Week 5 - Qualified!!
“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”
Week 5 in review
What a weekend. It started on Friday evening with the our short night swim that starts at 10pm, and it was as busy these swims often are. There is something quite magical about seeing all the green lights twinkling in the water. A personal thank you to the volunteers who make this happen for you. As you can imagine, the work starts a long way ahead of you arriving on the beach, and it finishes long after the last swimmer exists the water. I know that it’s appreciated by more than just me. You just have to listen to the buzz to know that.
This weekend was one of our SwimTayka nominated training weekends. It’s a privilege to see these teams start to come together and build a team as opposed to a group of individuals.
After the buzz of the night it’s back to normal training. As you’ll see later, I had good reason to have an inkling that there would be some impressive achievements with numerous relay and solo qualifying swims achieved. I hope you’re still smiling from ear to ear - you deserve it.
We had a lot of swimmers this weekend and the volunteers were simply amazing, thank you for all that you do.
Thank you for all the positive feedback too, we love to hear how things were for you.
Note: Water temperature taken during the swim session in the harbour. Air temperature, wind direction & wind speed taken from the Port of Dover app.
Friday (10pm start):
Swimmers: 33
Water temperature: 12.9C
Air temperature:
Conditions: NW F3. Dark!
Saturday:
Swimmers: 50
Water temperature: 13.8C
Air temperature:
Conditions: NE breeze. Choppy with some swell
Sunday:
Swimmers: 68
Water temperature: 13.9C
Air temperature:
Conditions: NE F2-3. Choppy & swelly at times.
Shout outs to …..
The achievements this week are massive.
Everyone who took to the night swim, especially if this was your first experience in the dark
Numerous SwimTayka swimmers who completed their CS&PF relay qualifiers
Beech Hall School swimmers who completed their CSA relay qualifiers
Numerous other individuals who completed their relay qualifiers
Daryl C, Deniz K, James B, Jo SN, Martin J, Mel H on your 4 hour swims
Sue D on your back to back 4 hour swims
Chris R, Drew F, Hayley B, Helen G, Kevin M, Kristen S on your 4 & 5 hour back to back weekend
Catherine S on your 6 hour swim (self motivated despite thinking the suggested 3 hours was a stretch!)
Jon S, Lucy AP, Matthew V, Sophie E on your 6 hour swims
Chris M, Elizabeth C, Jason B, Paul C, Vanessa D on your 4 & 6 hour back to back weekend
If I missed you, I apologies, please shout about it. As well as the achievements that are measured in hours or badges, there are also those more important personal victories, I’d love to hear about those as well.
Thank you!
Thank you to the following volunteers who were on the rota for the weekend:
Level 1: Mandi B
Level 2: Sarah P, Peter W, Halani F
A very special thank you to Brian A, Keith O and Nick M whose help was utterly invaluable this weekend.
Thank you to everyone who helped someone else on the beach or in the water.
If you would like to find out more, visit our volunteers page.
Paddlefish Ponderings
The power of a team
I want to start this piece with a personal story. I have many ‘best’ years for different reasons and my best open water training year was, without a doubt, 2014.
Why? Well, it was the year where I was living the Alicia Keys song ‘This girl is on fire’.
I absolutely loved training. It seemed, on the most part, effortless and enjoyable. Anyone who knows my story will know that is not a universal truth. There have been years when I struggled every week.
Why was it effortless? I think there were a number of factors that came together at the right time:
I worked on my technique and it clicked just before an overseas training camp and I was no longer at the back, and, better still, give it a few hours and I’d start to overtake some people. I had developed speed over distance.
I was as fit as I have ever been and could call upon that fitness in the pool and in the ocean. I could ‘trust the training’
I found myself a ‘pod’ of similar speed swimmers who I would train with most weekends.
The first two points talk to the work ethic of an individual. We can all have that.
The final point means that we have to rely on others.
Even now, 9 years later, I can still get back into that magical state that I found myself in. Even today, it makes me smile to remember.
You too can have this.
When you work in a team you can achieve things that you might have dreamed of or secretly wished for, but perhaps didn’t think was realistic. If you can conceive it, chances are you can achieve it.
With a team you build a sense of loyalty, commitment and a shared understanding. You become accountable to others. People notice if you are there and if you are not.
One person's strengths can complement another's weakness, making the team as a whole stronger.
If you allow others to help you, if you make yourself vulnerable and share those fears and dreams, great things can be achieved.
When individuals come together to share their knowledge, work towards a common goal, and support each other, anything is possible.
Together, we can accomplish feats that would be impossible alone.
We aim to use this synergy within DCT.
When I plan training each weekend, I look at the detail:
Who has booked in?
When and what are your swim plans?
What did you do last week and in weeks gone by?
Who needs a recovery week
I also look at the big picture:
I look at the weather forecast
I look at whether there are people who swim well together are both attending
I look at trends
I spot opportunities to exploit the power of the team
This weekend was one of those magical weekends:
We’d had a recovery week
We had a lot of people booked in, including some whole relay teams
We had soloists just a short hop, skip & jump from their qualifiying swims
With the exception of those going very early, or planning very cold swims, we didn’t ‘need’ to do qualifying swims this weekend, but I set out the plan with Mandi that we’d target 4-5 hours for most with the option to stretch a bit and knock out some early qualifiers.
I had a hunch that with the mix of people that we had present that some would indeed strike while the iron was hot. And when one takes the opportunity, often others follow.
That’s exactly what happened.
The power of a team shouldn’t be underestimated. Whether that is a team of 2 or 3 who swim together in a pod (my 2014 pod had 7 people in it, several I’m proud to still call friends today) or the wider DCT community in person or online, feel the energy and personal power that this can give you.
To you it may look like a simple number when we suggest how long you train for. In reality it is made up of several different factors and when we believe that we can harness the power of the team, we will do it.
OK, Emma, that’s all well and good, but my ‘pod’ wont be with me on the day.
Yes they will. They will be willing you on through the trackers or maybe even by crewing for you. Just like you will for them.
I know that channel solos only involve one swimmer, but done well, they are a team event.
How did it pan out for me in 2014? It was every bit as magical as I hoped. I swam the channel a month early on 8th July in a time that was 4 hours 39 minutes faster than my first EC solo. It was effortless. I did a negative split. OK, so mother nature was also kind, but there were no pain killers needed and I bounced back on board after my swim (12hrs 58) and was back at work the next day and back in masters training the next evening. 7 days later I swam round Jersey.
We will continue do harness the power of the team where we see the opportunity. It’s your choice whether you accept this support, I hope you do. I would like everyone to experience a 2014 moment. If it’s possible for me, then it is for you too. Train with intent. Train with honesty. Be accountable. Embrace the power of the team. Step by step you are building your dream.
Looking ahead
Changed / cancelled sessions
Dover will be holding it’s town regatta on 1st July 2023 and the swim zone and parking will be suspended. We’ll make plans for alternative arrangements in due course.
On Tour
Once a month we will be On Tour on on a Saturday:
Saturday 17th June
Saturday 15th July
Saturday 19th August
Saturday 16th September
The location will either be Hythe or Ramsgate, depending on the weather forecast. The final decision will be made on the Thursday evening before this swim. These sessions are shown as ‘On Tour’ in the booking system, they are considered ‘standard’ training sessions and are included in training packages.
Night swims
Early start on Saturday 10th June: this is an opportunity for a long swim (maximum of 6 hours) swimming from the dark into daylight
On both of these swims you’ll need to wear two green adventure lights.
As we are not able to assess new swimmers in the dark, we do not accept new (to us) swimmers on these swims. If you want to join us for one of these night swims, you’ll need to join us before as well.
On these swims, during the hours of darkness, we will have additional safety measures in place with a restricted swim zone. This will be explained during the mandatory briefing.
Intensity week
Just over a week to go until our intensity week. I’m looking forward to this and to seeing what you can achieve. There are a few places left if you would like to join us. We’ll start the week with shorter swims and some training in the afternoon with a DCT twist. We’ll then progress to big back to backs towards the end of the week (there may be twists there too) before a recovery day at the end where we kick back and have some fun.
Spotlight in the shop
The shop is available online for postal delivery or collection from the beach. Please give enough notice to ensure that Emma is able to get the products ready for beach collection as she may not be on the beach each weekend. Products can also be purchased from the beach when Emma is present.
Whilst we’re talking about dreams, what about one of our Dream catcher long sleeved t-shirts?
Photos
A few photos from the weekend….
Key Contact methods
On the beach after training. Our Level 1 volunteers will be happy to chat whilst not engaged in core safety processes.
Weekly community call. This runs on a Monday evening from January to September and is hosted by a member of the leadership team. We've set this time aside for you. You can find details of these call within the membership area and within the booking system.
Membership queries can be directed to our Membership lead
Safeguarding concerns should be directed to our Safeguarding Lead
Other queries that can’t be answered at the community call should be directed to the Swimmer Liaison lead.
Other more informal routes to support:
Current Vacancies
Leadership team
We’re expanding our team with a few new roles:
Marketing & Communications Lead
Website Manager
Retail / Procurement Lead
If you’re interested in joining the team, please contact Emma or another member of the leadership team to find out more.
Volunteer Beach Crew
If you’re interested in helping out on the beach from time to time, you can find out more on our dedicated volunteers page on the website.
We all have differing levels of available time and experience and we believe there is a level for you if you are interested in joining the team.
If you’re interested in volunteering your time & experience, please get in touch with our volunteers lead.
Reminders
Remember to book your sessions online. Bookings close 48 hours ahead. Any bookings after that will need support and that comes with a £5 admin fee.
Bookings can be cancelled or rescheduled up to 48 hours ahead. The system doesn’t arrange automatic refunds, so if you would like a refund, please check out our refund policy and get in touch if you would like a refund.
Those of you with training subscriptions, enter your email address and click in the discount code box and your automatic voucher should appear. Let me know if you have any trouble with this.
Please remember to cancel your membership when you no longer want it.