My
first thoughts are to thank the team that made this possible. I had
two great kayakers, Margaret Mann and the legendary Richard Clifford.
I had wonderful crew support from my great buddy Knowles Tivendale,
who brought his whole family out to NY from Melbourne, and my ever
supportive brother-in-law Tim Freeman. Logistically the swim was
masterminded by the dynamo Morty Berger who plotted and planned the
course and tides to perfection. And my constant inspiration and
motivator my darling wife Vickie.
I'm
not a believer in fate, I've always felt you make your own choices
and luck but somehow the closer the swim came the more it seemed to
transform from a simple race into a genuine belief that circumstances
had conspired to make the record attempt a reality. When I first was
invited to race I believed the record well beyond me, after all, only
the previous year two professional long distance champions had fallen
considerably short, if Peter Stoychev the record holder for the
fastest English Channel crossing and Mark Warkentin, a 2008 Olympian, had failed, I didn't fancy my chances.
However
the tides were better this year, plenty of rain and optimal lunar
influences meant we had some of the most favourable conditions for
years, at least on paper. Lessons had been learnt from the previous
years race and several areas for improvement were anticipated. In the
days before the swim I swam in the New York waters and I found myself
not only believing that I could break the record but perhaps it was
meant to be this way.
I
kept my feet on the ground, I knew I would have to earn any success
and I had an extremely competent rival, Rondi Davies, to beat also.
Rondi is an Australian living in New York and a very experienced,
successful long distance swimmer.
The
morning of the race arrived, I felt excited and only a little
nervous, keen more than anything to get the race underway. The start
time was 2.14 pm to coincide with the peak tidal movements. Rondi would
start approx 10min ahead to ensure we had no assistance by drafting
or pushing each other along. The weather was overcast but warm and
the water at about 21deg very comfortable, ideal for a long hard
race. Rondi started bang on schedule, the tide was starting to build
up the Harlem and before long she was out of sight. Our boat hovered
in position, I had rinsed and re-rinsed the goggles, we drifted
slightly and had to remanouvere the boat, exactly 11min after Rondi
they counted me down and I started the swim.
The
Manhattan swim can be divided into 3 roughly equal parts being the 3
main river systems. I had studied the time predictions and knew where
I needed to be in each river to be on track for the record. The first
river was the Harlem. There is always a risk of going out too hard in
a race, especially when the adrenaline surges, I wanted to swim hard
throughout but I knew I needed to get into a steady rhythm and work
through the first part of the race. I felt very comfortable at the
start, the Harlem was a great loosener, there are a dozen or so
bridges to swim under that cross the river, each bridge you pass
makes you feel like you are making progress and provides easy
landmarks along the way. My feeding regime was energy drinks every
30minutes with gels hourly. The first 30min flew by and when Richard
signalled the first feed I couldn't believe we had been going
30minutes already. At the 1 hour feed I grabbed a quick drink but as
I kicked away my right foot cramped. It was a potential disaster,
I've never been bothered by cramps in the open water, I was well
hydrated, I had been resting up and staying off my feet, this
shouldn't have been a problem! If the cramps got worse I would be
reduced to arms only swimming and could forget about winning the race
let alone the record. I tried to stretch my calf while I swam while
easing back my kick strength. The cramp finally settled but every now
and again it twinged and each time it sent a surge of anxiety through
me as I thought is this it? Is this the end of my race?
The
upper part of the Harlem went by quickly, we rounded the tip of
Manhattan and I knew we were bang on time - approx 1 & 3/4 hrs.
Morty had warned that getting into the Hudson might be hard work, the
river would be in full flow and may be working against us coming out
of the Harlem. As it was we passed under the final bridge and I felt
a great surge of fresh water hit me from my right. We were pushed
south, I knew the tide would weaken the further we travelled, we had
to make the most of the help while we had it, I also knew it might
help Rondi more than me as although I had closed her lead down
slightly she had reached the Hudson 6 minutes earlier and would have
had more time in the fast water before it eased off. The Hudson had
been a tough slog in June, it was the last part of the race and by
then my eyes were so sore I could barely see my kayakers let alone
the shoreline. This time we made great early progress and again the
landmarks - the George Washington Bridge and city skyscrapers passed
by at regular intervals. The Hudson wasn't reading the script though,
the wind was picking up from the South and East and blowing against
us. Great swells of waves started to drive into us. I was starting to
feel the effects of a hard 3hrs of swimming and the conditions were
making it even tougher. It takes so much more effort to swim in
choppy conditions and I had to concentrate on holding as smooth a
stroke as possible while not being deterred by the rough water. I
told myself I still had a trailing current so not to worry about the
'lumpy' conditions. Eventually the Manhattan piers came into sight
and the Battery (the southern tip of NY) loomed in the distance. We
moved close into the shore and I hit the 4hour feed right at the
bottom of NY which I knew meant we were still on target. Richard got
hit by some huge backwash from a ferry and disappeared momentarily
from view, I was being tossed around like the proverbial cork but I
wasn't stopping for anything and a second later Richard reappeared
not looking any the worse for the excitement. We reached the enormous
Staten Island ferry which very kindly waited until we had passed
before pulling out and we entered the final part of the race, the
East River.
The
sun was setting as we reached the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, at
the next feed I asked Richard how far ahead Rondi was, "2min"
was the reply which I thought meant I had nearly caught her but in
fact she was still 9 minutes ahead and had made time on me in the
Hudson. She continued to pull away until my overall lead was reduced
to only 7 seconds. With no way of knowing where Rondi was and
believing myself well ahead of her my concern had switched to the
record. I was telling myself I had 1hr to go if I kept on pace. I was
feeling exhausted, but I knew this was where I would 'earn' this
swim, I thought of Grant my cousin who I dedicated this swim to, I
thought of Vickie, I told myself I would never have this opportunity
again and I found some extra strength. It was soon completely dark
and I was relying on the city lights and glow sticks on the kayaks to
see anything. We hit 5hours, 30min to go, I told myself. I stole a
look up and saw the large Queensboro bridge in the distance. I knew
that was some way short of the finish and just hoped the East river
was still flowing fast beneath me. I drove on and on, every time I
felt myself fading I gritted my teeth and lifted the effort. We hit 5
hrs and 30min and I still couldn't see the finish. Unknown to me the
current had dropped to a crawl and if I was going to break the record
it would be with no help at the end right when I needed it. Richard
egged me on one last time, "You have 1 mile to go, this is it, I
want to see you vomiting when you cross the line!"
I
was mentally ticking off the minutes, 5 minutes passed and in the
dark I had no idea where we were. 10minutes passed, I was so
completely spent I thought I'd have to roll onto my back with
exhaustion, 12min, 13min, I really had no idea how much further to go
or how long I had been swimming, I just knew I was potentially out of
time. I could hear Margaret yelling at my right, I could see Richard
smacking his kayak and waving me forward, faster, faster he was
motioning. Suddenly my right hand smacked into the side of Margaret's
kayak and I looked up, there was the official support boat, literally
right in front of me. Morty was yelling at me "here, here, you
have to finish up here" I spun my arms 5 more times and crossed
the finish line. I looked up, utterly spent. Morty leant over the
side and said "You did it, Rondi broke the record and you just
beat her time by about a minute". I heard him clearly but I
asked him to repeat himself anyway, I almost couldn't believe it. It
was the hardest most intense race of my life, I had never pushed
myself that hard for so long before and I had beaten the 16year old
record by 1minute and 23sec or as Richard liked to point out later,
"actually you beat a 10minute old record by 45seconds".
After
5 and 3/4hrs I beat Shelley's time by less than a minute and a half!
So many things had to go right for this swim, the tides, the
currents, the conditions, water temp, weather. It was plotted down to
the last minute and I was guided round by possibly the most
experienced Manhattan kayaker in the world! Only the rough conditions
in the Hudson were less than optimal and I swam at my absolute limit
for the whole day. Maybe it was meant to be, maybe I made my own
luck, maybe fate smiled on me. One day, next year, or the year after
or maybe several years from now someone will beat my time, you can't
be the fastest forever. Shelley was the fastest for 16years, Rondi,
10 minutes. But for now I have the record. I couldn't have done it
without Richard, Morty, my whole support crew, a bit of luck and a
lot of work. It still hasn't really sunk in, I'm not really sure what
to make of it but I like what my twin brother said when I spoke to
him afterwards "Well it's nice to know what I'm capable of".
Related race links:
