This week saw a milestone I don't think I have ever knowingly passed before. Al and I have now clocked up over 1000km in training so far! Awesome!! It is quite unusual to have a partner when making a crossing over Cook Strait as you need to be almost exactly the same pace as one another as there will only be one support boat. So, in answer to those who have been wanting an idea as to how long the swim might take so that they can put a good estimate into their competition entry (www.bigswim.co.nz), here are a few hints!
Currently Al and I train in sets of 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m. Our aim is to maintain a pace of 1.30 per 100m, or 15mins per km. At this pace we are not going so fast we will be exhausted and not going so slow we will get cold. Assuming we will be reasonably direct and swim only 26km this means it would take six hours, thirty minutes to make the crossing. HOWEVER... every half hour we will pause briefly to drink or eat something for 30 - 60 seconds which will add extra time on. And, of course, the most important factors that could significantly speed things up or slow them down are the wind and currents. Our guide and mentor Philip Rush will be the one to make a decision as to which day will have the most favourable conditions so wind and current will have as little impact as possible. I am open to any weather predictions so if you are an ace long range forecaster please let me know what you think it might be like in the Strait area between 27 March and 3 April! Last year I spoke to well known NZ weather predictor, Ken Ring, and he emailed me after checking to say that, in his opinion, 2 April would be the perfect day for our crossing. So here's hoping - not least because that coincides with World Autism Day.
Right, hope that helps you with your guesstimate and all the very best luck with winning yourself a fantastic Fijian holiday!
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