Nik

Summer Ocean Swim 1km 2024

Crossing the Finish Line

  1. Palm Beach 1km Ocean Swim: Today, I crossed the finish line at the Palm Beach 1km Ocean Swim. Twenty minutes in the water felt much longer, becoming a journey through various emotions and mental challenges rather than just a physical accomplishment.

  2. The waves on the way out momentarily exceeded my own height, and with no bottom to touch, the fear of a near-drowning moment from many years ago resurfaced. Fortunately, a break in the waves, coupled with my more recent experiences in deeper waters, allowed me to move forward to the first buoy.

  3. Although I felt the urge to quit, turn back, or seek help, the determination of others around me, slogging it out, plodding along, and moving forward, inspired me to press on.

  4. Around the first buoy, I found more of a rhythm, and from there, I just kept going.

  5. My swim may not have been fantastic or enjoyable, but the joy of crossing that finish line was immense. Seeing my fellow Can Too swimmers at the end was amazing. Working together turns the hardships into shared tribulations, shared challenges, and a multitude of achievements.

  6. I am grateful for everyone who read and shared in my journey. While you can work hard on your own, working together lightens the load, turning tribulations into shared experiences.

  7. Tonight, we are all sharing congratulations and messages while expressing gratitude to our supporters. My swimming journey continues, and I hope to take on other challenges in the future. Tonight, I am thankful that my body pulled me through when my mind was flagging. The words of encouragement from everyone were louder and stronger than my doubts, playing a significant role in my accomplishment.

  8. Fundraising Goal: Lastly, I am almost at my fundraising goal, and I ask that you consider supporting the worthy cause of Can Too. They raise money for early cancer research and work to prevent cancer by running physical programs like the one I have joined.

The Pointy End

The last few months have seen me on a journey of bringing swimming into my life...Swimming in the beautiful Horseshoe bay while on holidays over New Year. Going to Freshwater pool doing laps on Boxing Day to wind down after a busy lead up to Christmas, and jumping in the pool on my day off to keep my training going. A highlight was swimming with my husband from Shelley Beach on his regular Manly to Shelley and back. Swimming togather has been a purpose for me to take on this challenge so getting closer to goals is encouragement.
My CanToo swimming program had its last Saturday beach swim today which saw us swimming from Shelley Beach over to the point at Manly and back to Shelley then around again. 
Trusting the process, the swim was difficult to enjoy at first but with distance and many strokes, the rhythm came. Yes, it was working hard in respect to believing I could keep going, not giving in to my mind that was wondering why the hell I was doing this because this is bloody hard work. The enjoyment comes when that voice quietens and you just keep going.
Self-talk has such an enormous influence on performance so I have a couple that I use. I'll leave them here, maybe they'll resonate with you and they may work:
"Your mind will give up before your body does" and another,

"Start where you are"


On a Mission

Saturday morning showing up at Manly Beach, I had a bag full of worries that were compounded by my glance at the surf. Messy, messy through and through. I expressed my trepidation to Trish who was concerned yet encouraging. I was okay with giving myself a leave pass because I just didn't want to get myself in a situation when my head was not in the game.
The coaches chose Shelley Beach though which was much more inviting and when Trish set me up with the indomitable Ros, I knew I was in the right place.
So we swam out and around our Can Too supporters sitting on boards along the length of the beach and back in again. A small swell was there to let us know that these were different condtions to swimiming in the pool. Don't fight it, go with it, breathe out underwater, look up every 10 or strokes, breathe out underwater, turn your head, where's Ros, oh look at the fish, wow, I'm doing this, then rhythm, Rhythm and breathe. Plod away.
My worries were left behind.
Lots of smiles, lots of gratitude for this awesome program that is helping us prevent cancer by keeping fit and active. That extends to my tribe.. the mentors, the coaches, and my fellow CanTooers all on their mission which is part of something larger.

Setbacks and Pushing On

My week started with a gastro bug that was unpleasant but minor in the scheme of things when you consider what those with cancer have to go through. Cancer treatments include chemotherapy and the treatment has to be balanced with the side effects induced by the treatments. Difficult compromises, I can only imagine...
So I was unable to attend my Thursday night pool session with my energy levels feeling a bit low.
I did show up with my anxiety though on Saturday morning for our beach swim. The surf was looking unthreatening with small rolling waves. Unfortunately there were some jellyfish in the water so we were advised to stay on the beach side rather than swimming around to the point. I happily complied.
So we swam out 150m, across the beach 200m and then into shore. (All distances are approximate and possibly inaccurate).
Then repeated.
The first swim was rubbish...dogpaddled, breaststroke, really hard to find a rhythm. I kept telling myself to breathe out under water but I found myself still gasping horribly.
After chatting with members of the tribe, I was relieved to find I wasnt the only one, and set off again. Much better swim the second time. 
With each swim, I am learning to accept the anxiety and just let it swim along with me. No use fighting it because it'll just win and then I'll be living the fear, that is, being stuck out at sea with a long haul home. 





Can You Too?

I'm supporting cancer research and prevention with Can Too Foundation. 

1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. This means that potentially someone we love may have to battle cancer, and that's a statistic that needs to change. 

So I asked myself, "what can I do to help?" That's where the Can Too Foundation came in! Can Too provides professionally coached training programs for participants of any fitness level to run, swim and cycle their way to a healthier lifestyle and a cancer-free world. 

In return, I am raising valuable funds that go towards innovation in the prevention, care, and control of cancer. Since 2005, Can Too Foundation has trained over 18,000 participants and raised over $25,000,000 to invest in over 200 one-year cancer research grants.

It would be fantastic if you could sponsor me, or even better join me in a program!

Thank you for your support!

 

Thank you to my Sponsors

$200

Family Quirk

$100

Paul&anne Schokker

Awesome Nicole - you've got this!

$100

Nicole Quirk

$100

Shoe Guru

Well done. Great effort and a very worthwhile cause

$100

Maureen Mitchell

$100

Fran

Good luck on your swim tomorrow! "From little things, big things grow"

$100

Greg Mitchell

Super proud of my sister. Nicole your continued support of others is tremendous. Keep up the good work.

$60

Feet In Motion

$50

Lisa

Go Nicole! I'll be cheering you on proudly!....in my pjs on the couch.... 😁

$50

Liz Mathieson

$50

Sidwell

Congratulations on a great effort to raise money via serious effort!!!!

$50

Pitman Family

💜

$50

Anita James

$50

Marie

Go Nick - so wonderful to hear what it is really like. I have never heard from a participant before. You go girl! Mx

$50

Lesley Weir

Congrats Nic for taking on this challenge for a great cause!

$50

Peta Flett

Good on you Nik 🤩⭐️Have a great first swim and enjoy it!

$50

Steven Good

$50

Clarissa Chaloner

Good luck

$50

Caroline Mitchell

You’re a lead by example gal Nicole, very inspiring, so proud of you.

$50

Ange Mitchell

$20

Damien Ocarroll

Wish you the best with your swim

$10

Sandie Docker

Well done Nicole

$10

Liz Heffernan

Good luck