Safety and other considerations in planning 24+ hour swims
msathlete
Victoria, British Colubia, CanadaMember
I am hoping to tap into some of the expertise in the forum. We are a small group of Canadians from Vancouver Island and we are working on a plan for a 50 hour solo swim in Cowichan Lake. Our first challenge is to create the perfect map. Our challenges are:
1) developing a route that can be easily replicated
2) ensuring the latter part of the swim is in a populated in case we need to be removed from the water
3) creating a route that does not have an opportunity for a short-cut guaranteeing that if we swim the distance we will have swum 105km
Is there anyone out there with mapping experience that might be able to help? You can learn more about the swim at www.swimmerslastlonger.com
1) developing a route that can be easily replicated
2) ensuring the latter part of the swim is in a populated in case we need to be removed from the water
3) creating a route that does not have an opportunity for a short-cut guaranteeing that if we swim the distance we will have swum 105km
Is there anyone out there with mapping experience that might be able to help? You can learn more about the swim at www.swimmerslastlonger.com
Comments
We are currently looking at from Lakeview to Heather and then back and crossing to the other side swimming the other arm on the way back where there are a lot of houses and docks. We are mainly concerned about the last 20 hours. I am not sure how familiar you are with the lake. Once you pass Youbou and Gordon Bay you are looking at dirt roads and possibly a long trip back in a boat which is not ideal, especially when the winds pick up. It can get pretty nasty.
We will be working with the local hospital and ambulances to make sure they are on alert and are trying to avoid them having to drive down the logging roads. You can see the map on the homepage of swimmerslastlonger.
What tool did you use to plot the course?
Oh, and I love the URL of your website.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zM0iAoKLXfQE.kLhsZ9YWRwww
I also agree with the Sproat Lake idea, it might even be logistically easier. Depending on how psychologically difficult you want to make it you could also do Westwood Lake in Nanaimo. But that would be a 1.5 km loop 70 times.
I am up in Nanaimo let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
Nanaimo Ocean Swim - http://www.viendurance.net/nanaimo-ocean-swim/
Nanaimo Ocean Swim - http://www.viendurance.net/nanaimo-ocean-swim/
Nanaimo Ocean Swim - http://www.viendurance.net/nanaimo-ocean-swim/
Needing your help. We finally have a map for the 105km swim. In the end we choose to stay at Cowichan Lake. Many of the other lakes on the island are remote and emergency evacuation would be problematic.
Our route takes us from the Town of Lake Cowichan up the south arm of the lake and all the way to Heather Campground. We then swim back to where we started from and cross the lake heading to Youbou and then up and down the north arm.
Why not just swim the length 3 times? All paved roads end just after Gordon Bay on both sides. These roads are not easy to travel on as they are designed for logging trucks. There is also no cell phone coverage once you get past a certain part of the lake.
The other reason was we wanted to be in a very populated area with a lot of potential pullouts for the last 20 hours of the swim.
Feedback on the map would be appreciated. What is most important to the swim at this point is that our route can be replicated.
thanks!
Have you considered using the abundant islands in Cowichan as course markers? Between Goat Island, the string of islands in the middle of the south shore, one straight across near the houses on the north shore, the one behind the Youbou peninsula, and the twists and turns in between, you've got many options for a repeatable route that keeps you out of the far end of the lake. Or even ten laps around Goat Island and the islands east of Youbou, a smidge over 110km.
I don't wear a wetsuit; it gives the ocean a sporting chance.
@msathlete -
First, this is a very ambitious and interesting swim! Wishing you all the best in your preparations.
Second, thank you for posting your proposed route on the Forum! Especially for such an ambitious swim, I think it's wise and admirable to seek advance feedback from the community.
Re: your proposed route map:
Hope that helps!
This is very helpful @evmo. Thank you. We will work on adjusting the map and re-post for review : )
Regarding the the @malinaka and @chloemccardeldotcom swims we plan to use the same methodology to record the swims.
I hope to post a risk register shortly for review by the community.
Any other suggestions to help us with planning would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you @malinaka. We will work with the islands as landmarks
We've added a Risk Management Matrix to the Swimmers Last Longer website for our upcoming swim and would love to have some feedback from the community : )
http://swimmerslastlonger.com/images/risk_matrix.pdf
We have added the draft version of our observers training kit to our website and are looking for feedback for those who are able to help : )
@IronMike I though you might be interested as I know you are looking to organize a swim of your own and had mentioned something about observers in another thread. If you would like the word version I am happy pass it along so you can adjust it to your swim.
Here it is: http://swimmerslastlonger.com/images/observerskit.pdf
That is awesome, @msathlete, thanks so much!
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Communications has been one of the more significant safety concerns for our swim. The lake is in a remote area, especially at the west end, with limited and sometimes no cell phone services. There are also a lot of mountains which interfere with transmissions - but! I think we are good. Our incredible team has come up with an amazing Communication Plan which I am sharing for feedback from the MSF community and for those who are looking for ideas for their swims.
http://swimmerslastlonger.com/images/CommunicationsPlan_20150524.pdf
I've added a few more resources for a long long swim to the swimmers last longer site. There is now a paddler's guide for anyone who is interested. Scroll to the base of the page. You will see it among the other resources..
http://swimmerslastlonger.com/105km_swim.html
Interesting looking swim. You are planning to claim a world record if successful? Who is observing?
I love the detail in your planning and appreciate you sharing it. My thought on comms is that UHF and Long RangeRange rarely appear on the same sentence. You're using a repeater of course, but I just wondered whether you might also stick a Delorme unit, capable of limited satellite messaging, on a lead support boat just in case elements of your UHF chain played up? As a back up perhaps rather than primary comms?
@bruck we have a team of trained observers. Some English Channel swimmers, some who have observed on other swims and several Canadian military. Shifts are limited to eight hours.
@JimBoucher I would have to check with our comms lead. I know for certain he has the repeater up top one of the mountains at the head of the lake. We have some cell coverage as well depending on the client network. Text messaging seems to be ok too. I will mention the delorme unit. I have heard some talk of satellite but am not sure what the final result was. It's been really neat to see the comms plan come to life.
Good idea to have a team of observers, considering the expected duration of your swim.
Who are they? Trained by whom?
Respectfully, this is relevant if it's a world record attempt. Recall from the Nyad fiasco, how important the credibility of the observers (or lack thereof) can be in establishing the authenticity of the swim.
Quoting from MSF observer guidelines:
<<<High-Profile or Unprecedented Swims
Swims of unusual magnitude or notoriety - especially unprecedented swims - demand a stricter standard for observer qualifications and reputation. In such cases, it is essential that the observers are trusted by the broader community of marathon swimmers.
The MSF recommends a minimum of two highly qualified, reputable observers for high-profile swims, to reinforce their credibility.>>>
@bruck thanks for the heads up! I will do what I can to update the swimmerslastlonger.com website this evening. I recently asked the final crew for permission to add their names and photos and am waiting to hear from them. There are over 50 crew members so it may take a bit
The lead observer and person responsible for all documentation will be MJ VanBergen. She has been crewing for me for several years and is the event director for the Thetis Lake Swim for MS which has been running for over 20 years and currently follows FINA rules for some of the events. MJ was my observer across English Bay when I did the VOWSA Bay Challenge, she crewed for my EC relay team for our qualifying swims, was lead observer when I swam one length of Cowichan Lake and Lead Safety last year when I swam two lengths.
I would say most of the people who crewed for us last year as paddlers and observers are returning again this year. There are some who are on their third year.
Jen Alexander provided some training last year. We have since strengthened the training program by providing the Observers kit which is on our website on "the swim" page and providing a 3 hour training program on the rules of the swim, how to fill in the logs, read the GPS and most importantly how to keep us safe. The kit is available to anyone who would like to use it for other swims. I am happy to provide a word version. I also have a powerpoint presentation from the training session.
We also used clips from the movie Driven. We showed young Fiona and the challenges presented to her observer. I don't know if others have used this for training. We found it extremely useful.
All observers will also receive a pre and post brief at the site. They will be video interviewed confirm we have followed the rules and will be required to sign a legal declaration.
We did talk about bringing in one of the observers from the MSF list. We opted not to for two reasons. One of our swim values is that marathon/open water swimming should be accessible to all. There can be a high cost to these swims, something that we believe creates a barrier for many. All of our crew are volunteers, they are staying at a campground or as guests in community members houses. There is no cost to the swimmers for their involvement.
We have also been working really hard over the past few years to build expertise in our community. We are finding more and more people are interested in swims across the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca, Cowichan Lake, and the many other bodies of water in British Columbia. We want there to be a number of people who can help others achieve their goals, particularly when it comes to safety. We are working hard to grow the sport.
The swim for me is a very exciting opportunity to get community members involved in something different. It's a great way to teach people about our fabulous sport and most importantly, it gives me a way to encourage other people who have Multiple Sclerosis to exercise - something that I believe has kept me active and out of a wheelchair.
best
For clarification, the last year's organizational team chose not to distribute the guides I created. My "training" was limited to a 5-minute briefing on the beach, delaying the swim start, to the folks who were available. Not all observers attended.
Susan's 105km attempt is both high profile and unusual -- it's not an A->B swim, but involves considerable ricocheting around a lake that's roughly 30km by 2km*. Although I've been a marathon swimmer since 1998, have been trained by MIMS, and have swum and observed many marathon swims, I did not feel my experiences were adequate for being the lead observer on an unusual world record attempt. In the spirit of supporting the swim, I offered to pay for Andrew Malinak's -- @malinaka -- expenses to observe this year's swim. (He's a mere ferry ride away.)
*https://google.ca/maps/place/Lake+Cowichan,+BC/@48.8245299,-124.0582071,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x548f34dbb4148831:0xf37db1e3d97b0086
I've added a few more resources to the swimmerslastlonger website for anyone who is interested.
Our Master Schedule is now available along with the training documents and presentations we used in our session the other night. Word versions are available upon request
http://swimmerslastlonger.com/105km_swim.html
We are work on our Finish Line Plan and will share it once available.
And thanks @JenA for your kind offer to pay for an observer from the MSF list to oversee our swim. It is greatly appreciated however our team feels quite strongly about both accessibility and building the expertise in British Columbia. I believe the use of the valuable lessons we learned from your participation last year, the training program we have been able to develop, and having open water swimmers and Canadian Military as observers has lead to a solid crew.
I appreciate and respect your efforts in publishing your swim rules, safety plan, and crew training materials. Transparency is good!
In the end, the Observer is the linchpin. The credibility of the swim ultimately hinges on the credibility of the person vouching for it (the Observer). That is one of the reasons why so few actual, practicing marathon swimmers believed Diana Nyad's swim. That is why I'm confused why, with all your exhaustive planning, you wouldn't find an independent and well-known Observer for a 105-kilometer (!) swim.
That's a noble thought, for swims that aren't seeking the fame and glory of a Distance Record. I'm sure Chloe could have found a cheaper option than flying David Barra to Eleuthera last year, but I'm glad she didn't.
With all that said, I wish you the best on your swim.
Observer qualifications are a thorny issue, and we (MSF) should probably try to flesh out our guidelines a bit further.
One problem is, there are (to my knowledge) only five organizations in the world that offer any sort of organized and regular training for marathon swim observers: CSA and CS&PF in England, CCSF and SBCSA in California, and NYC Swim/SwimFree in New York. ( @Niek, is there observer training in the Netherlands?) So, if you're planning a swim outside those regions, finding a highly-qualified observer depends on social networking and an insider's knowledge of "who's who" in the marathon swimming world.
A "highly qualified" observer -- someone like Carol Sing or Don Van Cleve (Catalina) or Jane Cairns (Santa Barbara) or Andrew Malinak (Seattle) or David Barra (NY) -- may not be strictly necessary for most swims, but I agree with @bruck that high-profile or record-attempt swims should leave nothing to chance in terms of credibility.
Marathon swimming is an expensive sport, and it's somewhat disheartening when achievement in our sport is so highly correlated with financial resources. So I applaud Susan for engaging local volunteer resources, to attempt a huge swim while minimizing costs. Paying transportation costs for an outside observer is an extreme measure, though again, in certain cases it may be advisable.
I truly appreciate how open Susan has been over the past few months in sharing her swim planning process with the community. Thanks, Susan, and we'll look forward to cheering you along in a few days.
@bruck I appreciate your comment and concern. For the record, I am not swimming for fame or glory. Quite simply, I am a 50 year old woman with Multiple Sclerosis who swims as a form of treatment for my disease.
This weekend I will be attempting 105km for those who have MS, in particular those who are not yet aware of the value of exercise - specifically swimming - as a disease management tool.
I will be swimming for those who believe life ends with a diagnosis. I will be swimming with the hope that they jump into the rivers, lakes and oceans around and live a fulfilling life
I hope you are able to support my mission.
Susan, quick question on your route map:
Your rules state that you will touch bottom/exit the water only at the start and finish. Thus, you won't be doing a traditional "multi-way" crossing, with water exits at the end of each length, but rather (to use @JenA's memorable word), "richocheting" to different points in the lake while remaining in the water.
So my question is regarding Point E/G (Heather Campground, turn-around point at far western edge of the lake), Point D/H/F (tip of Bald Mountain peninsula), and Point K (Lakeview, turn-around point at the start).
If you are not exiting the water at these points, how will you and your team determine that you have "fulfilled" the route requirement? At Points E/G and K, how far from shore will you turn around? At Point D/H/F, how far from that point of land will you swim?
I've been thinking a lot about swim route planning lately, so I'm interested to hear how you approached this.
Hi. I'm thinking of a 24hour swim since last summer 2014. I currently have a Aug.10 Lake Tahoe date for a two-way but it doesn't seem like the best place to try a 24hour swim because of the altitude & tough swimming conditions. Lake Tahoe is 21.45miles with a map/ruler while swimmer will swim more probly 26miles (GPS on recent swimmers arm I've seen)? I suppose one way to do a 24hour swim would be to create a swim with alots of swimmers swimming simultaenously making it easier to track. Most swimmers just goto English Channel for a two-way because it's much more already "...set-up to win..." with pilots and crews. Also two-way Catalina has been done quite a few times prior that's already "...set-up to win..."
@evmo, I believe @JenA's comment regarding ricocheting was made in reference to our original map which had several more points, although you would have to confirm with her to be certain. We decreased the number of points after our discussions with MSF and the introduction of a very innovative communications plan
It would be great if our lake was 105km long as it would make things easier. We are wanting the swim to be continuous. We will be marking the trees on land with something easily identifiable for all of the turn points. The escort boat will be responsible for ensuring our paddler is able to find the spot. They paddler will remain stationary at that point and be used as the marker on the water. Hope that makes sense
I think I understand what you are describing; I'm just wondering how to measure precisely a route that is marked, at certain points, by a floating object (a kayaker attempting to remain stationary).
@evmo The paddlers will simply hold the boat. It is a common technique used in OC, Kayak, Canoe, Dragonboat and Sup racing where by the paddler remains static at a specific place along side several other boats as they await the start of the race. Should there be wind the paddler will either back it down or paddle forward to re position. If you are working with experienced paddlers it should not be an issue. We are fortunate in that I am a member of both the swim and paddle communities on Vancouver Island and have been able to recruit a number of very experienced paddlers through the help of a really good paddle friend.
Our Finish Line and Emergency Medical Procedures have been published to our website for those who are interested. http://swimmerslastlonger.com/105km_swim.html
This was an interesting exercise. It has been very helpful reaching out to both BC Ambulance and the local hospital to find out how they would like to see things unfold.
My question is less about how the kayaker remains stationary; it's more about how the location is determined (measured) with any precision if it doesn't involve a fixed land mass.
It sounds, essentially, like you're using the paddler as a "buoy." Is that correct? In open water swimming it's common to use buoys for races in which it's important that all competitors are swimming the same course on the same day -- but not important that the course is precisely a certain distance (5km, 10km, etc.), or precisely the same from year to year.
The location is 49 meters from where the shore. The course will be pre-measured and marked the day prior with glow in the dark tape. Hopefully none of the hunters will think we are marking it for them
Yes, the paddler is a bouy
Hmm, now I am curious. Last year, we couldn't even determine how far away the shore line was -- we were listening for the waves hitting the beach and trying to judge from that. How will the paddlers know they are precisely 49 meters from shore?
Also, I have some "military strength" glow tape that is supposedly good for 24 hours -- but it fades fast, and I don't know that it would be visible at 49 meters.
Yup, night paddling is always a hoot! Really glad that you were with Claire @JenA. She is an amazing paddler.
Not sure how much you have been following what we are up to this year. We have implemented a number of changes which should help with some of the challenges we encountered along the way last year.
Here's a few of them:
As for the marking of the trees I spoke with MJ and she has set aside reflective tape, the same tape she uses in her role as Deputy Chief of the Emergency Ops Centre. Because it is reflective we do not have to worry about it wearing out. Its also fairly thick so the mark on the tree will be very visible when you shine a flashlight on it and the 49m should not be an issue. There's a strong possibility the the moon will also cause it to glow.
We are looking at using X,Y coordinates to ensure we are in the right spot.
Hope that helps
24Hour Swim.
Legal 24hour swim a multi-leg swim from just swimming a very long 2mile cove? Then get out for 10minutes 6x times each every 4hours? How many times legally can a swimmer get out considering legs? 12legs get out for 10"?
http://marathonswimmers.org/rules/11_special-swim-types/
Did the 105k swim take place? Couldn't find any update on the website. Thanks.
@Lynne yes, the swim went forward.
There's an update here if you are interested
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2015/08/full-of-guts-full-of-courage-short-of.html