Weekend Round Up 15th 16th January
A cold snap? well if you are a Tuff, then New Year’s resolutions are still holding with packed training sessions, plus we have the following to report:-
PARLIAMENT HILL ICE SWIIMING HOOTENANNY – AKA PHISH
Parliament Hill Lido is situated in north London, open 365 days of the year and is 61 metres long. ‘Everyday swimmers’ are cautioned that the water temperature drops and ambulances have had to be called for hypothermia cases. However for the truly hardy swimmers, the temperature is often ‘cooled’ for the Ice Swimming Hootenany which attracts swimmers from across the UK & Ireland. Make no mistake, wetsuits are strictly frowned upon and two men were disqualified for wearing Jammers! So who would be bonkers enough to enter, none other than our quartet of Tuffs, Alice Gatland, Andy Tester, Niki Gatland and Susan Douglas.
We have two articles, firstly Andy Tester’s view on the day and then Susan Douglas .
“After a gruelling 4 hour train journey myself and a world ice swimming buddie arrived at Parliament hill lido for the annual Parliament Hill Ice Swimming Hootnany (PSHISH). If you’ve not been to Parliment hill Its an old 60 metre lido with a beautiful stainless steel pool lining. We were here to take on the PHISH endurance event. 10 lengths of the pool and then one length for evey degree of water temp. The officials set us 13 lengths (780m) as the water temp was 3c’ish. After watching some of the races including relays and dread the tread, a relay 2 swimmer relay where one swimmer treads water while the other swims 2 lengths before swapping.
Its was now our turn. 5 lanes with 6 swimmers in my lane were all instucted to swim off, ours was to merge and swim clockwise around lane. The whistle was blown and we lowered ourselves into the icey water. It felt fresh, cold and fantastic. The starter shouted “on your marks”…..bleep. we were off. I carved an early lead cutting through the cold clean water hitting the 1st turn at 60m in first. As I headed back on length 2 I was confronted with the rest of my lane spread across the lane. They had decide to ignore the brief and swim up and down. I chuckled to myself as I dodged in and out of the erratic swimmers over the next 12 lengths. After a very nice 13 lengths I pulled up at the shallow end winning my heat in a watch time of 13:24 joint 4th overall. I was greeted by Nikki who made sure i was good and sent me in the direction of the sauna. In the sauna we sat surrounded by fellow dippers in towelling and dry robes shivering and shaking as the after drop kicked in. We were spoiled by the event marshals with hot Ribena and jelly sweets as we warmed up.
Today results were released and it looks like i’ve gained 2 minutes to my time which i’ve queried but at the end of the day it was less about times and places, more about swimming somewhere new, meeting like minded cold water swimmers and having a good chuckle. Thank you PHISH.
Cheers
Andy
“I love PHISH it’s an event organised by swimmers for swimmers. Great atmosphere and mixture of swim folk.
It was lovely to be back again, the 8th year I’ve taken part!
I was entered in the 122m (pool is 61m), a race called Dread to Tread which was a two person relay, 2 x 122m but while your partner is swimming you have to tread water and The Endurance.
At the start of the day the water was 5c. I plopped into the water for my race, couple of deep breaths then off. I’m not really racing, no age group prizes, so just using the swim to acclimatise. It was sort of lovely especially knowing there’s a sauna to recover in after.
Next I was doing the dread to tread with my friend Bryn. I went first, thinking that would be the better option, which turns out it was. Bryn was a bit chilly when it came to his swim. Fun event though.
Finally the Endurance. I was in the second heat, for some reason it’s strangely popular. My lane as it turns out had some super speedy people in it, who all shot off, I got stuck behind a man who didn’t make it very easy to pass (Men!) but eventually I did, allowing me to swim at a better pace. I finished the 13 lengths in 15:20 . When I looked at the results I noticed Andy Testers name, I hadn’t realised he was there, and by some miracle I’d beaten him by 2 seconds. I thought he must have lost it in the cold, not tough like me, but my euphoria was short lived as the time was wrong and he was actually two minutes quicker!
Those game Gatland girls were also there and certainly made a impression! Oh and Nikki only went and won the ladies 122m!
A fabulous day of freezing fun.”
Susan
An action packed event there was the 122m swim (2 lengths) at which Nikki Gatland 1st female & Alice 5th, as well as Susan raced. There was also a 244m race, the Double after Dropper, then Dread the Tread, the team swim, the Endurance with Andy (time revised 4th male & Susan)
COAST2COAST COPPER NOIR
The Coast2Coast Copper Noir is a 12 Mile, timed, self-navigation trail run from Devoran Quay on the South Coast of Cornwall all the way across to Portreath on the North Coast…..starting at 5pm… so at night! Oh and there was a time limit, so don’t get lost. Grant Smalley ran this one with his friend, Christy. Modestly stating they hadn’t a clue where they were going, they actually did well with only a couple of minor wrong turns. Well done Grant for putting the Tuff name in the results down in Cornwall.
CYCLING – NEW HIGHWAY CODE AND TUFF FITTY’S CYCLE ETTIQUETE
Despite the cold weather it has been good to see more members wrapping up and getting outside to cycle… in addition to our Tuff Zwift sessions.
It is therefore timely to focus on everyone’s safety, particularly with the revisions to The Highway Code. These new rules come into effect on Saturday 29th January and it is important that everyone is aware, both from the perspective of those of us who drive, as well as keen cyclists. Three major changes are rule H1 which has created a hierarchy of road users placing those more likely to be harmed in a collision at the top. Cyclists come second behind pedestrians, ahead of motorcyclists and car drivers. The second change is rule H2 which states that you should give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which you are turning. Rule H3 requires drivers to give priority to cyclists when they are turning into or out of a junction, or changing direction or lane. Thanks to Sheila who suggested that all Tuffs should be made aware of the changes. There are several articles on the Web, but one has been found which covers from a cyclists perspective including group riding and cycle lanes, so all members are encouraged to update their knowledge before the rules apply. Click here for the article. Any questions, please feel to discuss on our Spond App as we all need to comply.
Whilst covering road cycling, and everyone is looking forward to warmer weather, do please take the time to revisit Tuff Fitty’s Cycle etiquette because if you are attending a club ride * You must be conversant with this document and adhere to the guidelines. * To clarify all Tuff Fitty cycle rides are NOT coached sessions. Please refresh your knowledge of our cycle etiquette here
PARK RUN
Worthing parkrun saw Paul Martin as the first Tuff home in 22:33. Ed Lay followed for his 75th parkrun in 23:10. Les Pearce crossed just 9 seconds later for his 143rd parkrun, Paul Howie was also racing along Worthing prom for his 12th parkrun, then Tony Pearce, 20 seconds behind for his 28th run. Elaine Rousseau on her 112th run completed the Tuff sextet.
At Littlehampton parkrun – Emily Moore continues to deliver; racing home 11th overall, and second female in a very swift 19:25 for her 112th parkrun. Kev Pearson was next; home in 21:39. Richard Budd was just 20 seconds behind Kev clocking up his 158th parkrun. Alistair Evans was next on his 68th run, then good to see Helen White flying the Tuff name on her first parkrun.
At Maidenhead parkrun, Trevor Harvey ran, completing his 38th parkrun.
Well done to all twelve parkrunners.
