Chopper Challenge
3rd Westpac Chopper Swim Challenge to take off in March With its 3rd edition just announced for March 2018 the Westpac Chopper Swim Challenge from Waiheke to Auckland is becoming a small fixture in the Marathon Swim Calendar. It all started in 2016, when three Westpac staffers and ocean swimmers realised over coffee that the Waiheke ferry wharf was exactly 20k from the Westpac Rescue Helicopter base. Given the significance of the Chopper to the island a charity swim seemed glaringly obvious. Dean Madsen had done the 12.5k from Milford to Devonport in atrocious conditions, Michael Buck was preparing for Rottnest (where he finished 2nd) and Olaf...
Share the Love
As most of our readers will be aware we run RealSwim Adventures Cook Islands twice a year. The warm welcome with which we are treated from everyone we come into contact with in the Cook Islands makes it a place we simply love to return....
Chopper Swim Challenge
Some of Auckland’s based swimmers have taken on-board Olaf Adam’s idea to raise funds by swimming from Waiheke Island to Mechanics Bay (the rescue helicopter base). It is a cool 20km. While this may be a short stroll in the park for experienced open water swimmers like Dan Abel, it is a big ask and stretch for some of those that have signed up for the swim, which is scheduled for the 31st of March....
Swimming Around The World
I spent the majority of my swimmer career competing against and comparing myself to other swimmers. There are many factors that now entice me to open water swimming , one of the big draw cards is a desire take on and beat my toughest critic and competitor – myself. That is one of the reasons I can relate to the challenge that fellow open water swimmer Kate Willoughby is about to embark on as she sets out to become the first to ‘swim around the world’. Kate will be taking on that toughest of swimmer partners – her own mental spirit and fortitude....
Calling All Swimmers
On 16 June I wrote about a journey back to New Zealand to support my dad who was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The brilliant news is following surgery he has been given the all clear. Only yesterday on the front page of the Daily Telegraph I noted an article on the dramatic increase of reported cancer in the UK. Part of this is actually good news as a proportion of the increase is attributed to better screening and earlier detection, unfortunately that does not account for all of the increase in cancer rates. Exercise and healthy living have always been and will continue to be one of our...