Sydney's Wet Summer

Sydney has had an incredibly wet summer so far, with more twice last summer's rainfall already having been recorded. The La Nina phenomenon seems to be the cause. Such heavy rainfall affects swimming in Sydney's waterways. Because of the city's built up areas, stormwater runs directly into the rivers, bays and the ocean, causing pollution incidents. Generally, the ocean beaches are declared safe one day after heavy falls, but the bays and rivers can take up to three days to clear. I usually swim in the Harbour every weekend during the summer months, so it has been frustrating this summer when there have been so many pollution days. I've ended up going over to Coogee Beach or Wylies Baths for my swims, but, even in the ocean, there's been a lot of flotsam. The beaches are also quite crowded at this time of year, and the seasonal north-easterly winds often bring seaweed and bluebottles (Portugese Man-Of-War).

Midweek, during a normal summer, I often go for a swim, after work, over to Balmain Baths. It's a bit of a hike, as I work in the south-western suburbs, and have to take a train 30 kilometres into the city centre, then a bus 3km out to Balmain. I could just go to one of the many chlorinated municipal pools, but I really enjoy swimming in saltwater. I have been missing out on this swim since the new year because of the stormwater pollution, so it was with relief that I read the Beachwatch reports on Thursday morning when they declared pollution to be unlikely. 

I set off on the train into the city at 3:30. Half way there, of course, the rain started. It was pretty heavy too. I thought it might clear, but it persisted. Another wet summer evening. I really don't mind swimming in the rain, but I hoped that there wouldn't be too much runoff into the baths.

By the time I got into the city and waited for the bus, there was a lot of water on the roads. Still, I caught the bus out to Balmain, determined to swim. On the way across the Glebe Island Bridge, the rain started to ease, and by the time we got to Balmain it had stopped. I walked across a very wet Elkerton Park, and down to the pool. It was an unusually low tide, and the seagrasses were exposed. The water was a bit on the murky side, but I managed to do my twenty lengths and avoid any sort of sickness.

Coming on to the Glebe Island Bridge. Still raining.

Looking from Glebe Island Bridge across to the Harbour Bridge. The rain is easing over the city.

At Balmain Baths. The rain has stopped.

A very low tide with the seagrasses visible.

A good standby for this wet summer has been Birrong Pool which is on the train line from work back home. As I said, I don't really enjoy chlorine pools, but it's been better than no swim at all. The ocean baths and beaches are just too far after work. It would mean taking a train into the city, then a bus out to the Eastern Suburbs, then a bus and train back to the Inner West where I live. Sometimes on a Friday afternoon I'll go, but never midweek.

Birrong Pool

I normally have a midweek swim here in the winter when Balmain Baths are closed.

A Short Swim Around Coogee Bay

I enjoyed last week's Dawny to Cockatoo Island swim so much that I decided to have a go at the 1 kilometre swim around Coogee Bay, an event which is hosted by the Coogee Surf Life Saving Club (http://coogeesurfclub.com.au/club/). There is a total of three swims in the event: an 800 metres dash for the juniors (11 to 13 years), the 1km course inside the bay and a 2.4 km swim out of the bay and around Wedding Cake Island.

Before the majority of entrants arrived. The line of breakers in the distance is Wedding Cake Island.

The swim around the island is, by all accounts, one of the most amazing swims along the Sydney coast, with submarine views of large boulders on the shoreward side and reefs of rock, seaweed and marine life on the open ocean side - all seen through clear blue water.

The registration process: entrants registered by age group and distance.

There is no way that I could manage the 2.4 kms out to the island, let alone navigate the currents behind the island and make it back to shore, so it was the 1km swim for me. 

The first buoy has already been placed in the water.

The day was gorgeous, warm and sunny after a week of rain and surprisingly cold temperatures. It's a popular swim, and there were lots of entrants in many age categories. The junior dash was first, then the 1km swim went off in two waves, the younger age groups first.  I was, of course, in the second wave. Altogether there were 427 people in the 1km swim, and, amazingly (unless I've misunderstood something) almost one thousand in the swim around the island (some people doubled-up by swimming in both).

A glorious day at Coogee Beach

The water temperature was 18°C, and there was a very high tide. Swimming out into the bay, I could notice the difference between this week's swim in the swell and the chop and last week's swim in the calm, flat waters of Sydney Harbour. I set off from the beach using a front crawl stroke, but several times reverted to breaststroke to catch my breath and give my shoulders a rest. One or two people were doing backstroke or sidestroke at various times. 

Last week I swam the 1.1km in 21 minutes, and felt fine afterwards. This week the 1km swim took me 33 minutes 16 seconds, and I had to have a sit in the sun for several minutes after finishing. Later in the day I had sore legs and shoulders. A reminder that the open ocean takes a bit more effort than the ocean rock pool or tidal baths. 

Later I walked up onto the cliffs to watch the real swimmers rounding the island.

Looking from the cliffs to Wedding Cake Island (barely visible in the very high tide). 

It's impossible to see the swimmers in this photo, but they were somewhere out the back when it was taken.

Dawny To Cockatoo Island And Back

A Spring morning on the shores of the Parramatta River in Balmain. The jacarandas are in bloom in the park up above the low sandstone cliffs. A kookaburra is cackling from one of the tall gum trees. The Moreton Bay fig trees are casting cool shade away from the hot morning sun. And the Harbour is sparkling.

It's a perfect morning for a swim, and swimming is the order of the day. It's the day for the open water swim from Dawn Fraser (Dawny) Baths to (or around) Cockatoo Island. 

The swim has been an annual event for the past nine years. It's a fundraiser for the Balmain Water Polo club (Australia's oldest) who train and play at the Dawn Fraser Pool (also Australia's oldest). The swim to the island is 1.1km long, while the swim around the island is 2.4km long. I entered the shorter swim for my second year. I'm not sure that I could make it all the way around, and certainly not in the time allotted. This year I was determined to swim front crawl all the way instead of reverting to breaststroke half way there.

In the end, I came somewhere very close to last, so obviously front crawl is not my strong point. Still, swimming across the harbour with so many others was a lot of fun. The water was warm (21°C), the day was sunny and even the bull sharks stayed away. After the swim, there was free fruit - mangoes, watermelon and bananas. There was also a free barbeque, but, unfortunately, no vegetarian options. Maybe next year.

Looking from Dawn Fraser Pool across to Cockatoo Island

Loading the marker buoys

Taking the buoys across to the island to mark the course

Swimmers return from the Dawny Challenge around the island

Back To Balmain Baths

After an atrocious day on Saturday, it was a relief to wake up early on Sunday and find that it was a glorious morning. I headed off to Balmain Baths (a.k.a. Dawn Fraser Baths) as soon as I could. The pool re-opened for the summer season last weekend while I was still in San Francisco. The sun was warm and the skies were bright blue as I arrived.

I was the only swimmer in the pool for the first 17 of my 20 lengths. The water was a beautiful 19°C. Afterwards, I sat with a hot cup of tea, looking out across the bay and listening to the birdsong from the tall trees in Elkington Park above the pool.

A Rainy Day At Bondi Beach

I had to go over to Bondi Beach on Saturday for work. I was looking forward to getting there early, and going for a swim. I'd already had a swim at Coogee since getting back from San Francisco, so I knew that the water was lovely and clear. The weather had been sunny and dry, if a bit cool, so I imagined a glorious morning of swimming.

But when I woke up on Saturday, it was cold and drizzling. By the time I got off the bus at the beach, it was a dreadful day. It was raining heavily, and there were banks of black clouds hanging over the ocean.

I really didn't fancy swimming from the beach, and leaving my clothes on the wet sand in the rain, so I headed for Bondi Baths. There were a few swimmers already there, but plenty of room to swim plenty of laps in the 50 metre pool. The water is currently nineteen degrees.

Bondi Baths (also known as Bondi Icebergs after its famous winter swimming club) has a concrete saltwater  pool, hot showers and a sauna. There is a clubhouse and a restaurant, both of which were rebuilt almost ten years ago. It's a great place for a swim, but I rarely go there, preferring Wylies with its rocky bottom and sea life. I've only been there twice in the last couple of years, and, before that, not since the 1980s. Still, Saturday's swim was pretty wonderful.