Cook Strait Swim – Darren Miller/Craig Lenning – 21 March 2013
We left the hotel at 6:30 AM, and were going to meet up with Philip down at Oriental Bay, however he was eager to get on the road so we actually met him at the same time coming out of our car park outside the Boulcott Suites. We followed him in his Ford-150 (while hauling two rubber inflatables) to the Mana Crusing Club – about 20 minutes outside of Wellington. After off-loading the rafts, we pulled over and parked near the marina where our ‘boat to victory’, the 40-ft ‘Tangaroa’ was docked. Captain Chris gave us the run down on his safety procedures, followed by Philip Rush, and his swimming instructions. We left the dock, and took the 1.5-hour trip to the starting point on the north island. Air temperature about 15.9C (60.6F) SW winds blowing at 5-10 knots. We left at 9:42AM from the north island, and started on our journey to the south island. Water was incredibly clear, and cool – around 16C (60.8F). We could see straight down to the bottom. The sun was shining, and our swim was underway!
For the most part, our swim went along perfectly – Craig even took off his swim cap (he loves the cold much more than I do)! The first feed went off at :45, and then every :30 afterwards. In addition to Gu products, Craig fed with Cytomax, Maxim, splash of apple juice and water. I feed with CarboPro and Cytomax, along with either Gu Roctane, or Cliff Bar Shot Bloks. We took ibuprofen (I use children’s ibuprofen) every 3-4 hours to help with alleviating any shoulder pain we might be feeling. I also took in some Pepto-Bismol later on after taking on a good couple swigs of salt water, and then mouthwash to help clean out my dirty mouth…
The crew noted a seal at the start, otherwise all we saw was an occasional jellyfish. No sharks (thank God)…
Around half-way across (around 4-hours) we hit an upwelling of chillier water, which only turned out to be about a degree difference – felt like much more! The water dropped down to about 15.6 (60.1F) and held that constantly until about two miles off-shore, where it went back up to about 16.4C (61.5F) for the remainder of the swim. We hit a ‘northerly tide’ which pushed us quite off course, and made for a fitting ‘S curve’ which left many people asking “Where were you going?” – rest assured, it was nothing any of us planned! Mother Nature decides where we swim. We were pushed pretty hard to the north, and had to continuously fight to make sure we were not pushed ‘up and around the bend’! It was quite relentless, and very annoying when you are trying to finish.
Craig and I became separated and I swam up ahead just as the sun was going down. I was doing quite a push, and was not getting turned away from this swim due to hypothermia. Philip caught back up to me and got some glow sticks and a blinker on me so I could actually be seen. He kindly informed me to “swim as hard as you have ever swum before” into the finish, or we risked getting pushed around the tip. When you have the ‘Michael Jordan’ of marathon swimming telling you to swim as ‘hard as you can’, you do it! I swam as hard as I could the final hour, and was able to finally touch the rock wall to signify the completion.
Damn that felt nice…
It was estimated we swam upwards of 40 KM (24.8 Miles) for the crossing in total due to the currents pushing us up, up and away. Apparently the ‘faster way’ was south to north, however due to the conditions, we had to take the long approach. No worries at all, as we powered through it and completed one tough swim. It was an incredible feeling to get this swim over with, and although I was throwing up the entire ride home (those boat fumes killed me at the end) I was beyond relieved that I got this swim into the books. I want to personally extend a powerful THANK YOU to Shelley Taylor-Smith and May Spengler for their support and the incredible Philip Rush and his crew for allowing Craig and I to do what we do best – complete the legendary COOK STRAIT!
Much love and respect,
Darren