September 5, 2020, I finished in the Oceanman swim for 7.5 km in Odessa together with my wife!
In the middle of the summer, when almost all running starts were canceled, the inspiration came to join my wife, who was preparing for a 10 km swim after a not so successful start in Cherkasy across the Dnipro river. I then figured – there should be enough time to prepare for 2 months. And training began 5 days a week in the pool.
It took me a month to pick up speed, strengthen arms, and even out the balance. In August, I already confidently kept the pace of 2 min / 100 m during long swims of 4-5-6 km. I noticed from my past training sessions for a swim across Zurich Lake, with an emphasis on swimming, the shoulders and arms are strengthened, the legs are weakened) Correspondingly, the body balance in the water improves – the legs sink less and the body position is closer to the horizontal line. Our maximum swim was 8 km, and in that week we swam 26 km in total.
Now about the start itself in Odessa.
The distance was supposed to be 10 km, but due to difficult weather conditions, the organizers reduced it to 7.5 km on the day of the start. It seems the waves, wind, and rain intensified with each lap) The sea was stormy by 3 points.
We swam three laps of 2.5 km each. One stretch directly against the wind and waves with burunches was something! Despite having already swum 10 km in Miami and 26 km on Zurich Lake, conditions in the Black Sea were the most challenging.
But everything went very cool! Immensely happy! Swam in 3:04 (pace 2: 27/100 m or 2.4 km / h), Irina – in 3:20. She was attacked by seasickness, as in Cherkasy. The pills she had stocked up didn’t work very well …
Although I did not expect much from the organization (according to the stories of the participants of past starts), practically everything turned out to be ok. Of course, I would put more buoys for a reference point, otherwise, there were only four large buoys in the corners on the 2.5 km lap in the sea with waves. And even they were not always visible because of the waves! Plus the 5 km swim (they had two laps, and we had three) started when many of the 7.5 km swimmers finished the first lap. I got into the cyclone of the mess)
I was ready to swim another lap to a full ten! Sped up at the end. Although when I got out of the water, I realized that I did my best and was tired.
Super positive drive! Several times I caught myself thinking that I got the flow and made friends with the sea)
Another self-transcendence! As a result, we also won prizes in our age category 50-59 (Irina – the first, I – the third) and perfectly presented the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.
The fullness of life is in motion!
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