Black Ice Winter Pub to Pier to Pub

Great day down to Lorne for our annual winter swim
Apart from the crap weather the company was fantastic .
It was great to see all the original members of the Black Ice Swimming
Club there in attendance and the party afterwards at the Anglesea pub was
Very eventful . Can't wait to see all the photos and look
Forward to next years swim .

Back To Black Rock

It's great to come back to where it all started
And the water quality is so much better and the group
Has settled back in nicely . There is great news in the horizon
And I will keep you posted . There is nothing better
Than swimming with my mates and enjoying a few
Beers after training or breakie at our new restaurant
Who have made our group so welcome with their awesome
Food . See you in the water and happy swimming
Alby

Black Ice New Headquarters

I am happy to announce that the Black Ice Swimming Club is moving back 

To Black Rock where it all started 20 years ago . We have 

Secured a deal with the Black Rock Life Saving Club and will

Use the club as our new home base . Many years ago the club was 

Formed out the front of the LSC and it's great to come back to our 

Home base with three of our original members . This club has helped 

More than 20 Solo English Channel swimmers and will no doubt help 

Many more swimmers achieve their ultimate goal . Jonno will soon 

Publish our swim times and with the support of the LSC I see a long association .

Looking forward to swimming back in Black Rock where 

Memberships are only $50 for six months . This club does not 

Charge and new members are welcome where we have a simple

No Wetsuits policy and treat every swimmer the same weather you 

Are elite or a beginner . 

Alby

New Swim Times

The Black Ice swim club has conducted a straw poll for new swim times
And they are as follows
Monday :- 4.30 pm Brighton Baths
Tuesday :- 6.15 am Harry's
Wednesday ;- 4.30 pm Brighton Baths
Friday :- 6.15 am & 4.30 pm Harry's in the morning and the Baths in the afternoon
Saturday :- 7.30 am to be confirmed with commitee
Sunday :- It will be a ring around for times and venues
Great turn out on our first Saturday but with the arrival of new jellyfish
On a sad note the popular Henry will be returning to Brisbane and we wish him
All the best but I know we will see him from time to time .
I know it's early but I would like to start planning out Xmas party with a
Time and venue so I am open to suggestions .
At breakfast this morning it was decided that there will
Be two Black Ice teams racing each other to Rotto with
Harry and Sally v Clinton and Yvonne so who do you think
Can win this race .
Happy Swimming
President Alby

Wetsuits

I know I have written about my pet hate a few times but
It is raising its ugly head again and I am going to knock it on
It's head again . I am sick of hearing people say to me that
Isn't it great Alby that they have a non wetsuit section .
No it's not I want to hear these idiots say that they have a prize
For all the cheats out there wearing these cheat suits . In auctual
Fact give them nothing because why should you reward a cheat
You may as well give back all those yellow shirts to the king of
Cheats Lance (arrogant ) Armstrong . I am going to get my motorbike
Licence and ride alongside all those cyclists along beach road that piss
Me off when I sm trying to get to work . I hear all the time that
I have to wear one because joe blow will beat me but I smash him in the pool
Well then how do they fell knowing that they had to cheat to beat you .
I know how I woukd feel besides who gives a shit anyway .
Swimming should be natural ability and hard work not going down
To your local shop and spending $1000+ dollars on some stupid suit
Which you would only wears a couple of times a year . I hear people say
I beat my best time by 10 seconds in my last race because of my new
Wetsuit well that's like saying I drove to work ten seconds faster because
I purchased a new sports car . The main reason our club was formed
Was because we want people to be able to swim naturally without the assistance
Of a cheat suit and how many times have people asked me if their friend can
Come and swim with our group but they can only swim with a wetsuit .
I just turn around and walk off because they do not deserve my usual spray .
If you don't like our rules start your own swimming club wear they accept
Cheats . It was great to see all the black ice swimmers attend the cancelled
BBS today with not a wetsuit in sight . Can't wait to go to Rotto again next
Month and swim with thousands of swimmers without wetsuits . How many
Swimmers have won Olympic medals wearing wetsuits but a few years ago
Some guy won the international swimmer of the year but when I googled him
I noticed he only wears wetsuits and he claims all these world records .
 The englush channel committee do not recognise solo swim cheats and so should you .
How many swimmers do you see train in a wetsuit yeh that's right zero but you
Go to one of the many swims around Melbourne and you see them carrying two
Bags to the beach . I stopped going to these events years ago because I have better
Things to do then see all these clowns swimming around in the summer wearing those
Stupid rubber things . I have even heard swimming coaches giving advice on wear to buy
These things , hey what about teaching these guys to swim faster naturally instead
Of taking the pats on your back after one of your pupils wins his or her section because
You are crap coach . And finally I have seen one swimmer  who marks death to wetsuits on his
Back but in most of his swims he wears one .

2015

I've been out of action for a while because I lost my log in details but I am happy to report Jonno
Has retrieved them for me . Just a quick report from last year :- the Black Ice Xmas party and
Champagne breakfast were a big hit and well attended with quite a few new swimmers .
The Black Ice swimmer of the year went to Mike "the Tractor " Gregory and usually this swimmer
Has been easy to pick but last year there were so many contenders and it was a pity that
I could only award it to one swimmer . Mikes achievements were as follows :- first swimmer
From Black Ice to swim the heads in the winter and then back up for a double ,
First BI swimmer to swim the Antartic first BI to solo across the bay and first male BI swimmer
To attempt the channel double . This years Pub to Pier to Pub winner was Ash who had just pipped
The Hoff  and Pablo . The swim was so popular the BI team returned a few weeks later to do it
All over again . Once again we have a few more BI attempts on the channel with young Dan , Campbell , Mike (double) and Brad . Our club now has over 20 successful solo channel  swimmers
And only surpassed by our friends from Sydney the Vlad group who are a business unlike our
Club which is strictly amateur . I look forward to another big year starting off with the BBW followed shortly by the Rotto swim . I recently from Sydney where I love visiting and swimming
And spoke to my friends up there about my triple thriller . I know it's hard to organise but I am confident this adventure will be achieved soon . Fly to Sydney bus to Coogee , swim to wedding
Cake island and back then head off to Bondi and swim point to point and then finally head to Manky
And swim to Shelley beach and back . Each swim is about 1.5 to 2 kms and I believe will could easily achieve this in a day and would be a great adventure . I would just need some members to help
Me with the logistics and then we could then attempt my next big swim . The club is growing bigger
By the day and I have been lucky to get a lot of assistance so I would like to thank all those members
Who are helping run this club . I would also like to get swimmers profile going again and if there are any swimmers you think I should invite by all means please contact me .
Alby

The Hoff - Channel Swimmer

Congratulations to the Hoff who finally got to sign his name on
The walls of the White Horse Pub in Dover after
His successful swim across the English Channel.
Amazingly his time was the  same as yours truly in
14 hours and 45 mins . Credit to the Hoff who had to come
Back to Dover ( that's tough enough in itself ) and conquer his
Demons after his first attempt two years ago . Also I special mention
To Stuart Johnson from Sydney who made two and a half times across
The Chanel during the week . He also broke the Aussie record and
Did without any fanfare which is usually associated with this sport .
Good on you Stuart for your great effort and hopefully we can get you
On swimmers profile . Next Black Ice member to attempt is Dr Doug
Who will soon leave for his crack at a solo and Ash for her Relay attempt
And a special mention to our friends from Adelaide and Queensland Bruce
Another one to watch out for will
Be Irene Keel who at 73 years of age is off on her
Attempt shortly and we all wish her the best ,
Details for our annual Lorne swim will
Be circulated soon so miss this great event this weekend .
Hopefully after my short injury I will be back in the water
Soon and hope to smash Mike Gregory again
At Lorne

The Winter Rip Swim

On June the 26 th six Black Ice swimmers will attempt to swim from Pt Nepean to Pt Lonsdale
Hopefully the weather will be on our side for this swim but just in case we have the following day
Booked as a back up . This swim has been done many times but not in the winter and I can't wait .
The six swimmers are AV , the Hoff, the Tractor , Matt Harry ,Harry C and myself . There are 3 other
Swims planned by the Black Ice club and hopefully we will achieve these swims over the next 12 months . The swims are the Sydney triple thriller , escape from South Channel Island and the Ton to Ton swim that's FranksTON to BrighTON swim .
Just a recap on some of the Black Ice swims this year :- the Bloody Big Swim (special mention to Michelle ) the Rotto swim ( special mention to Sally ) and eight hour qualifying swim which we had
Nearly 30 swimmers ( another special mention to Michelle who turned up for a 2 hour swim but lasted 8.5 hours )

Christmas Party

The Black Ice Xmas party was a great day and a great success and there are a few people I would
Like to thank . First Andy for organising a great venue and Harry for his hard work and generosity
Mike the tractor for setting up the computer so we could do a live cross to New Zealand for an interview with this years Black Ice swimmer of the year Yvonne Mooyman . My assistant Terry O
 And all the members for turning up to make it a fun day . On the 21st of this month we will
Have our Xmas morning Champagne swim and  Jonathan Hayward's farewell swim .  Jonno
Is one of our original members and former Black Ice swimmer of the year and the clubs logo designer
And he also started and maintains the Black Ice website . Jonno will be missed by all but we hope
He can make regular return visits back home and he has asked a few of us to visit him sometime this year . We all wish you well in your new adventure and someone else will have to lead the pack of swimmers now . 2013 had been another big year for our club with success in all the big swims and
 2014 is looking like another with club members booked to swim all over the world . A special mention to the almanac Kev for keeping up the list of Australian Channel swimmers and I will see you all soon after my break and looking forward to the new year  .

Swimmers Profile Robert ( Bardy ) Dale

Coming soon to swimmers profile is local Brighton icon
Bardy who is Mr Brighton Baths and I can't wait to hear what he has
To say . We are still working on a Xmas party venue and we are happy
To hear from any members for their  suggestions
Thanks to Mini Me and Harry for filling in the other day and setting a new
Course . Traditionally the Black Ice team retreats Back to home base starting
The first week of November but due to our extended memberships at the baths
We may share the two venues depending on the response if our members
So I am keen to hear from you . On Thursday the 31st of this month after our swim
The winter evening swimmers are invited to have dinner
Across the road from the Baths at the new Chinese restaurant.

Lorne results

Sorry for the late blog but once again the Lorne Pub-to-Pier-to-Pub was a great success with twenty swimmers taking to the waters. The winner this year was The Hoff in a photo finish with Jonno. Special mention to Michelle who completed the double in what was her first ocean swim!

I would also like to mention the Frankston to Brighton swim this year (Australia's longest swim). We have been approached by the management of the Brighton Baths for some type of joint venture. Talks are only in the early stages but this would be a project for 2014. 

The Black-Ice club are happy to welcome three new members to our ever growing list of sucessful English Channel Solo swimmers: David Perkins, Dan Kennedy and Matt Harry. This brings our list to well over twenty swimmers. This accounts for 20% of all Australians who have completed the Channel. Special mention to Michael 'Tractor' Gregory for another sucessful solo swim. Unfortunately Mike missed out on his his attempt to complete a double.

Black-Ice regularly receives calls and emails in regards to the English Channel. We are more than happy to help or mentor any swimmer that needs help or guidance, be it coaching, training or logistics. We have over 20 successful solo swimmers who are more than happy to pass on their knowledge. We do not charge or ask for money. We just ask that you obey and resprect our simple rule - NO WETSUITS!

Next Year we will be running our 14th eight hour English Channel Qualifying Swim. The swim always takes place around Anzac Day. In the last two years we have been joined by the Vlad Swim Club from Sydney. Vlad's squad has enjoyed a fair amount of success over a short period. I believe they have over 18 swimmers booked for next years swim season. This is an amazing result! At this rate they are due to pass Black-Ice for the number of solo swimmers to sucessfully cross the channel. It's about time we made the trip to Sydney and joined Vlad and his crew for a swim!

I have changed my email address to albertbardoel@gmail.com. If  you  have any questions or enquiries I am happy to answer or assist.

If anyone would like to be a subject of Swimmers Profile please call or email me .

Alby

Date Set for Annual Lorne Pub to Pier to Pub

Black Ice swimming club will be holding its annual Lorne Winter swim on August the 24 th
I would also like to thank Cathy and Harry for once again hosting a fantastic night for our
Channel Aspirants Dan, Matt and the tractor Mike . There were 5 new inductees into our club
And the Secret Swim across the Bay movie was a big hit . Congratulations to
Dave Perkins in his sucsessful solo crossing of the Channel in a time just over 13 hours .
I would also like to give a special mention to John Jameson who swims out of the Vlad stable
From Sydney who crossed the Channel in over 18 hours . Don't forget Australia's longest swim
Race later this year from Frankston to Brighton  which will be held in late October or early November .  I have already received interest from overseas and although its a Black Ice event
Anybody can join in but must supply their own support crew etc ... The losing team must buy drinks
For the winning team  so please register your name for team selection which I will be naming soon .

Australia's Longest Swim Race

I have just picked my preliminary teams for our upcoming relay race in Port Philip Bay. The date still isn't in concrete but should be around the Melbourne Cup weekend.

There will be six swimmers in each of the two teams and the numbers will be finalised once I find out who is available on the day.

Don't worry if your name doesn't appear on the preliminary list. Contact me if this is the case.

We have decided to change the course so family and friends can follow everyones progress during the day.

The event will start at 6am at Frankston pier following the beach all the way to Brighton Sea Baths with various check points on route. The course will be approximately 35km in length with change overs every half an hour. A winning time would be somewhere around 10 hours.

There will be no prizes, no sponsors, no caps or tee shirts. The reward will be the honour of being on the winning team!!  Naturally, the losers will be shouting the drinks!!

Teams have been carefully selected on ability and I've tried to make the spread of talent as equal as possible. Hopefully it will come down to the wire at Brighton.

Teams will be announced at the annual English Channel dinner and farewell party at Harry's house.

I've had some second hand reports that a few Black Ice swimmers have been in secret training for this event. I can assure you that I am well aware of who they are but yours truly has not been a part of these secret sessions.

I'll be making sure these members will be on the same team, so victory will be even sweeter. I just hope it's a rough day with plenty of jellyfish, making it a tough day on the water.

Australia's Greatest Marathon Swimmers

I was thinking the other day about some of Australia's greatest Marathon feats,swims . Records etc.....
So I invite people's thoughts and nominations as to who they believe to be Australia's top 2 male and female swimming efforts . Here are my selections and why
Male :- Des Renford  the pioneer of Australian distance swimming and former King Of The Channel
Trent Grimsly :- Who now holds the world record for the English Channel solo
Female :- Susie Maroney for her double English Channel world record which has stood for over 20 years and will be around for many more years and her Cuba to USA swim ( shark cage assisted)
Penny Palfrey :- She has the 2 longest unassisted ocean swims to date ( the Cayman Island swim and
Cuba to USA although she did not Complete the swim it was still the longest ocean swim ever)
Happy to hear your thoughts and Black Ice has some records of our own worth mentioning with
Ollie Wilkinsons world record around Manhattan Island and Yvonne Mooyman  who was the first
Female to swim the English Channel, the Cook Strait and Rottnest Island and true to Black Ice rules
I will not publish any swimmers that wore a wetsuit  as they simply do not comply with open water
Swimming rules . Each year there is a swimming website that asks for ten nominations for male and female swimmer of the year and they gave to some guy that wears a wetsuit in all his swims . I might as well turn up to the start of the Tour De France on my motorbike or climb Mt Everast on my Helicopter or sail Sydney to Hobart in my speed boat or catch the bus when I run the London Marathon

Winter Mile Results

Well done to all the Black Ice swimmers who competed in the annual
BB winter mile with some great results . Mike the Tractor came in first in the
Sprint and the half mile and then backed up for a 5 th in the mile .
Jonno came in third after winning the last two winter miles and closely followed by the hoff .
I believe all the results are on the BB Facebook site
Don't forget the Channel Domner send off at Harry's and I will be setting a date for our annual
Lorne triple winter mile soon . Teams will be announced for Australia's longest swim at Harry's

Black Ice Challenge

I am now taking names for the black ice relay
Swim race across the bay later this year which
Will be Australia's longest swim race .
Two teams of 6 with the losing team shouting food
And drinks after the race . I will be ranking swimmers
Then pulling out swimmers names out if a hat to form the two
Teams with minimum of two girls per team and swimmers
Changing every 30 minutes .

Sponsor for Across Port Phillip Bay Swim

We had been approached by a major sponsor for our Black Ice relay race across the bay next year
This will be Australia's longest race but in true Black Ice rules I have decided not to accept the generous offer from this sponsor  due to our strict no money policy . When I formed this club
It was only about swimming and helping others achieve their swimming goals and even though
We have been offered money before I had decided to stick to our one and only rule no wetsuits .
No committees no rules just turn up and swim and if you don't like it then go swim elsewhere .
Don't forget upcoming social events with the tractors party and the annual Channel aspirants farewell
Diner at Harry's and I with all other members wish Clinton ( Nu Nu ) a speedie recovery .
I almost forgot to mention our annual triple pub to pier to pub to pier to pub swim with date coming
Soon or just our triple pier to pub ( Kev I need help )

Black Ice News

Black Ice are proud to announce another first, with AV and Mike, 'The Tractor' Gregory, successfully completing a swim across the Port Phillip Bay (16 hours 20 mins). They become the first soloists to swim without a shark cage since the 'Team Extreme' relay in 2001 (10 hrs 26 mins ). Unfortunately, due to the poor weather, the swim had to be bought forward one day, which made it impossible for the Hoff to make it a hat trick. It was a well kept secret with the boys only announcing the swim to club members one week before the start. It was good to see Channel 10 covering the swim on their evening news bulletin. 

Next year, Black Ice will be forming two teams in a race across the bay.  The swim will begin at Indented Head and finish at Brighton Baths (35 Kms). The losing team will be shouting drinks and food after the race. We are also contemplating a relay swim from Geelong to Melbourne, a distance of approximately 60 Kms. This should take approximately 15 to 18 hours. I hear a rumour one Black Ice swimmer had already pencilled this swim in in for a solo attempt.

The Black Ice club are now back at Brighton Baths. I would like to thank the management for giving our members a great deal.

Don't forget the annual eight hour English Channel qualifying swim swim which is scheduled for Saturday April 27th at the Baths. It will be a 6am start, although some of the swimmers have opted for a 4am start. The management from the baths have been kind enough to open the club earlier to accommodate our swimmers. I beleive this will be our 13th eight hour swim which has produced more than 20 successful English Channel solo swimmers.

This year Australia will pass 100 successful EC solo swims and to mark this event I will be approaching swimming Australia for some recognition. I recently did an interview with  Time Out magazine, so hopefully it will be out soon in the local newsagents.

Alby

Rottnest Island Swim 2013 - Results

2013 saw the Black Ice team produce their biggest representation ever at the 20km Rottnest Channel Swim in Western Australia on February 23.

Well done to following solo swimmers who knocked out some pretty impressive times.

• Mike Gregory 6:03:12
• Paul Hoffman 6:59:01
• Marc Radatt 6:59:01
• Harry Commins 7:24:25
• Andrew Vidler 7:31:04
• Andrew Duigan 8:42:59
• Dan Kennedy 9:52:52

Also many congratulations to our two “duo teams”
“The Trojans” [Eric Duigan / Joel Smith] 5:35:26

“Shaunvonne” [Yvonne Mooyman/Shaune Wakeman] 7:04:48

Last but not least were the “Black Ice Whales”, our four man team of crusty old men who never give up, coming home in 6:55:29. Great work from Peter Wittner, Andrew Nissen, Clinton Love and Terry O’Brien.

As always, it was a huge weekend with the number of kilometres swum commensurate with the total of beers consumed at “Little Creatures”.

Roll on 2014!!

Alby
(K. Cassidy - ghost writer to Alby)

Rotto, Swimmers Profile & Sydney Swim

My ghost writer Kev will publish all of the results of our very successful Rotto Swim in the coming days. 

Black-Ice swimmers profile will have three new names added this week with Peter, Andrew and Nu Nu being featured.

Special mention to 'the tractor' (Gregory) who still has not returned his profile after two years!!

Don't forget the upcoming inaugural Sydney Swim weekend on MARCH 9.

Peg-Leg and members of the Vlad swimming club from Sydney will join us on the day. If it is half as good as Rotto it will be another great Black-Ice event.

New swimming caps will be ready soon - Don't forget to wear your club shirt to all members functions.

Special thanks to Andrew and Harry for decking out our club members in our Hawaain shirts.

Black Ice 2013 Events Calender

We will be posting our 2013 swim events shortly with a very busy year ahead for the Black Ice team.
The response for our triple Sydney swim has been overwhelming with many members committing
To this new adventure up In Sydney on March the 9th . The bus is booked then the airfares are next
And we have a bus driver and that leaves us looking out for a cameraman for the day . We already have over 25 heading up to Perth for our annual Rotto swim and that leaves us little time to back up to Sydney . Once again the  Black Ice club will be we'll represented in England for  their attempts on the Channel where we believe the 100 th Australian will join the club . It took 35 years to get the 1st 35 solo swimmers
And In the last ten years there should be over 75 soloist so the swim is becoming very popular. We are proud to say that more than 25% of Australian solo swimmers have come out of the Black Ive stable . We should have all costs under $ 200.00 for the Sydney swim and that includes everything
Including airfares , bus , food and refreshments . See myself or Harry for bookings and a $ 20.00
Deposit . I also forgot to mention our xmas party which was a great day with Dan Kennedy taking out
Our annual best clubman for 2012 .

SYDNEY :-  MARCH 9

Sydney Swim March 9 2013

Sydney Swim

The Black Ice Swim Club have decided to head up to Sydney in early March

For a day trip of swimming . We hope to leave on a 6.00 am flight and arrive around 

7.30 am , where we will pick up a mini bus and head off  to Coogee for our 1st swim.

At 8.30 . Then it's off to Bondi for a 10..00 am start from backpackers corner underneath 

The Bondi icebergs for the point to point swim and return. After the Bondi swim it's off to 

Manly for the Manly to Shelly beach and back which should be around 1.00pm 

After the 3 swims we will find a nice bar for lunch and drinks until 4.00 . We will head back 

To the airport at 5.00pm for our return flight around 6.00pm and hopefully home by 8.00.

The cost for the day which includes all costs should be around $200 to $250.

Terry O'Brien Memorial Swim

White Horse Pub Closed Down Again

Once again the White Horse has shut it's doors but
Hopefully only temporally . So I have decided
To start up the Australian version of the wall signing
At my home in Brighton . Anyone who has swam the Channel
Feel free to drop by and sign your name on
The Black Ice frame which is located in my pool
Room . Just contact me on 0414 590 509 or
At albertbardoel@gmail.com and you can sign your name and have your
Photo taken which will be put on the
Black Ice Web Site . I can't believe how much
It means to swimmers who have swam the Channel
And then to have their name on the wall of
The White Horse Pub . It all started as a joke 10
Years ago after sinking many ales in the pub with the manager
Peter Harrison . Also many thanks to Nu Nu and Sue
For their great Champange breakfast after our swim
Today at Mentone

Lorne pub to pier to pub results and Swimmers profile Special Guest

The results this year for the Lorne Swim were a dead heat between Jonno and Eric with yours truly winning the first leg with a small head start. I can not help it if swimmers do not start on time (1.00pm) but rules are rules.

Last place once again went to Mike G.

Around 20 plus swimmers competed the two way, and not the three way as first planned. Due to the weather forecast the committee decided to only swim the two way. It was another great weekend with the highlight being the two whales swimming by just after the conclusion of our swim. On Sunday morning half the field returned next day to do it all over again.

We have had many World champions join us for swimmers profile but none bigger than our next guest (not Mike G who still had not completed his swimmers profile after 12 months) but Trent Grimsey the world distance champion and newly crowned world record holder of the English Channel in a time of 6.55. 

Trent has agreed to join is in swimmers profile so watch this space.

Alby 

Black Ice Winter Mile

This years Winter Mile will be held on August the 25th At Lorne . This year it will be a triple crossing With the first two laps will be treated as Warm ups and the last lap will be a sprint . It is with great sadness to report that our two Black Ice members failed in their recent attempts to swim the Channel . We all know How hard the Hoff and Bruce trained but They will be back in a few years for another Crack . I am happy to report that Harry Has booked in for a solo attempt at Rotto After many years swimming in teams (duo and Fours ) .I am sorry for not posting Recent blogs due to some technical problems And my ghost writer Colin off on extended Leave .

Brighton Baths Winter Mile

Black Ice member Jonathan Hayward takes out
His second winter mile with an easy win this morning.
Black Ice was represented with over 10
swimmers in a field of around 30 swimmers.

Kevins article

Sorry I forgot to mention the recent
Story on Kevin Cassidy in the
Melbourne Weekly which will be up
On the media section of the Black Ice
Web site

Black Ice Car

The Black Ice swimming club has just taken
Possession of our new car a fully restored
1975 VW twin cab ute .It will be used to
Transport club members to all club events
Photos will soon be available on our web site with
Members wearing their Hawaiian shirts .
A special thanks to Andrew for suppling
The car and Harry for the idea . Don't forget
This Sundays winter mile swim at the
Baths so hopefully the Black Ice members
Can support this great swim and maybe one
Of our swimmers can take out the prize. Its
Not long now before the Hoff heads off to
England for his attempt on the Channel
And adds his name to the long list of
Black Ice swimmers before him. We are very
Confident that the Hoff will drinking Champagne
Somewhere on the French coast .He had done
All the hard work and we believe he is ready.

Penny Palfrey and Annual 8 Hour Qualifying Swim

Last week Penny Palfrey and her husband Chris
Joined the Black Ice team for a swim on their trip
Around Australia . After the swim Penny and Chris
Joined tha club for breakfast where she
Spoke about her recent world record swim
In the Cayman Islands and her upcoming attempt to swim
From Cuba to USA which would be the longest swim
Unassisted ( no Cage ) .You can follow Penny's progress
On her website and help her in her attempt with some
Sponsorship .The 8 hour swim was held in
Trying conditions yesterday with over a dozen making
Their attempts with all but 3 making it through .

New E-Mail Address

I have changed my e-mail again to
albertbardoel@gmail.com
P.S well done to Terry Mac on his great effort
In completing the recent Melbourne Ironman
In a time of just over 12 hours in his first
Attempt .

8 Hour Qualifying Swim

Firstly sorry for this late entry but I have been extremely
Busy with work etc.. So the Rotto swim was a great success
With over 20 Black Ice members in Perth. The 8 hour swim will
Be held on the 28/04/12 not on Anzac day because it's on a
Wednesday so it will be held on Saturday . This year we will
Have around 10 swimmers attempting the 8 hour swim
With a number of Sydney and Brisbane swimmers coming down.
The swim will be held off Hampton beach with 2 large boats
Parked around 500 m off shore which will be used as feeding
Stations . Friends and swimmers can be ferried to and from these
Boats all day . We will be holding a briefing on Friday the 27th
The night before at Milanos hotel around 7.00 pm . Also Ollie
Wilkenson will be back in town from England and our special
Guest Marathon swimmer is Penny Palfry so be there and support
The swimmers

BBS Results

Solos
Eric - 2.53
Spencer - 3.02
The Hoff - 3.05
Kevin- 3.15
Yvonne - 3.29
Chris - 3.35
Sally - 4.05
Dan - 4.38

Teams
Vidlers - 3.08

Great day with Yvonne winning her division
And Sally completing her longest swim .
I am not sure about non wet-suit results
But it was good to see more swimmers
Swimming without wet-suits considering
It was 35 degs and a beautiful summers day
Thanks to all the support crew and to Ian
Wallis for his support . Hope to see you all
Again in Perth in Feb for the Rotto Swim .

Swimming naturally
.

Bloody Big Swim

Black Ice has 7 solo swimmers and 1 relay team entered for the Bloody Big Swim
tomorrow.It will be a great warm up for next months Rotto swim as we have over 20 members flying over for the event.I will show the results next week and hopefully
can report some wins in certain categories as Ollie took out 1st place last year.
As per our strict club rules no Black Ice swimmer will be wearing the cheat suits.
Good luck and see you at the finish line around lunchtime.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Xmas Party

The Black Ice Xmas party will be held at
The Red Ox restaurant on Sunday the 11th
From 12 onwards . The Red Ox is located
At 502 Hampton St Hampton and it is a BYO
Please contact me for numbers and my new
Email Address is albert@midrockconstructions.com.au

Xmas Party

The Black Ice Christmas Party will be held
On Sunday the 11th of December for Lunch
At a venue yet to be decided . Please contact
Me for numbers
We will also be having a Xmas morning swim followed
By a champagne breakfast on the 24 th of December
At 8.00 am

Xmas Party

We need ideas for our Black Ice Xmas party ie.. venue ,time etc....so any ideas
please contact Harry,Terry or myself. Great news today with Ollie breaking the Manhattan swim
world record today which has been held for 16 years by Shelly Taylor-Smith.

Black Ice Bondi Swim

I am planning a double Bondi point to point swim
Hopefully in October . The swim will start from Bondi
Iceberger club to north Bondi and back which is about
1.8 kms . Anybody interested please contact me at training
Or on my mobile .We plan to leave on a Friday night with the
Swim been held on Saturday morning followed by lunch .

Pub to Pier to Pub

Black Ice had our winter swim at Lorne last
Weekend with 15 swimmers competing the
Double crossing . It was a beautiful
Day with great conditions and the race was won
In a close finish with Jonno 1st closely followed
By Eric and the Hoff . Last swimmer home was
Mike Gregory and I would like to thank Andy
D for allowing me to draft him .Next year the
Swim will be a triple so I'd better start overdosing
On my pine needles and Lose some weight
As I now realize the cold water is all in my head.

Hat-Trick

Great news
3 out of 3
Andrew Keegan 11hrs 38 mins
Craig Chapman 11 hrs 43 mins
Andrew Vidler 14 hrs 40 mins
I have now counted 20 English Channel
Solo swimmers from the Black Ice club
Out of 78 successful Australians which
Makes 25 % have come from our stable
In just ten years . We already have more swimmers
Booked for next year and beyond .Jonno
Has photos to come with the 3 boys in the White
Horse signing their names .
Alby

Finally

Great news with our three Black-Ice swimmers in the water on their way to France.Hopefully my next report will have three new members signing their names on the walls of the White Horse pub alongside the ever increasing successful Black Ice
swimmers.

The Long Wait

Unfortunately for Andrew his Channel attempt is still on hold due to
The poor weather but hopefully he may find an opening
Later this week on a spring tide . On a positive note Andrew will be
Joined by our Queensland Black Ice members Andrew and Craig
Who arrived this week for their attempts .If you were watching the British
Open Golf this week you could appreciate just how bad the weather is.
The open was played in Sandwich which only a short drive up the road from
Dover. Follow Andrew on his website for updates and I am sure the weather
Will change in his favor ( goggle swimavswim ) and send the boys a message .

Andrew Vidlers Web Site

Andrew Vidler is heading off on Wednesday for his English Channel Attempt
and you can follow him on his site which is provided below.
My blog/website is www.swimavswim.blogspot.com



It has a twitter feed (right-hand side down toward the bottom) so people can follow live with Caren giving updates on the day. If people join twitter (seriously easy) they can send messages on the day too. God knows I will need lots. Otherwise text messages to my mobile which Caren will also have. I am hoping that Chris Osmond on Seafarer II has a spot GPS. If so I will also link that to the website.

All members are welcome to join Andrew on Tuesday night at the baths from 4.45 pm
for his last swim followed by a few drinks.
I would also like to pass on our best wishes to Andrew Keegan and Craig Chapman
our Queensland members who head off on their attempts in a few weeks.
Well done to all Black-Ice members on their recent Manhatton Swims and thanks again to Harry and Cathy for another great night for Andrews going away dinner.

test

Black Ice Dinner Party & Black Ice Winter Mile

Invitations will soon go out for our Black Ice Dinner
To see off Andrew Vidler on his Channel attempt
And the screening of Andrew Duigan and Michael
Gregorys Channel swims
This year Black Ice will be holding it's Winter Mile
On August 20 at Lorne and anyone is invited to swim
But only under club rules and the winner can only
Come from full members .The dinner will be held at Harrys
On the 17th of June and our next Swimmers Profile
Will be our soon to be full member Judy Allen-Graham
P.S Andrew Keegan wil also coming down fir the party from
Queensland

8 Hour Swim Results

On Saturday we were blessed with the most beautiful day for our annual 8 hour swim.
On behalf of all our members I would like to thank everybody who helped in any way
especially Gerard for supplying his beautiful boat and his assistants Jimmy and Mark.
Also I would like to thank Paul for supplying his boat which was used to ferry swimmers and friends during the day to and from the beach.A special mention should also go to Harry
for all his hard work in organizing another great day.Jonno will post photos from the day
on the web site shortly .The three 8 hour swimmers all pulled up well and we wish them all the success in England and New York in July .This is the Eleventh year that I have organized
this event and each year I say to myself that's it but when the dust settles I will be organizing next years swim .Good luck to Andrew V, Andrew k and Craig Chapman on their Channel
attempts and Ollie on his bid to win Manhattan .I have told Ollie he is not welcome back
in Australia without the trophy as he is heading back home to England after Manhattan.
Hope to see everybody back at training on Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday mornings
at the baths.P.S it was great to see two new members abide by our only rule and swim without the cheat suits.

Eight Hour Swim

The 8 hour swim is on Saturday and the weather is looking pretty good .
Swimmers can load their supplies on the boat on Friday night at 4.45 pm
or Saturday morning at 5.30 am so please contact Harry on 0419308450.
All swimmers and friends and family are invited for dinner at Milanos (Beach Rd Brighton )
at 6.30 pm Friday night. We will be supplying a punt to ferry passengers
to and from the mother ship so if you need a lift please call Paul Hoffman on 0405312543 or Terry on 0400142548 and they will organize to pick you up
from the beach opposite Orlando and beach Roads Hampton.

8 Hour Swim

The 8 hour swim will be held off Hampton beach at 6.00 am on Saturday the 30Th
of April.In the event of poor conditions we will follow on to the next day.
We will have a 60 foot boat parked about 300 m off the beach as a base for the 8 hours .We will assemble at Sandringham Yacht Club at 5.30 am to load all support crew and food onto the boat .During the day a punt will be supplied to ferry crew
to and from the boat and beach .For interstate swimmers and crew I have organised a special deal at Brighton Bay Serviced Apartments .Please call Jason Douglas on
(03 9596 6099 ) and
mention my name ,the Brighton Bay is about 3 kms from the beach .Any other questions
please contact me on 0414 590509 .

Cohuna Bridge to Bridge 8km.

Four Black-Ice members made the trip to northern Victoria for the
annual Bridge to Bridge 8km swim down the Gunbower Creek at Cohuna.
The team performed well against a host of wetsuit wearers with their
15 percent advantage.

Our results were:
1hr 48min Jonathon Hayward
2hr 04min Kevin Cassidy
2hr 09min Yvonne Mooyman
2hr 25min Sally Catt

This was Kevin’s ninth swim at Cohuna and Yvonne’s fourth.

Jonno and Sally were making their first appearances at Cohuna. The
seasoned Jonno came home fourth while Sally did extremely well never
before having swum so far but still smiling at the finish.

"It was tough, but I think I enjoyed it" she stated flatly as she climbed out of the water.

More Black Ice representation came from Sandra Stewart who picked up a silver medal in the 1.5km swim then immediately jumped on her bike for the 25km cycling event.

Roll on next year.......

Kevin

Rotto Results

The Black Ice swim club had another great weekend away in Perth with some fantastic results.
Black Ice Whales 7 hrs 38 Min's
Andrew Keegan 6 hrs 19 Min's
0llie Wilkenson 4 hrs 56 Min's
Andrew Vidler 9 hrs 01 Min's
Ollie came in second overall which was a fantastic result so we know you will go one better and take out the Manhattan
swim this year .Special mention to Kerrie White with a time of 6 hrs 35 Min's and to Andrew and Harry for supplying
those great Hawaiian shirts which received many laughs.
The new Black Ice clothing is ready to pick up this week so please have your money ready .
The 8 hour swim has been bought forward due to the clash with Easter to either Saturday April the 30Th
or Sunday May the 1st . The swim will take place off Hampton beach with a large boat parked about 400 m
from the beach where swimmers will use each half hour for their feeds.After the swim the soloist will be
invited back to my new home across the road with the use of a spa and lap pool to recover.
Don't forget Saturday March the 26Th for our annual Eildon swim followed by the BBQ on Ian's houseboat,
Contact Mini me for details

Rotto Results

test

Rotto Swim

It's off to Rotto again this week with another
Large team of Black Ice swimmers competing
In solo and teams events . I will be placing a large
Order of Black Ice clothing this week so if
You missed out please contact me asap .
This years 8 hour qualifying swim will be held
On Saturday the 23 rd of April off Hampton
Beach . We have 4 swimmers training for their
Channel attempts and one for his Manhattan
Swim. Because we have so many swimmers
We will have a boat parked a few hundred
Metres off the beach . Swimmers will use
This each half hour as a feeding station instead
Of leaving the water for their feeds .

Floods

Due to the constant rain in Melbourne which has polluted
The Bay swimming has been cancelled indefinetly
My assistant Mimi Me will text members with updates
On training venues and times but Tuesday and Thursday mornings
Have been switched to Hampton beach . Last week
Many Black Ice members competed on the Bloody
Big Swim with some great results especially Ollie
Winning the solo . Ollie broke team rules by wearing
A wetsuit but he has assured me will
Make up for this by winning the Manhatton
Swim in New York later this year .In a few
Weeks our team of swimmers will head off
To Perth for our annual Rotto swim. I will keep
All swimmers posted on a date for this years Anzac
Day swim as we have 3 flying in from QLD .
Please call me and place your order for Black Ice
Bathers and clothes and don't forget my new email
Address albertbardoel@gmail.com

Xmas Lunch

The Black Ice swimming club will hold its annual Xmas lunch
at Ah'Loys Malaysian Restaurant in Bay street Brighton on the 12th of December.I have
organised a banquet which I can assure you will love at $45.00
a head . Ah'loys are not open for business on Sunday afternoons
but Alan the owner has been kind enough to open only for our club
It will be a 1.00pm start and anybody that is interested please
contact myself or my personal assistant Terry (mini me ) O'Brien.
This year we will be announcing the Black Ice member of the year for
his or her services to our club .Its also BYO wine

Andrew Vidler English Channel Solo 2011

Black Ice swimming club is pleased to announce that our recent new member Andrew Vidler
has booked to swim the English Channel solo in mid July 2011.That makes 3 solos and 1
team booked for next year from the Black Ice stable.We have been having a little competition
with The Irish swimming club headed up by Ned Denison as to see how successful solo swimmers
come out of each club.After tomorrows swim at breakfast we will decide where our Xmas party will be held .Also great news about Ollie making the cut for Manhattan in 2011 where we believe he has a great chance to win .

New e-mail address

I have changed my e-mail address to albertbardoel@gmail.com .Due to my move summer
Training will move to Harrys starting in the first week of November
Training will change to Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 6.00 am
Until further notice , hopefully training will resume at our new headquarters at 15 beach road Hampton .Saturday morning training location is yet to be decided .I am sorry if I have not replied to your e-mails because of my move so please contact me on the e-mail address above .

Andrew D gets to France

To all,
Thanks for all the messages of congratulations etc.
Could not have done it without the support of Black Ice Swimming club collectively.
My support team on the boat did an amazing, son Eric, Terry O and Greg & Liz .
At times when things were tough the pilot Mike Oram stepped in and was great, and the beautiful official observer Pam. Now for the offical signing of the name in the White Horse

Andy Duigan Swims From England To France

Andy welcome to the club and all the Black Ice team are very proud of your achievement
Andy's time was 17 hrs 7 Min's under very difficult conditions so go and sign your name on the wall at the White Horse and cannot wait for the photos and the DVD.Hopefully
Andy can right a report on his swim after he recovers and thanks to all who helped him over in Dover .

Andrew & Eric D in the cultural hub of Dover.
We attended the Dover comedy festival last night. It was headlined by that famous Fawlty Towers waiter that Kevin thought so much about in an Italian Restaurant. He had the table in stitches.
Felt better in the water today. A few laps of the harbor. Weather changeable.

Andrew D leaving update

I'm being taught how to use this thing !

2011 Black Ice Relay Of The English Channel

I am happy to announce that Black Ice have officially entered a team to swim the
English Channel in 2011.Our tide will be from June 21 to July 1 and we are No 1
with CSPF legend pilot Mike Oram . I will be calling a meeting after Saturdays swim
so anybody interested swimming the Channel can put their name forward.If you cannot
make it please contact me on my mobile for more information. Next year will be ten years since Team Extreme swam the double (read on the black ice website on www.black-ice.com.au about our experience)I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed that experience.
Today I received a text from Somer Mcmaster to remind myself and Jonno that on this day 7 years ago we swam the English Channel solo which Jonno and myself had completely
forgot due to the great win by Holland to make the World cup final.Yesterday was also Somers anniversary which bring back great memories of all our times together in Dover.

Black Ice Beer

Black Ice is now brewing its own beer and will be on sale in about one month.
I have already sampled our first batch and its fantastic so see Harry for more
details and orders. The Beer will be $ 2.00 a bottle and it is based on Whit beer.
Simply wines will also donate 5 % off all sales back to the club so support the
boys from Brighton and their details are on our sponsors page.I loved the look
on Harry's and Terry's face when I beat them home today until they found out I took a short cut .

Black Ice Lunch

The Black Ice dinner has been bought forward to Sunday the 11Th at 12.30 for lunch
at Harry's . The Black Ice winter Mile will be held on August the 22ND at Lorne which
is open to anybody so long as you abide by our club rule NO WETSUITS.

Black Ice Dinner

The Black Ice dinner will be held on Saturday Night April 10 at Harry's Home.
The address is 188 Beach Road Sandringham .Next Saturdays swim at 8.00am will
also be held at Harry's home due to the repairs at team headquarters.

CSPF Annual Awards

I am happy to announce that Eddie Spelling of the Cspf has won the Pilot of the year
at their recent annual awards night.Eddie was my assistant pilot on my solo and was
inspirational on my crossing so well done Eddie.Also my good friend Sally Minty-Gravett
has started her new web site (www.swimmingminty.com/)so check it out .Sally has a very impressive swimming CV and her husband is the Chairman of the Cspf.Kevin was right on
his second guess and I knew the answer to his question but did not reply because it was not a swimming related question so try a bit harder Kev.The date for the Black Ice
dinner will be listed on Saturday as it is hard to find a day where all members are in town at the same time.For the next 4 to 5 weeks Saturday swimming at 8.00 am in Black Rock
will be held off the life saving club instead of my home.

Rogue Cyclist

Alby, I believe that cyclist could well be the incomparable Terry O'Brien.

Now for a question of my own. Two weeks ago, Andy, Dan and I travelled to the small town of Cohuna for their annual 8km swim down the Gunbower Creek. What facility in Cohuna is the largest in Australia which effectively makes it the largest in the World?

Oliver Wilkinson Wins Bonbeach !200m

Just received news from the Almanac that Ollie easily wins the Bonbeach LSC 1200m
swim in a time of 13Min's 13 secs. Ollie successfully swam the Channel last year and
has decided to settle in Melbourne for a few years to run his veterinarian service
in Albert Park .Ollie joined our small group last year and has also decided to
sponsor our club so well done to you .Question time Kevin,which Black Ice member was caught jumping the fence so to speak this morning riding a bike.He has been severely
reprimanded but charges were later dropped because he was wearing one of the sponsors
shirts.So Kevin if you can name the member and the sponsors name I will shout you
breakfast next week .

Sponsors

I would like to thank all our sponsors who pledged their support at short notice.
The response was amazing with 9 coming on board and helping to finance
the website,our new sponsors banner and the sponsors big night out coming soon.It will be held at Harry's
where all wines to be supplied by Simply Wines and boutique beers supplied by Gino.
We have hired famous Pizza chef Luke who will make up his specialty Pizza or your
own style in Harry's new fully imported Italian Pizza oven. The Date for the big night out will be in about 2 to 3 weeks depending on school holidays and Easter .I think I
may be able to have a special door prize on the night if I can convince some sponsors
to donate some of their products.

Rotto Report 2010

The Black Ice team have just returned from another successful swimming trip with Ollie finishing in 5th place as a solo competitor. Harry and Alex managed 11th in the duo. Sally, Andrew, Sandra and Peter finished in the top 20 in the team of 4s .

I cannot report how much fun we had on this trip but it's best summed up by Harry, with what happens on the trip, goes onto facebook when we arrive home.

I would like to thank our boat crew of pilot Brian the skipper his assistant Geoff and Jan our paddler. We managed to lose Alex over board with his new iphone and designer shorts before the start of the swim, but apart from that (and my bruises) all went well. I think we will have a much larger team in Perth next year with planning already underway .This weekend is Pier to Perignon followed by a 6 hour swim at Lake Lysterfield.

Stay tuned for photos from Rotto going up on the site this weekend.

Alby

Sponsors

The Black Ice swimming club has now got a new section on our website for sponsorship. The money generated from this will go back into managing the site and purchasing an advertising banner with our sponsors names on it.

This club is a strictly non profit organisation and sponsorships will be $100.00. All businesses will have their logos displayed on the page with a link to their website. We have already received a lot of interest, so it's not too late to show your support. If you are interested, please send us an email for futher info.

Next weekend is our annual trip to Perth for the Rottnest Island Swim where twelve Black-Ice members will be competing. Anyone staying in Melbourne, please contact Yvonne to join her in the Saturday morning swim .

The Rotto swim is a strictly non wetsuit event, with all swimmers competing on an even playing field. That gives us a better chance with one of our members, (Ollie) right up there to win the race.

Watch this space...!

Alby


.

Bloody Big Swim

Firstly I would like to thank the committee for recognising swimmers who swim without wetsuits. I have been fighting for this in Victoria for many years without much luck and as I have stated before, we do not have any issue with them so long as they recognise swimmers who swim choose not to wear them.

It was a beautiful day and with the weather reaching 38 degrees I still can not understand why you would even contemplate putting on a wetsuit, other than the obvious (swim a faster time). Anyway, under Black Ice rules, (no wetsuits) we are happy to announce that Ollie Wilkinson won the race in 2 hours and 24 minutes . Ollie who swam the Channel last year in about 10 hours had a fantastic swim considering he has just arrived back from England and has little time to train with his busy work schedule.

Other Black Ice members to complete the solo were Kevin, Yvonne, Andy and first timer Harry who was supported by Jonno Terry Andy and myself. And Ian, our new pilot did a brilliant job!

Up until 6 Weeks ago Harry had not swam more than an hour so it was a huge effort. Good luck in 3 weeks when you join Alex for your duo across Rotto.

Black Ice has a large team travelling to Perth. We will be staying in the City instead of our usual base in Fremantle so the boys can train in the Swan river. Ollie must be right up there for line honours at Rotto where suits are not permitted, and this will give him a even playing field. It will also be interesting to see who wins between our duo and fours team. I will take bets now but with our experienced pilot Brian, I think we may have an edge.

Its all over when you hit Dover

I have received many e-mails in response to a recent blog. (I promised myself not to respond but I couldn't help myself with the one below)

As a matter of interest I am a member of The Dover Library, Dover FC, The Royal Cinque Yacht Club, The CSPF and also a regular at the White Horse Pub, where my name is displayed on the wall (see earlier blog re the how the signing of the wall started) and my name is engraved on a plaque at Hubert House Bed & Breakfast.

After our successful Team Extreme relay crossing in 2001 I was made 'blood brother' with Terry. (one of the local hoods in Dover, read the Team Extreme diary) After travelling half way around the world to Dover on seven separate occassions, I believe what is written below is a bit harsh. Dover is my second home and I will be back after I serve my five year suspension. (Hopefully earlier after appeal.)


The committee has imposed an IMMEDIATE punishment as follows:

You are barred from the Dover ballet, opera and symphony for a period of 5 years.

Futher you are barred for 2 years from the Amusement Park and Disney Dover.

And finally......you are not permitted FOR LIFE to buy a half pint in the White Horse.

Bad boy!

Ned Denison

Alby

Holidays

I was having a great time on my annual break when I received a few interesting texts. It's amazing how much support I have received from the swimming community right around the world after I read some interesting things about myself (just after a shark swam a few metres past me while on holidays at club med.)

I will not bother to reply to rubbish other to say that this place is slightly better than Dover. Back on the weekend for another season with all my swimming friends at Black Ice.

Sharks

A large shark was sighted swimming around Cerberus on Wednesday at Half Moon Bay Black Rock so beware. Just when we have nearly seen the last of the Jellies along comes a shark, so we have too ban Yvonne from swimming because she always attracts them. Also when I return from my holiday I will call a meeting re the Black Ice relay team across the English Channel which is gaining a lot of response.

Looking forward to 2010 as our group will have two top line swimmers from Qld joining us for our annual 8 hour swim on Anzac day - and Ollie is back from England.

Lisa Cummins the superstar from Ireland may be in Melbourne later this year to join us for a swim. Lisa is a national hero who broke the world record in becoming the 1st person to swim the Channel both ways without attempting a solo.After 35 hours in the water she made it across landing 40 kms from Dover and smiled the whole way. I was lucky enough to meet and swim with Lisa last year and I love her attitude - a true champion with no fuss or fanfare. Read her story on swimmers profile alongside other successful female double Channel swimmers like Alison Streeter, Marcy McDonald and Anne Cleveland.

Merry Xmas

Looking forward to next year with some big swims booked and I think
the Black Ice relay across the English Channel is back on so if you are
interested please contact me as we have a spot booked in early August.
We have the No 1 pilot booked in Mike Oram from the CSPF who will guide us across to France.
We already have a few Black Ice swimmers booked for their solo's in the same tide
so it would be great to be there to support them . I was part of team extreme in
2001 and i cannot tell you how much fun I had on that trip. Since our double relay
crossing 4 of the 6 members went on to swim the Channel solo.If we have enough interest
then I will call a meeting and fill you in with all there is to know about the swim .
Merry Xmas and a happy New Year from Alby and my assistant Mini Me ,where are my keys and
the wind is coming from the south and the north Terry .

Lake Lysterfield

The whole Black-Ice team will be down supporting Andy at Lake Lysterfield tomorrow morning for five hours as he ramps up his training for the Channel in 2010.

As usual our close knit group will be there to help him to achieve his dream. We would love to see Andy succeed next year after the weather ruined his Cook Strait attempt last year.

Next weekends swim will be followed by our Xmas breakfast and I hope all members can attend as there will be a surprise in store. Even Kev does not know....

I would also like to thank all Black Ice members for their overwhelming support recently.

.

Back to Black Rock

Its great to be back to our home ground where the water is cleaner and warmer.

Jellies have gone and so have a few other creatures that annoy us. Its good to see Andrew back and he will be teaming up with the Shoe man in Rotto .

Swimmers Profile Lisa Cummins

Soon we will have Lisa Cummins on Swimmers Profile as our next guest
and something I forgot to mention is that she is from Black Rock Ireland
which is an incredible coincidence so read her amazing story.Also on the
weekend I nearly fell out of my chair after watching the National news
where I saw someone resembling me in a pair of speedos. It had to be a stunt
double or I will have to visit Jenny Craig because my phone has not stopped
with some pretty rude jokes.

White Horse Pub

I am happy to report for now that the names on the wall will not be painted over

The Money Or The Box

Alby,

I believe it is Jian Zhang from the peoples republic of China.

I am still awaiting on the number of excuses listed on the back of the CSPF T-shirt

And keeping on the Channel theme..... What sized globe is used in the red beacon that lights Calais Harbour???

Temptation

Kevin you are half right about the spoil with the English side and the reason
for Samfire Hoe was twofold.One it was too hard to dispose of the spoil because of the White Cliffs and
secondly they could produce all the concrete tunnels on ground level and save on costs.
The Frogs just spread it over their farms.When they met in the middle the Poms supplied
tea and dried biscuits where as the Frogs supplied Champagne and Hors-d'oevres.
Question the 1st Asian swam the Channel in 2001 so which Asian country did he or she come from.

Mastermind

Correct Alby,

I knew you’d google all that sub 50 second info. It is something I can vividly recall as if it was yesterday.

HA HA, HA. The “Awesome Foursome” are the rowing team. To correct a popular misconception, Norman May never actually screamed “Gold” on three consecutive occasions.

No, it wasn’t the “Mean Machine”, it was the 4 x 200 metre men’s relay team and Norman was cheering home Neil Brookes whose freestyle anchor leg overpowered the communist block countries therefore preventing them making a clean sweep of the men’s pool events.


The Chunnel opened in 1994. I’ve no idea what the French and English workers exchanged when the met under the seabed but I’ll guess it was escargot washed down with a pint of the best pommi guinness!!!

I didn’t check in France but the English spoil was deposited amongst the numerous lagoons below Shakespears Cliff. The area now covers 90 acres of walking trails known as Samphire Hoe. The high clay content of the spoil meant that it was almost impenetrable by water which was perfect for using to reclaim some wet areas.

So to remain on the Channel theme, the official CSPF T-shirt has all the excuses used by non finishers on the back. How many excuses are there? And NO, having a suspected heart attack is not one of them!!

Its Academic

Jim Montgomery, USA, Montreal games,1976,49.99secs
Gold Gold Gold i think was the awesome 4some Moscow
4+100 relay freestyle I cheated on the 1st answer
but I was guessing on the second or they were called
the mean machine .OK Kev what year did the Chunnel
open and what did the English and French exchange
when they met half way under the Chunnel Clue it was
food and drinks and where did the 2 countries dispose
of their spoil from the Chunnel and why.Kev you are making
it harder so questions must be related to the English Channel.

Sale of the Century

Well done Alby. Murray Weideman is correct. I thought I might catch you out with the October date in 1990. His other "sport" was wrestling. Not the real type that we see at the Olympics, but that micky-mouse variety that Jack Little would host every Sunday at noon on Channel Nine.

It was the entire Essendon team that kicked five goals in the 1990 Grand Final. It was all they could muster...what a weak effort!!

OK, back to swimming. Who was the first man to break 50 seconds for the 100 metres freestyle? What country did he represent? What year did he do it? Where did he do it? and what was his actual time?

Also, Norman May's excited call of "GOLD, GOLD TO AUSTRALIA, GOLD, GOLD" occurred at which Olympics? In which event? and exactly who was he cheering for?

Bob Dyers Pick a Box

Kevin you are right on the first and second females but John Koorey made it across
on his 3rd attempt and similar to Jonno he cannot remember much about his first two attempts
other than waking up in hospital.He thought he could just go over and smash the world record
but weighed only 60 kgs and could not handle the cold .I have met John a few times and is an incredible man
not only through his swimming but with his inventions.Ok Kevin back to your question re the
last Collingwood captain in September , the answer is Murray Weideman in 1958 because I was there
in 1990 and it was held in October .Ok Kevin what other sport did Murray Weideman play if you
can call it a sport and who kicked 5 goals in the 1990 Grand final. By the way I promised not
to have none swimming questions on this site so this will be the last time.

More answers for Alby

Yes Alby, I believe our own Black Ice member in Yvonne Mooyman is the first woman to complete the Channel-Rotto-Cook Strait treble. Second was Penny Palfrey from Townsville. John Koorey was first aussie male to swim the channel on Sept 6th 1969 in, I believe, his first attempt.

Ok, here's one of my own.

Who captained Collingwood Football Club in their most recent triumph on that one day in September?

Finally Kevin Is Wrong

Sorry Kevin but the answer is twice and its good to see you come clean on the google.
It was her last attempt when she was pushed back by a storm but i will keep them coming
Who was the 1st and 2ND female to swim the Channel,Rotto and the Cook Strait.Google will not help you on this one and i am happy for you to fire one straight back.Name the 1st Aussie male to swim the Channel and on what attempt did he succeed.

Alby's trivia...again

Alby,

I can't believe that you have only just woken up to the powers of Google!!

However, I don't need Google for your latest question. Alison Streeter's one aborted attempt at the channel was when the boat propeller hit her leg inflicting injuries that prevented her continuing.

Cheers from Kevin.....and keep those question coming!!!

More on Alby' trivia questions

Alby,

Annette Kellerman made three unsuccessful attempts at the channel and spent time at Mentone Girls Grammar School [just down the road], so i guess it is their pool that boasts her name. Also, I once swam at a pool in Marrickville up in Sydney several years ago which was named after her.

Given that she is regarded as the founder of synchronished swimming, I am guessing she was played by Esther Williams in the movie

Channel Questions

Ok Kevin you got on the last on but i will keep trying until I stump you.
Annette Kellerman was the 1st female to attempt the English Channel in 1905
she failed on how many attempts and which private girls school did she attend
in Melbourne where they named the pool in her honour, and finally which actress played her in the movie Million Dollar Mermaid. Alby

Alby's trivia questions

Alby, you need to think up some tougher questions.....

ROLEX......of course!!!

Question Time

I have just spoken to Kevin and he has pulled up quite well apart from
swelling of the lips and tongue.I could not resist asking a question
because I know how much Kevin (the almanac) Cassidy loves this but I
think this one will stump him.Which watch company in 1927 used the a English
Channel solo swimmer to test their new watch.Kevin you have 48 hours to correctly
answer this one or shout the whole black ice team coffees on your return.
Your answer must appear on this site seeing that you now have access to it.

Question Time

Kevins Swim Begins

I have just received a text from Sandra to say that Kevin has just entered
the water for his epic crossing of the English Channel.Kevin was to start
at 8.00am English time which is 5.00pm Melbourne time so you can follow his
progress via this web site www.ais-doverstraits.co.uk/ for 10 min updates.
Then you need to click on his boat which is Gallivant and we will know where
he is in the Channel so wen you wake up early tomorrow morning hopefully Kevin
will be closing in on the French coast. Alby

More from Dover

Kevin Cassidy checking in from Dover.

Conditions look good for tomorrow morning and the number one in my window has decided to take the opportunity at breaking the current world record. As a result, I won’t be going tomorrow morning.

Mike Oram says that if the record is broken, he will be back in Dover by noon. In this case, I will leave on the 4pm tide and swim into the night….which doesn’t bother me at all.

Failing that, the next chance will be early Saturday morning. Sunday is expected to see a cold front come in with some rougher weather but Monday and Tuesday are looking good.

Today has been a tense day of “what ifs” but I am more relaxed about things now.

Kevin in Dover

Kevin Cassidy checking in from Dover….via Alby’s page!!!

The mental torture of not knowing when I will start sure is a new experience for me. After three days in Dover, the main thing I have learnt from both Freda Streeter and Mike Oram is that this summer’s weather forecasts have been completely unreliable for a wide range of reasons.

The channel may look calm from Dover but it can be howling out on the French side. Swims are stating between 1:30am and 2am. Some swims due to go two days ago were canceled with just two hours notice as the winds kicked up.

My window opens tomorrow and I am the number two swimmer. The number one swimmer is trying to reclaim his world record [Christov is his name, I think]. As a result, he will only swim if conditions are perfect. This effectively means that I am number one on any less than perfect days which are still quite swimmable.

Mike Oram suggested that I could go tomorrow morning at 2am if I wished but he wasn’t sure if the 23 knot wins would drop!! Basically, he seemed to think that I should wait given that I was going to be around for a while. Friday is quite possible with the weekend expected to rough up a bit. Monday and Tuesday next week are predicted to provide good conditions……however, no one is paying much attention to the already inaccurate forecasts. If Friday is swimmable without being perfect, then I will be hitting the water.

Due to the fact that several September booked swimmers have already swum, Mike has told me that there are no ends to anyone’s windows. This is news I am glad to hear as I am able to stay longer if need be.

I’ve had two 30 minute swims in the harbour as well as checking out the town. We went for a meal at a small Italian restaurant last night where the two waiters made Manuel from Fawlty Towers look competent. Honestly, it was a case of Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber!!!!

As for the local townsfolk, the obvious preferred hobby appears to be smoking and throwing your butts on the ground!

swimmers profile

World Swimming Championships Farce

When I was a kid growing up, I couldn’t wait for the Olympics Games, Tour De France etc. These days, I don't bother because of all the drugs that have ruined these sports.

Now swimming has gone one better by bypassing the drugs with the stupid new swim suits. They might as well let them wear wings so they can fly from one end of the pool to the other. Swimming is now another sport stuffed up by stupid officials who are more worried about their sponsors than the integrity of the sport.

The medals should not go to the swimmers but to the swimwear designers who have allowed these swimmers to go so fast.

Years ago, when an Aussie broke a world record, it was front page news but just a few days ago, an Aussie broke the 100m breaststroke world record and it didn’t even make the back page. In fact, I don't even remember his name!

The English Channel rules have remained the same for 135 years. Hopefully no one will turn up to Dover with one of these swim suits.

Question: Can anybody tell me of a sport where they don't cheat? If so, I would like to follow it.

There have been a few idiots who have swam across the Channel in a wetsuit but they have not been acknowledged and rightly so. At least the pilots have taken their money and shame on them for putting their names on the wall of the White Horse pub which is rapidly running out of room.

They will soon take down the relay team names and also those of the cheats in wetsuits to make way for the solo swimmers.

Kevin flies out this week and all his Black-Ice friends wish him all the best. You can follow his progress on www.ais-doverstraits.co.uk .

Sandra will text our group with his starting time and then you can follow his progress but clicking onto his boat which will be either “Gallivant” or “Sea Satin” [I will confirm next week] Updates of his position are given every 10 minutes.

Black-Ice relay across the English Channel

I'm inviting all Black-Ice members to join me in a relay across the English Channel in either 2010 or 2011.

The first six members to sign up need to call me for a meeting. Only full Black-Ice members can sign up with costs being around $4000. This will include airfares, accommodation, pilot fees and food etc...so start saving.

You will need to set aside two weeks maximum and I can guarantee the trip of a lifetime.

I know our group already has four members booked for solo channel swims next year, so maybe we can join them.

Black-Ice already swims the Rotto race each year in a relay, so it's about time we swam across the Channel.

Also, well done to Chloe who finished first in the Lorne pier to pub winter swim and Jonno for coming in third.

It's not long before Kevin heads off the Dover for his solo English Channel attempt.

Annual Brighton Baths Winter Mile

It was another great day for the Black-Ice Swimming Club with Chloe [overall winner and first female] and Jonno [first male] starring at the Brighton Baths Winter Mile. I’ll have more Black-Ice results when they come through.

Chloe is just warming up for her double assault on the Channel this year where we believe she will give Susie Maroney’s world record a good shake. Susie is by far our greatest marathon swimmer and we hope to have her as a guest on
“Swimmers' Profile.”

We also hope to have Murph Renford amongst our profiles soon. Murph is the son of swimming royalty, Des Renford. Des swam the English Channel 19 times!

Thank you to Harry and Cathy for a great night at their home recently with nearly all members in attendance.

Terry O’Brien is recovering well after his recent hip operation and we miss him in the water already. What we DON’T miss is his standard of driving on route to training!!

Kevin's English Channel attempt is only six weeks away. Anybody who knows Kevin will know that he has been training well and we believe he is ready to add his name to the wall of the White Horse Pub in Dover.

Quiz question this week: Who was chosen to play the role of Linda McGill (first Australian to swim the English Channel) in the life story about the Gold Coast marathon swimming legend?

P.S. I’m expecting a text message soon from the almanac, Kevin, after this posting.

Black-Ice Dinner

On the 12th of June, the Black-Ice team will be holding a going away
dinner for the three members who will be making the big trip
to Dover for their English Channel solo attempts. The dinner has been brought forward due to Terry's hip operation which will force him out of action
out of action for about three months.

Many thanks to Harry and Cathy for hosting the party in their new home which overlooks our beloved Port Phillip Bay.

Good luck and a speedy recovery to Terry and all the best of luck to Kevin, Chloe and Paul with their English Channel attempts. They have all been training very hard.

I am so thrilled at the opportunity to be in Dover for Paul and Chloe's attempts and with a bit of luck, Kevin will be back in Dover after his holiday to cheer on the others.

Hopefully, the Black-Ice Swimming Club will have over ten successful solo
English Channel swimmers within the next 12 months, the most assembled anywhere in Australia.

Next week, Paul McQueeney will be inducted into full Black-Ice colours by
completing a one hour cold water swim at the Brighton Sea Baths.

Go to your limits, and then exceed them.

Hattrick

I am happy to say that I will be in Dover for Paul, Ollie and Chloe's English Channel attempts in September.

Hopefully these three swimmers will join Kevin (August 13 to the 18th) in conquering the channel.

Next year, the Black-Ice team will have another three swimmers making English Channel attempts.

Good luck

Anzac Day Qualifying Swim

Once again, the Black-Ice swimming club held their annual English Channel qualifying swim for Kevin and Paul.

With the water temperature at 15 degrees, the wind blowing up to 30 knots and no sun, conditions were testing.

Both guys came through with flying colours and are now set for the ultimate test later on this year.

Paul and Kevin were well supported with almost all Black-Ice members assisting them during the day. Terry O'Brien was the only one missing. His horse was running in Sydney and it clocked up a win on Sydney Cup day.

This Saturday, the Black-Ice team returns to the Brighton Sea Baths for the winter season. We'll see you there.

Eight Hour Qualifying Swim

On Anzac day, the Black-Ice team will be heading down to Black Rock for our annual eight hour English Channel qualifying swim.

This year, we will have Kevin, Dan, Paul, Chloe and Andy attempting the eight hour time frame. Unfortunately, Ollie will just miss out as he is heading back to England.

The great news this week is that Dover FC have won through to a promotion with six games in hand. I will be receiving a signed shirt from their leading goal scorer. It will look good hanging in the Black-Ice headquarters beside our new Black-Ice framed logo. This logo was supplied by Harry from Colorpak.

Keep an eye on Terry's horse, Amberino, as she attempts to win another big race. She has now won $400,000. Imagine how much it would have won if the jockey knew how to steer it the right way!! Not bad for a nag worth less than $10,000

Rats, Sharks, Jellyfish and Wolves (woff)

The Black-Ice team has just returned from another Rottnest Channel swim. I must
say that this trip just gets better every year. The weather was perfect
and water was beautiful.

The team crammed in four weeks of activity into just over four days . Jonno will be posting photos on the web when he arrives back from Perth late next week. Along with all the swimming photos, we have a special one to add

Anyway, the Rat is the Dutch word for Rott or Rottnest. The Shark was a Hammerhead which Kevin swam over two thirds of the way through the race. The Jellyfish were out there again in force and the Woff was my Hells Angel mate we met in Fremantle. The Woff is the oldest and shortest bikie in the world but he’s still the scariest.

Our team had our slowest time ever because the currents were against us. This didn’t worry us because we had a great time and I didn't want to come home.

I forgot to mention that our training sessions went a little over time but we eventually made it back to our rooms, even though we were on the wrong floor of our hotel….thanks to Harry and Terry.

Special thanks to our great support team with Brian our Skipper, Geoff his assistant
and Jan our Paddler. They were fantastic, and to you, Jan, I have something special in store for you next year! Thanks also to Jan’s husband, Don, for driving the boys around.

I can’t wait until next year and hope we can spend more time in this beautiful city.

At the Friday morning briefing, the race director brought music to our ears when she
told the crowd that any swimmer that wore a WETSUIT would be automatically disqualified.

Well done to Kevin on a great effort in finishing the solo swim for the second consecutive year. It was a good hit out in preparation for this year’s English Channel.

Kevin only needs to complete his eight hour swim on Anzac Day and he’ll be on his way. We’re very confident that he’ll join his fellow Black-Ice members who have
swum the Channel.

Bring on next year’s Rotto swim because Black-Ice would like to enter two teams
and race each over to the island.

Thank you to Alex, Harry, Terry, Jonno, Kevin, Sandra, Brian, Geoff, Jan, Don and the staff at our “team headquarters”, the “Little Creatures” bar.

See you all next year.

Alby

Jennifer Figge.....or Fraud?

I had to laugh the other day when I heard that Jennifer Figge, a 56 year old from Colorado (I know some real marathon legends from Colorado and Jennifer Figge, you are not one of them), swam 2,100 miles across the Atlantic Ocean!

After reading the fine print, it was pointed out that she had swam less than ten percent of the entire distance. It’s amazing how certain so called swimmers talk themselves up. I know quite a few of them.

Firstly. she claims that she did not see a shark on the entire swim. Mind you, it would have been hard when she was sun baking on the back of her catamaran. Even when she did enter the water, she was in a shark cage with a wetsuit on.

Of the 24 days that she sailed across the ocean, she only swam on 19 of them. One time, she was only in the water for 19 minutes, about the time it takes me to have a bath! I don't wear a wet suit when I enter my bath so I do actually get wet.

There have been a lot of e-mails on the English Channel chat site. One in particular, by Cliff Golding, was very funny. He summed up Jennifer Figge’s incredible story quite descriptively.

Of course, there has to be one idiot who believes her swim
should be acknowledged. Yes, it was that serial pest, “Clarke Kent” from Canada, who still wears that chip on his shoulder because he failed in his English Channel attempt. He even called we successful English Channel swimmers snobs!!.

Well Clarke [or is it Rob?, certainly not Superman], we are not snobs.

Mr Kent, I suggest you hook up with Jennifer Figge and compare wet suits. Maybe then you can claim to have crossed the English Channel…….in a plane, of course.

Jennifer Figge’s swim was nearly as good as "Percy McRoberts"
100 long courses at Brighton one winter. A free coffee to anyone who can guess the cryptic clue behind this name.

Here’s a clue: He claims to have swam better than Yvonne across the English Channel which is quite amazing considering he laid on his back the whole way!

The Bloody Big Swim

As I reported last week, that the Black Ice team won the teams event and Jonno Hayward won the solo event at the Bloody Big Swim.

Although two other teams finished ahead of us, under Black Ice rules
(NO WETSUITS), we don't acknowledge cheats or the stupid rules that allow swimmers to compete with wetsuits (mind you, it was about 35 degs!!!).

As I have said many times before, we don’t care if others wear those stupid
Suits, but why isn’t there any acknowledgment for those who swim naturally without the aid of a cheat suit.

In the solo event, there were only four swimmers who swam without
suits and three were from the Black Ice team which includes Paul McQeeney, who has just joined our team from Sydney. Chris Palfrey from Queensland was the other, so well done to those four.

Drafting is another pet hate of mine. It was great to see a certain swimmer
copping his own medicine and spitting his dummy out there. Didn’t he look
a picture in his “tip to toe” designer wetsuit.

It’s funny looking at all the pictures of the swimmers after the race without their wetsuits on .

It’s now off to Rottnest Island in two weeks where we can swim amongst thousands of other swimmers who don't dare wear anything other than official swimming costumes. Hopefully the organisers of Victorian swims will get the message and bring back natural swimming.

For any swimmers out there journeying interstate, please leave your wetsuit behind.

Chloe's Rotto Swim

On Saturday night, after the Black-Ice team wins the mixed team section of the Bloody Big Swim [with Chloe leading off], Chloe will then travel to Perth for her world record attempt at a triple crossing of the Rottnest Channel.

My contacts over in Perth tell me that Monday the third of February is looking really good for her attempt. We all have our fingers crossed and hope she can achieve this incredible feat.

Chloe has already appeared on two radio shows this week and has given the Black-Ice team a good plug. Chloe has also agreed to donate her “Shark Shield” to the Black-Ice team after her triple Rotto swim. It may come in handy when we try the South Channel Island swim, a swim that has been put on hold for three months now due to poor conditions and the limited opportunities in having all our swimmers together at one time.

Last night, the temperature reached 43.5 degrees at 6pm at our beach in Black Rock. This was the second highest temperature recorded in Melbourne's history. Despite the heat, there was a group of 30 to 40 wimps putting on wetsuits for a squad session. It’s bad enough that people wear these cheat suits at any time, let alone on one of the hottest days ever. Don’t wear wetsuits in our town or on our beach.

To all those other tourists who come down and leave cigarette butts on our beautiful beach, I will now be approaching the local council and lobbying to have smoking banned not only on our beach, but all beaches . It was hard enough to breathe in the stifling heat last night, let alone having smoke blown in your face. These pigs then leave their butts in the sand.

If you throw rubbish on the beach, you get fined. These pigs think they can legally butt their cigarettes in the sand. I just don’t get it, just like I don’t get why the wimps wear wetsuits on a 40 degree day .

I bet that the Black-Ice team will be the only swimmers not wearing wetsuits in Saturday’s Bloody Big Swim, which will also be around 40 degrees.

If you wear a wetsuit, you should be put into another category.

Travel up to Sydney and see if you can find anybody wearing a wetsuit in any of their open water swims.

Next time you travel down to the beach, try swimming without your stupid wetsuit and I’m sure you will feel so much better swimming naturally.

I bet you don't turn up to the pool wearing your suit!!

Who cares if it takes another minute or two to complete your swim? At least you’ll know that you’re not cheating and the sharks won’t mistake you for a seal

Bondi, Sydney

I’ve just arrived back from Sydney where I spent my new years holidays in Bondi.

I swam everyday from point to point and I was lucky enough to swim with
the boys from the North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club who made me most welcome.

The water was great, the seas calm and no wetsuits in sight.

It was back to Black-Ice this morning. For once it was calm, so I hope to see
all our swimmers back at training after the holidays.

It’s obvious that the people I referred to earlier in regard to those stupid comments on the English Channel chat site have not read my article because when I opened up my e-mail, they were at it again with more stupid comments that embarrass us.

I hope the other chat site members from around the world don't think that we are all like these wankers.

Watch out for the Black-Ice team in the “Bloody Big Swim.” Also, we have again entered the Rotto swim, so see you in the water.

Christmas and New Year

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hopefully a much better one than 2008 for so many reasons but I won't have to state the obvious.

Next year, we have many Black-Ice swimmers attempting some big swims with Chloe's triple Rotto and her double Channel and Kevin's solo Channel attempt just to name a few. I am confident that they'll be successful as they have done the hard work and have the attitude and commitment that is required .

Earlier this year, we had an unsuccessful channel swimmer fail in his attempt for so many reasons. His attempt was best summed up by his observer’s “YouTube” report. The six "P's". “Perfect planning prevents piss poor performance”.

I have mentioned before that this is no walk in the park and unless you have ticked all the boxes, you should not even consider attempting the English Channel. If you say that at least you’ve made an attempt, well that doesn’t sit with me .

Don’t waste your time or money. Besides the swim, it’s just a struggle coming
to terms with living in Dover. When I made my attempt, I struggled for a short period and nothing could get me going until my observer yelled out “Do you want to crawl up in a corner for the rest of your life and make excuses”. This was the best motivation that I’d ever heard. He hit a nerve and had me so fired up, I put my head down and swam another eight hours until I landed in France. It felt like heaven.

See you all early next year as we look forward to the Bloody Big Swim
and the Rotto swim.

P.S

I’ve been reading many of the e-mails sent to the English Channel chat site and although many of the topics of discussion are quite interesting and relevant, I am getting a little bit sick of a few Aussies who make me cringe with some of their stupid comments that embarrass our fellow swimmers . For this reason, I have had to block the site because I am receiving too many ridiculous e-mails from imbeciles.

Talk is cheap, so try swimming more than the length of my bath or shut up.

Merry Christmas and go Dover Football Club who are still on top.