Delayed End to Final Swim...

Today was supposed to be the final swim of the season - however the ocean gods decided it was not to be.

To start off the course had to be changed simply because the waves out the back were just too big. They were having trouble keeping the pontoons (or cans) in place to mark the course in the deeper water so they brought the course in. At first I was happy with this as it would be a course which I have swam before, plus the obvious advantage of not having to swim in the extremely deep areas.

I was all set to swim the 2.4 K, however as the 1K group was going the 4 rescue boats, jet ski, and 20+ surf life rescue people in there there were quite a few people who turned back.

Before I tell you what happens next, I'd like to just educate you on the Bondi rips. There are two permanent rips at bondi - the North Bondi rip and one at the south which is called the Backpacker Express as that's where all the backpackers get stuck. With the new course using the Northern rip to get out of the waves much faster. However the danger with this is that, if the waves are big enough you will be pushed against the rocks which are on the other side of this rip.

So with this group of people, there were some which decided about 20 meters in that they didn't want to continue, and were promptly swept into the rocks... not good! Then to complicate things even more, a massive wave came in a swept one of the pontoons out of it's secured location and into the rocks. Luckily, the pontoon didn't hit anyone on its way to the rocks.

However this turn of events was a blatant sign for the organisers to cancel the race... which they did. I must admit that I wasn't too sad as there was a pretty decident rip right where we were set to swim back to the beach. So this would have proven to be a very challenging race to say the least.

The plan is for them to reschedule the event to next Sunday, however I have a bachelorette party on Saturday night so I might not be capable of swimming. I will keep you posted on how things go. :)

In the mean time, my knee is feeling good due to my limited drinking which also means I have saved money and spent less time standing in line at the bathroom at the bar. :)