Leap of Faith

Triple crossing for a Triple Crown?

Tassie Devil Tamed!

Taming the Tassie Devil

Just over 50 years ago, Des Renford was the first person to successfully swim the 34 km from New Norfolk to Hobart on the Derwent River.  The very next day, Australia Day 1975 as it happens, two other Australians, Dick Campion and Jenny Anderson also completed the swim.  Only one other person, American, Dan Curtis, successfully swam the ‘Derwent River Big Swim’ until 28 year primary school teacher, Emma from Sydney, demonstrated tremendous New Year resolve, smashing out the 34k, swim in record time on 1 January 2020.  In Emma’s wake, the swim has become an iconic Australian open water swim marathon despite being considered one of the most difficult to complete given the unpredictability of the varying weather patterns.  Just over 100 people have successfully swum The Derwent Big River Swim but I am not sure if any Can Tooers ever have.  Yet.

Some time the week beginning 10th February 2025, swim buddy Grant and I, are hoping to attempt the swim as a tandem solo under the experienced leadership of Val Kalmikovs and handler Juliet Dart.

Our journey will take us past the Norske Skog paper mill, a zinc refinery and 4 bridges (oh and of course the Museum of New and Old and the porcelain vulvas).  Our support vessel Miaow will hopefully not collide with the Tasman Bridge pylons like the zinc bulk carrier Lake Illawarra in 1975.  The Tasmanian Department of Health has lifted the Public Health alert following the failure of TasWater sewage just before Christmas.  The possibility of residual effluent and wastewater sludge from the papermill warming the river to one side, it will probably be cold (15 – 20 degrees).  Climate change though has likely impacted the River in our favour compared to Des’ swim in 1975.  Apart from the cold and pooh, we could be challenged by wind – the Roaring Forties come sweeping up the river with Antarctic bite.  And it’s a bloody long way.  What could possibly go wrong?

We need an incentive to keep swimming.  If we make it, it will probably take us about 11 hours (longest we have ever been in the water).  Yes, madness!  Chafing, sun burn and salt mouth (salt water comes some 20km up the river with the tides) will all be a factor.  Hopefully no stingers but apparently trout, salmon, bream, little penguins, sea dragons, black swans (eek) and dolphins. Oh and yes, Tassie Devils can swim apparently.  

Norske Skog produces 48% of Australian news print.  Let’s hope the Valentines Day editions are full of heartwarming tales of 2 ordinary swimmers inspired to just keep swimming by their Can Too cheer squad who raised a motza to help fund innovative, early career cancer researchers find a cure for all cancer.

For us, this swim is truly a BHAG (big hairy audacious goal).

By definition, I am told that a BHAG must be clear, compelling and ambitious and must have at least a 50% chance of success. In my negatively trained legal mind, that means up to a 50% chance of failure!

My recent days have been filled with reflection (ie frequent moments of despondency along the lines of WTF I am I doing and why). My virtual self-help psyche, Google, tells me that facing my fears head-on can be empowering; it can help me build confidence and resilience, and better understand what I’m capable of (or not, as the case may be)!

This will be the fourth (longest and widely acknowledged as most difficult) ultra marathon swim that I’ve attempted. Have I learned anything I wonder?

Yes!  I think I’ve learned to:

Embrace the journey – The adage ‘Rome wasn't built in a day’ rings true.  Great achievements don’t take shape overnight; they require continuous effort, planning and patience. My late husband used to say to me ‘How do you eat an elephant?’ expecting the answer ‘bit by bit’.  Without question (except for his hypothetical nutritional invitation to consume protected wild game), he was right – you can’t swallow the elephant in one go.  He also used to say that getting to the start line of an endurance event was the hardest bit.  Whether our attempt is successful or not, I’ve had the most amazing journey already.  I’ve already achieved more than I thought possible for a very average swimmer and ordinary person.  At swim squad, I swim in lane 1 – the slowest lane.  I’ve never really swum competitively.  Unless that is, you count the local brownie swim carnival; or, being persuaded to swim 50m butterfly for my university college – all the other swimmers had finished before I had completed the first 25m lap, and when I made it to the end of the second, I got a standing ovation equal to the rapture reserved for Eric the Eel at the 2000 Olympics.  I know that I have put in the work for it to be possible for an ordinary person with modest talent to attempt an extraordinary thing and that, is already something to be proud of.

Find your tribe – I am tremendously fortunate to be surrounded by incredible people.  Sometimes going to squad or an open water event feels like meeting characters from National Geographic.  Whether it’s Dean who swam from Newcastle to Sydney, my friend from Townsville that trains in 34 degree water with box jellies, Irukandji and crocodiles or desert swimmer, Brendan Cullen, a sheep farmer from Broken Hill whom I met last weekend that trained for the English Channel by swimming round red gums in the dark in Menindee Lakes.  Despite what you might think, it’s not a solo sport.  As well as squad buddies keeping you motivated, there are coaches, pilots, ‘handlers’ even nutritionists (in my case, I am just following the Gina Chick ‘get fat’ nutritional plan), sports physios etc.  And for me, there’s my training partner, Grant who is truly my right hand man (he only breathes to his left).  These relationships sustain me and I know the tribe is rooting for me, but even so, they won’t think any less of me if hypothermia or the wind get the better of me next week.

Believe – My sailing skipper once said, if she thinks she can, she can but if she thinks she can’t, she can’t.  Coach Jai has asked me to write out ‘I can do it’ 100 times before our last squad on Friday.  Like many, I have a fierce inner critic (mine’s called Nancy).  Nancy is keen to stoke the fear of failure and smash that self-confidence.  But that’s ok.  I’m not adverse to catastrophising with Nancy.  The varying weather patterns in the Derwent can be extreme, the Roaring Forties can blow up Antarctic swells.  Despite the Gina Chick nutritional strategy, I might get hypothermia.  Nancy can bang on as much as she wants because these things are outside of my control and I just need to, and do, accept that.  Given some element of luck admittedly, completing the swim IS possible for me and all that matters is that I have the strength of heart to just keep swimming when it gets tough and cold.  What I have also learned about belief along the way, is that it helps to believe in something bigger than you.  For us, that’s raising money for Can Too. You can join us in donating right here!