I am Out into the big blue: Joining a human shoal on a sea swimming …
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Out into the big blue: Joining a human shoal on a sea swimming holiday to Mallorca
By Catherine Eade
Published: 11:15 BST, 9 October 2012 | Updated: 17:05 BST, 16 October 2012
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Mallorca's reputation has been somewhat tarnished over recent decades by tourists who come to party and do little else. I have not come to this Balearic isle to down cheap cocktails in tacky nightclubs, but to try my hand - or rather arms and legs - at some serious long-distance sea swimming.
I'll be honest. The thought of open water swimming fills me with dread. A near-drowning incident 20 years ago in the Canary Islands left me feeling terrified of being out of my depth. But it is time to face my fears.
A beginners' sea swimming trip to Mallorca had sounded perfect to me: a week dedicated to improving swimming style and increasing confidence in the big blue.
Drilling down: The sea swimmers spend afternoons in the pool, honing their techniques
Colonia Sant Jordi, 45 minutes south east of the island's capital Palma, is a quiet holiday resort originally established in 1879 as an agricultural and fishing colony, and is better known by independent travellers and families than hordes of teenage hedonists. Palm trees and an immaculate seafront scattered with upmarket restaurants give the town a laid-back but luxurious feel.
Vaseline on and ready to swim! Catherine dons her wonder wetsuit and prepares to do battle with the waves
Swimtrek is a holiday operator dedicated to encouraging people to take to the open water.
Founded by Simon Murie, a solo English Channel swimmer and coach, who spent many years organising open water swimming trips for himself and others, Swimtrek is constantly announcing new destinations for holidays to suit all levels of swimming ability.
There are 12 of us on this occasion, from Germany, Norway, Switzerland and The Netherlands as well as Britain. The mixed bunch includes an unassuming lawyer who puts up with teasing about his Nigella Lawson-style ‘burkini' (to protect him from sunburn); a water polo playing father and daughter, and an impossibly tanned German who walks miles before breakfast every day and is training for her third marathon.
For me, part of the fun of holidays such as this is meeting total strangers who have been thrown together with only a taste for adventure in common. Very soon allegiances are announced and friendships are formed.
If you liked this posting and you would like to acquire additional info with regards to over here kindly stop by our page. Our coaches, Hussein and Alison, have impressive swimming experience and teaching qualifications. Hussein has raced over long distances and has been teaching adults and children to swim for many years while Ali, a recent graduate, swam the English Channel when she was 20.
Both are personable and cheery with bags of enthusiasm and a good sense of humour - important when coaching large groups of different nationalities.
On our first morning, safety briefing and introductions over, there is much banter as we present ourselves to be ‘greased up' for our first sea swim.
And they're in: The yellow caps tread water ahead of their morning swim
While Vaseline is liberally applied to parts liable to chafe in salty water, a small interested group of spectators gathers. But this is no time to be self-conscious. One by one we don our goggles and yellow or pink swimcaps (so our coaches can identify us in the water as part of the fast or slow group) and set off, our coaches ahead and behind to check on us.
The week is meticulously planned, with each day consisting of sea swimming in the morning followed by lunch then afternoon sessions in a purpose-built swimming pool a ten-minute walk away. This Olympic-sized training pool, built three years ago by retired British Olympic swimmers, brings to the town a welcome supply of swimmers from all over Europe.
As the days pass and we learn the facts here now more ‘drills' in the pool our swimming becomes more confident and powerful. I learn that keeping my neck long and soft is better for my back than lifting my head out of the water, and I become adept at breathing out through my nose under the water, which I have never managed before in 40 years of swimming.
I am enjoying my pre-holiday impulse buy - an Aqua Sphere 'thermo guard' wetsuit, which seems to make me glide through the water effortlessly as well as stop me getting chilled on long swims.
On day three both groups set off from a nearby beach, towards Hussein and Ali in their speedboats, who guide us around the headland on a 2km swim, dispensing drinks and shouting advice and encouragement when needed.
Dried off and ready for dinner: Evenings were spent around the pretty base of Colonia Sant Jordi
Ocean drive: Catherine's swimming technique improved with the expert tuition from Hussein and Alison
Colonia Sant Jordi turns out to be the perfect base for sea swimming. The small but perfectly formed Sa Platja des Port beach is right next to the marina and fishing port, and either side are the fabulous beaches of Es Estanys, Es Trenc, Es Dolç and Es Carbó, regarded by some Mallorcan residents as the best on the island.
Various boat trips are available from the port, including a small ferry over to the tiny, rocky, uninhabited island of Cabrera, which was designated a National Park in 1991.
The water is a perfect temperature and mostly clear enough to see the seabed far below and spot various colourful fish.
There's something very intimate about swimming so close to people in a group, a flash of sunlight illuminating someone looming close like a friendly dolphin before veering off again. Very soon I felt totally secure in my human shoal, knowing that everyone is looking out for each other.
One of my favourite sights is swimming towards the boat watching Hussein dispensing drinking bottles to the bobbing yellow-hats, bringing to my mind a mother bird feeding her babies.
While swiming long distances it's easy to become lost in thought, gazing at the rocks and fish below or simply going into ‘the zone', and I learn the hard way the importance of keeping your bearings, or ‘sighting', when I swim into someone's powerful breast stroke kick, earning myself a fat lip.
Our fifth day in Mallorca is ‘the big push'. We are driven in speedboats to Cap Salinas, the southernmost tip of the island, and jump into the deep blue water. An hour and a half later, sunbathers stare as our cluster of pink and yellow hats approaches Es Caragol beach some 3km down the coast, and we emerge dripping and smiling.
Hussein and Ali have brought picnic lunch on the boats and we share food under some trees on the beach before succumbing one by one to a siesta made even more delicious by our physical exertions. Hussein is vague about how far we'll swim after lunch, suggesting that it is really up to us how far we want to go.
Water way to see Mallorca: The group bonded over the course of the week
Nearly two hours later the remaining five of us who haven't climbed exhausted onto one of the boats make it to the white bay of Es Carbo. I feel the urge to stick a flag into the sand like Edmund Hillary reaching the summit of Everest. As we climb back aboard our boat Hussein reveals that we've just completed another 4km, taking our total that day to 7km. It is a proud moment for us all.
Treating ourselves to a cold beer back at Hotel Lemar, I chart our progress on a map and calculate that our sea swims combined with pool sessions total around 20km over five days - not bad for a group of keen if fairly inexperienced sea swimmers.
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It's not just the swimming that I've enjoyed on this holiday. The informal nature of the group means it's possible to choose whether to join in with joint meals, go off with new found friends, or spend time alone. I am lucky to have a wonderful room with a view over the pretty marina and beach, and spend much of my free time writing, reading and sunbathing, with a bit of yoga on the balcony thrown in for good measure.
And I have made a new friend. Diane and I sign up for an open water 1.5km lake swim within a week of our return. I know we'll miss the warm blue seas of Mallorca, but I can't wait for another challenge.
Next year I hope to join Swimtrek's iconic Hellespont swim from Europe to Asia made famous by Lord Byron.
What I know for sure is, I'm hooked.
Travel facts
Swimtrek run a host of swim holidays, from the Norfolk Broads and Scottish lochs to long distance training in Gozo. For more info visit website or phone 01273 739713.
Catherine stayed at Hotel Lemar website
Monarch operates year-round flights to Mallorca from London Gatwick and Manchester (and during the summer season from Birmingham and London Luton). Fares, including taxes, start from £36.99 one way (£59.50 return). website
For more information on Mallorca, see website into the big blue: Joining a human shoal on a sea swimming holiday to Mallorca
Out into the big blue: Joining a human shoal on a sea swimming holiday to Mallorca
By Catherine Eade
Published: 11:15 BST, 9 October 2012 | Updated: 17:05 BST, 16 October 2012
1
View
comments
Mallorca's reputation has been somewhat tarnished over recent decades by tourists who come to party and do little else. I have not come to this Balearic isle to down cheap cocktails in tacky nightclubs, but to try my hand - or rather arms and legs - at some serious long-distance sea swimming.
I'll be honest. The thought of open water swimming fills me with dread. A near-drowning incident 20 years ago in the Canary Islands left me feeling terrified of being out of my depth. But it is time to face my fears.
A beginners' sea swimming trip to Mallorca had sounded perfect to me: a week dedicated to improving swimming style and increasing confidence in the big blue.
Drilling down: The sea swimmers spend afternoons in the pool, honing their techniques
Colonia Sant Jordi, 45 minutes south east of the island's capital Palma, is a quiet holiday resort originally established in 1879 as an agricultural and fishing colony, and is better known by independent travellers and families than hordes of teenage hedonists. Palm trees and an immaculate seafront scattered with upmarket restaurants give the town a laid-back but luxurious feel.
Vaseline on and ready to swim! Catherine dons her wonder wetsuit and prepares to do battle with the waves
Swimtrek is a holiday operator dedicated to encouraging people to take to the open water.
Founded by Simon Murie, a solo English Channel swimmer and coach, who spent many years organising open water swimming trips for himself and others, Swimtrek is constantly announcing new destinations for holidays to suit all levels of swimming ability.
There are 12 of us on this occasion, from Germany, Norway, Switzerland and The Netherlands as well as Britain. The mixed bunch includes an unassuming lawyer who puts up with teasing about his Nigella Lawson-style ‘burkini' (to protect him from sunburn); a water polo playing father and daughter, and an impossibly tanned German who walks miles before breakfast every day and is training for her third marathon.
For me, part of the fun of holidays such as this is meeting total strangers who have been thrown together with only a taste for adventure in common. Very soon allegiances are announced and friendships are formed.
If you liked this posting and you would like to acquire additional info with regards to over here kindly stop by our page. Our coaches, Hussein and Alison, have impressive swimming experience and teaching qualifications. Hussein has raced over long distances and has been teaching adults and children to swim for many years while Ali, a recent graduate, swam the English Channel when she was 20.
Both are personable and cheery with bags of enthusiasm and a good sense of humour - important when coaching large groups of different nationalities.
On our first morning, safety briefing and introductions over, there is much banter as we present ourselves to be ‘greased up' for our first sea swim.
And they're in: The yellow caps tread water ahead of their morning swim
While Vaseline is liberally applied to parts liable to chafe in salty water, a small interested group of spectators gathers. But this is no time to be self-conscious. One by one we don our goggles and yellow or pink swimcaps (so our coaches can identify us in the water as part of the fast or slow group) and set off, our coaches ahead and behind to check on us.
The week is meticulously planned, with each day consisting of sea swimming in the morning followed by lunch then afternoon sessions in a purpose-built swimming pool a ten-minute walk away. This Olympic-sized training pool, built three years ago by retired British Olympic swimmers, brings to the town a welcome supply of swimmers from all over Europe.
As the days pass and we learn the facts here now more ‘drills' in the pool our swimming becomes more confident and powerful. I learn that keeping my neck long and soft is better for my back than lifting my head out of the water, and I become adept at breathing out through my nose under the water, which I have never managed before in 40 years of swimming.
I am enjoying my pre-holiday impulse buy - an Aqua Sphere 'thermo guard' wetsuit, which seems to make me glide through the water effortlessly as well as stop me getting chilled on long swims.
On day three both groups set off from a nearby beach, towards Hussein and Ali in their speedboats, who guide us around the headland on a 2km swim, dispensing drinks and shouting advice and encouragement when needed.
Dried off and ready for dinner: Evenings were spent around the pretty base of Colonia Sant Jordi
Ocean drive: Catherine's swimming technique improved with the expert tuition from Hussein and Alison
Colonia Sant Jordi turns out to be the perfect base for sea swimming. The small but perfectly formed Sa Platja des Port beach is right next to the marina and fishing port, and either side are the fabulous beaches of Es Estanys, Es Trenc, Es Dolç and Es Carbó, regarded by some Mallorcan residents as the best on the island.
Various boat trips are available from the port, including a small ferry over to the tiny, rocky, uninhabited island of Cabrera, which was designated a National Park in 1991.
The water is a perfect temperature and mostly clear enough to see the seabed far below and spot various colourful fish.
There's something very intimate about swimming so close to people in a group, a flash of sunlight illuminating someone looming close like a friendly dolphin before veering off again. Very soon I felt totally secure in my human shoal, knowing that everyone is looking out for each other.
One of my favourite sights is swimming towards the boat watching Hussein dispensing drinking bottles to the bobbing yellow-hats, bringing to my mind a mother bird feeding her babies.
While swiming long distances it's easy to become lost in thought, gazing at the rocks and fish below or simply going into ‘the zone', and I learn the hard way the importance of keeping your bearings, or ‘sighting', when I swim into someone's powerful breast stroke kick, earning myself a fat lip.
Our fifth day in Mallorca is ‘the big push'. We are driven in speedboats to Cap Salinas, the southernmost tip of the island, and jump into the deep blue water. An hour and a half later, sunbathers stare as our cluster of pink and yellow hats approaches Es Caragol beach some 3km down the coast, and we emerge dripping and smiling.
Hussein and Ali have brought picnic lunch on the boats and we share food under some trees on the beach before succumbing one by one to a siesta made even more delicious by our physical exertions. Hussein is vague about how far we'll swim after lunch, suggesting that it is really up to us how far we want to go.
Water way to see Mallorca: The group bonded over the course of the week
Nearly two hours later the remaining five of us who haven't climbed exhausted onto one of the boats make it to the white bay of Es Carbo. I feel the urge to stick a flag into the sand like Edmund Hillary reaching the summit of Everest. As we climb back aboard our boat Hussein reveals that we've just completed another 4km, taking our total that day to 7km. It is a proud moment for us all.
Treating ourselves to a cold beer back at Hotel Lemar, I chart our progress on a map and calculate that our sea swims combined with pool sessions total around 20km over five days - not bad for a group of keen if fairly inexperienced sea swimmers.
RELATED ARTICLES
Previous
1
2
Next
Painting the town Tomatina: Doing battle with 150,000 red... From sailing to skiing...how you can enjoy that Paralympic...
Sani, sun and starlings in the pool: The Greek resort on a...
Share this article
Share
It's not just the swimming that I've enjoyed on this holiday. The informal nature of the group means it's possible to choose whether to join in with joint meals, go off with new found friends, or spend time alone. I am lucky to have a wonderful room with a view over the pretty marina and beach, and spend much of my free time writing, reading and sunbathing, with a bit of yoga on the balcony thrown in for good measure.
And I have made a new friend. Diane and I sign up for an open water 1.5km lake swim within a week of our return. I know we'll miss the warm blue seas of Mallorca, but I can't wait for another challenge.
Next year I hope to join Swimtrek's iconic Hellespont swim from Europe to Asia made famous by Lord Byron.
What I know for sure is, I'm hooked.
Travel facts
Swimtrek run a host of swim holidays, from the Norfolk Broads and Scottish lochs to long distance training in Gozo. For more info visit website or phone 01273 739713.
Catherine stayed at Hotel Lemar website
Monarch operates year-round flights to Mallorca from London Gatwick and Manchester (and during the summer season from Birmingham and London Luton). Fares, including taxes, start from £36.99 one way (£59.50 return). website
For more information on Mallorca, see website into the big blue: Joining a human shoal on a sea swimming holiday to Mallorca
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