Great Salford Mens (44-49) Champion
The swims of the day must go to Victoria,Rob and Richard for doing there 1st open water swim, then there were great swims by Jenny and Nicky who came 3rd and 4th in the ladies 40-44 age group, and then to Paul who had a great swim to finish 18th overall , but top swim of the day goes to darran for winning the 44-49 age group by minutes...really top swim super..as it was by the other guys as well...Keil,Ted,Nick
Now we are not sure what Doug is doing here...either he is in pain after 7 laps of swimming and is finding it a touch hard to get out.?? or he is on all fours as usual pleading with Mrs Copeland( Doug,s mature sexy older partner) to let him do the Great Swims at London and Scotland..! sorry Doug you have no chance..!
Just a short note 2 of the channel guys Doug and Gary sadly could not make salford , but still went to the Swan sunday morning and bashed out 7 laps...as you can see from the picture ..7 laps can be very painfull..top swimming boys
Big Ricks Great Salford Report
As a Bonus if anyone ever wondered what it is like to do a Great Swim Event then have a look at first heat of the day on Sunday...if you have never swam at a great swim or any open water event then trust me you are missing out on a amazing experience ....Try it...you will not be disappointed ;-))
So the Fun swims are over time being and its time to back to Channel training this weekend is our 3 hour test swim and monday brings us the joy of our first Night ( yes Night) training session..!! ...
Its now only 62 days
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 News @ The Swan....wednesday ( 18/511) night at the swan was very sunny and also very cold.!!! its seems the water just doesn`t get any warmer....!!! nice chilly 12 degrees tonight..!
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..;-))...
Big Ricks 2 Supporting charities
The British Heart Foundation & Cancer Research UK
The team have been looking forward to this day for 6 months, its our first sea swim.!! The beautiful Bournemouth on the Dorset coast was the chosen venue. we set of from the midlands at 6 am on a Saturday morning. as we traveled down the heavens opened , heavy rain , gale force winds..as you can imagine we were just a little be worried about what was awaiting us when we arrived in Bournemouth at 9.
Well as you can see, with Doug and Nicky above....the sea was just a little bit choppy in Bournemouth, to say the least.. we stood around for a few minutes thinking ....well you do not want don`t know what we were thinking and saying . trust me the language was a bit blue.....!
as you can see ..we were a little uncertain about going in
But get in we did, it was a we bit fresh as we tiptoed in at first , but after freezing for a few minutes it wasn`t to bad as the video above shows ....(this is thirty minutes in and we can still wave and smile ..so we must be going well...!!)
Doug Never stops Smiling... for Stu the sea was like a walk in the park.!
As It was for paul..!
and Nicky.!!
But Think Nick was finding it a bit painful
but we all carried on, in the end we swam from Bournemouth pier to Boscombe pier and back again and then back again.. lasted almost 1 and half hours before the cold got to much to handle , so we decide enough was enough and swam back to Boscomebe pier and the safety and warmth of the cars , it was not a bad effort by all the guys for a 1st time in the sea this year.
Sunday morning swim was even more of a challenged as the sea conditions were a lot worse then the Saturday as you can see in the video above.. But having said that we had the confidence from the previous days dip , so we just dived in and did a hour none stop...and it felt great.
Cancer Researchh UK
the weekend went better then we had hoped, the months training before hand in swan pool really was a massive help , that month at the swan getting used firstly to the cold , then getting used to swimming for an hour and longer in the cold made the sea so much easier to handle and enjoy . Now we can not wait till we do our next sea weekend , this time in Dover..!! roll on June 11th and 12th/
can we get out now..!!
Paul celebrating after Sundays swim.
weekend is over and we lived to tell tell the tale
Nicky can still smile
As Can Nick
and Doug is always smiling..!!
(well i think he was smiling)
A job Well Done
Darran 1st open water dip of the year..(Part 1 )
We have a bonus this week...Big Ricks Super Star Darran 'Super Chest' , had until this week not been able to do any open water swimming as he was still concentrating on his pool training and racing . All of Darran,s hard work paid of last weekend when Super managed to win 4 freestyle titles at the ASA Midlands Championships in Leamington spa 50m,100m and 200m and Relay were won...top swimming darran all the team are proud of you.
Anyway...the day after Darran won at the Midland Champs he was at Swan Pool at 7 in the evening.!!
ready for his virgin dip in open water for 2011..as you he seen from video part 1 he was not to keen to get in, but as you can see from part 2..he did get in ....and looked good and as comfortable as ever..
This Weeks Sessions...
Sunday 8/5/11 ( Bournemouth sea and Swan Pool)
6 of us did 1 hour in the sea, the other guys did 2 hrs of swan pool.
Rob sadly could not make Bournemouth , but did just as good
as the rest of the team by swimming 2 hours none stop at swan pool
Saturday7/5/11 ( Bournemouth Sea)
1 and half hours done..tough and cold swim , but really enjoyable
Thursday 5/5/11 (David Lloyd Gym 25m pool)
easy 3000m swim..nice relaxed swim
Wednesday 4/5/11 ( Swan pool approx 800m per lap)
6 laps done
Monday 2/5/11 ( Swan Pool approx 800m lap)
6 laps done..bloody cold tonight..wind blowing a gale as we swam
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..!!
