Bruce Cleary

Over the line on the big swim.

A gorgeous Sydney summer day and a small surf greeted the Can Too team at Palm Beach for the Big Swim events.

Kate and I completed it together. It was a very special day - our first ocean race and it was a privilege to be part of the Can Too team.

Thanks to our wonderful supporters - both emotional and financial - we met our goals of raising money for cancer research, improving fitness and having a lot of fun, in this first transition year to retirement. Thanks also to Amanda Russell and John Cadden for inspiring us to participate in the wonderful Can Too programme.

Special thanks to our team mentor Carolyn McIlven and team captain Robyn Gee - their support and encouragement - to two of the oldest participants - was fantastic and instrumental in helping us to achieve our goals. Coach, John Bell, worked miracles getting the body fit & the mind “at peace” in the deep.

Thanks again to all those who supported us - your generosity has been amazing.

The question now for discussion is 2017: will we do it again & will we step up to the 2.5 km challenge?

Best Wishes

Bruce

Training Blog Week 7

We continue our training for the 1km Palm Beach Ocean Swim on 31^st January 2016. We have just completed Week 7. The journey has been very interesting. At age 69, doing this program was beyond even my imagination. We are all feeling stronger & now completing increased distances. This week we swam just under 5km in three sessions. The enthusiasm of the group helps overcome the barriers.

There was one unplanned event. My training partner & spouse , Kate, had a knee problem & was out of the water for three weeks. Another arthroscope cleanup & she was back in action. A more serious repair will be done in February.

I would like to thank all the sponsors ( family, friends & old school mates) who have generously donated to Can Too. Their support has meant that I have achieved my base target of $1250. Can Too swimmers are targeting $340,000 through this campaign. This will finance a number of young cancer researchers for another year.

The photo is our beach training session at Palm Beach, on 19th December. Coach John Bell issuing the instructions.

Can Too - Manly Beach Pod - Week Four

The Can Too experience has been a revelation. Many of us have experiences that help define things in life. National Service for me in the 1960's helped develop an understanding of how far you can push yourself physically. This translated into further action in business life pushing the boundaries. Life in retirement was a much slower pace & I didn't expect to revisit those experiences of the 1960's - pushing the physical boundaries. Can Too has launched us to a new level of challenge.

We have always been swimmers so we expected to ease through the 12 week swim program. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have had four weeks of coached pool training on Thursdays & surf/ocean training on Saturdays in addition to two other days of personal swim training. Each session is greater than 1km. We find ourselves exhausted but starting to see signs of improving strength & muscle tone. Hopefully the improvements will continue & if I can stay awake I may even start to enjoy the experience.

We have started to engage in the second part of the Can Too program. This involves supporting Cancer research. The organisation through Cure Cancer sponsors young Australian Researchers. Only 12% of eligible researchers are able to be funded each year. Australia has a proud history of medical research but it needs help. Many will know that I have had a close family member die from Breast Cancer after a long illness. Helping find new treatments will improve life quality for a huge number of Australians. If you can help with a small donation it would be appreciated.

I'm training with Can Too for the 1km Ocean Swim!

I am training for an event with Can Too, a health promotion organisation that engages and inspires individuals and the community to achieve personal health, wellbeing and altruistic goals.

Beginners and experienced athletes alike are given professional coaching as part of a team to run or swim in endurance events- including 10km, half-marathon and marathon runs; as well as ocean swims and triathlons.

In return, I am raising valuable funds that go towards innovation in the prevention, care and control of cancer. In 2014, our Can Too community has supported 19 early career researchers through Cure Cancer Australia.

This is part of our re-entry to Australian and new life after formal work. Kate & I are giving ourselves two years (gap years) to re-establish after our six years in Singapore.

We have commenced preseason training doing 600m twice weekly at Waringah Aquatic.

Thank you for supporting me!