Julie Gasper

The temperatures have started dropping here in Tasmania, with Autumn just around the corner.  The morning of the Beach2Beach swim was a brisk 9degrees, with a water temp of 17 - thankful for my wetsuit!  

Lots of excitement and somewhat nervous about the upcoming swim as our crew met at Blackmans Bay.  Lisa, CanToo's CEO, as well as several other CanToo swimmers from NSW made the trip down to show their support for the first Hobart pod and take part in the event.  
After a pre-race briefing, the waves went off at 9am.  It was a bit of a tougher swim that it seemed at first glance.  The water looked calm, but a strong outgoing current was flowing beneath the surface.  There were moments that I looked over at the cliffs while swimming and realised I was practically stuck in one spot - so needed to cue the legs to push on with a much stronger kick!  
The swimmers spread out over the course, so I often was very much swimming my own course, sighting often to keep a straight line, but every so often I would spot another CanToo swimmer that would bring some extra energy and encouragement to my stroke.  
Jogging onto shore, it felt great to cross the finish line and see a few good friends, the other CanToo swimmers, and rug up with my warm swim parka my husband was holding out to me!  It was fantastic to cheer our crew and other swimmers in.
As a group, our pod raised over $25,000 for cancer research - in additional to developing strong friendships that will carry on for many swims and years ahead!

A huge thank you to our pool and beach coaches, the volunteers at Kingston Beach Surf Life Saving Club for providing water safety during our sessions, and our team captain Greg and mentor Nina for ensuring everyone's confidence and capabilities will be race day ready, in addition to having raised a significant amount to fund early career cancer researchers.

Upon moving down to Tasmania several years ago, my goals for this program have shifted slightly.  I'm hoping to find a great community of swimmers and friends, as well as improve my fitness.  But again, it's getting back out into the open water (which is much colder than that first program at Manly Beach!) and regaining some confidence in my capabilities as well as stretching my endurance to a new level.

After this first week - a great pool session and an invigorating beach session yesterday, I have a great feeling that these goals are all within reach.