July 2019

I have always been intrigued by the possibility of swimming between the Continents. The Bosphorus Cross Continental Swim  is an open water swimming event between the continents Europe and Asia held annually at Bosphorus, Istanbul, Turkey. Established in 1989.

Mariana swims with us at Mile End, on Wednesday mornings and her account has really inspired me to enter. Thanks for this great submission Mariana.

“Here’s my swimming adventure of the month : Last Sunday, I officially became a cross-continental swimmer as I swam from Asia to Europe during the 31st edition of the Bosphorus cross-continental swim race in Istanbul ! I was one of the 2,400 competitors from across the globe who took over the Bosphorus waters while one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world was temporarily closed to traffic.

I have been a keen swimmer since the age of 3, formed part of several swimming clubs for 16 years and swam competitively for more than 7 years. However, I’m completely new to open water swimming, and this swim was one the biggest challenges in my swimmer’s life.

This is why it was so important for me to join SFT and get Dan’s guidance to learn a new way of swimming. I realized how essential was the training and preparation as I jumped in the Bosphorus along with thousands of people – it was literally diving in a human chaos but luckily the starts practice paid off and I got out of the crowd fairly easily. I then started to shift forward with the strong currents, while enjoying the gorgeous setting: blue sky, clear water with many small jellyfishes, Asia on one side Europe on the other, with amazing landmarks on the way.

I experienced a new and amazing feeling : flying on the water once I caught the main current (well I think I did?). I did have my little moments of panic when getting out of it and feeling like I was swimming stationarily and also when I realized that I was making my own route to the finish, with people being so spread out that I felt like I was racing on my own in this huge strait of water (“where is everyone?!”).

The main route was manageable in terms of physical effort, but I found that the most challenging part was the last 500 meters as we had to shift to the riverside and face strong counter currents while making sure not to turn too late and be carried away into the Marmara sea (meaning no finish time, and being taken out of the water by collection boats). The water got a lot colder, and I felt the current pushing me away from the finish line. That was the moment to put all in, so I really intensified my strokes and checked every 4 strokes that I was not being carried in the wrong direction… the longest 500 meters of my life ! But I made it and completed the 6.5K race in 1 hour, 1 minute and 57 seconds. I’m very happy with my time for this first try, as I managed to rank 8th/81 in my age category, only 4 minutes from the 1st.

I also chose this once in a lifetime opportunity to fundraise £480 for ClientEarth, a charity that uses the power of the law to protect the planet and the people who live on it.
All in all, only good stuff ! I would definitely give it another try in a couple of years to see if I can get under the hour and closer to a podium…And also make it a pretext to treat myself afterwards by going to the Turkish Baths and eating lots of delicious Turkish food !

Thanks again to Dan and the team for the preparation, the training sessions and the tips, I would have never been able to perform so well without you guys ”

More info on entry here

Clare submitted this to our blog as her swim of the week and I think sometimes it is great to hear from others who are not keen on the swim or struggling with the technique or distance. I have known Clare a few years now and finally this is the year she decided to enter an  IM (Italy)  Preparation has been meticulous including an Italy training camp, smaller races along the way but swimming 3.8km is a long long way regardless of all that.  Sometimes all the coaching qualifications in the world can just be surpassed when someone just comes along and tells you how it is. Wise words if you are contemplating a race, coming to train, starting openwater swimming in any format. Over to you Clare, thanks for this.

“I’m standing on the edge of a lake in Essex, it is 6.30am on a sunny Saturday morning. The sun is glinting off the lake and around me the heady smell of neoprene as other early risers and I pull ourselves into our wetsuits, readying for an open water swim session. I can just about see the buoys around the edge of the lake marking out our route. My training goal is to do 4 laps, 4kms being further than I’ve swum before and this being only my 5th visit to the lake.

I find myself over thinking the enormity of what I’m about to do, “it’s a long way”, “I’ve never done this before”, “what if I can’t get round?”, “what if……?”, “what if….?”. I’m doing a great job at starting to psych myself out of not only not achieving my goal, but not even starting on the journey.

Finally I give myself a good talking to, walk into the lake and just start swimming. I’d resolved to face my fears, to focus on one stroke at a time, to recollect everything my swimming coach had taught me and to trust in my ability. I was not breaking any records, but before I knew it, 91 minutes later I’d achieved my goal and you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

As I drove home, I mulled over my morning’s experience, the parallels with everyday life, how easy it can be to self-sabotage our potential to achieve. How often do we just not start something, talk ourselves out of it, not take that next (or first) step or stroke, not speak up with a new idea, not apply for that new job, or promotion because we over think it and we don’t know how we will do it, if we can do it and we certainly don’t have all the answers, let alone all the questions!

We have all been there, so let me challenge you, where in your life do you just need to just take that first step (or stroke!)?
Be courageous, be bold. Today could be the day to just do it.”