UGLY ’ FOR A GREAT CAUSE
September I was fortunate enough to complete a true bucket list swim : 10km from Golden Gate Bridge to Bay Bridge , past Alcatraz Island . My last major swim before flying to Hawaii will be an attempt to swim from Manly to Bondi and back again . This includes around 27km of cliff face and the entrance to Sydney Harbour and has , to my knowledge , never been done before .
As I mentioned earlier , I was never very active , but I have found happiness in the pursuit of swimming . I get up to swim nearly every morning at 5am and never struggle to get out of bed , even if I have had little sleep or a heavy work commitment that day ( I am a medical director for a biotechnology company ). My swim buddies call me a ‘ boy scout ’ as I ’ m typically the first one in and the last one out every day !
My training schedule is about two hours on four to five weekday mornings , with a longer swim in the ocean on Saturdays ( usually two to eight hours ). At the moment , I ’ m swimming at least 40km a week . Unfortunately I ’ m dealing with a minor shoulder injury at the moment ; as you can imagine , the training causes a lot of wear and tear so massage and physio are my saviour !
My swim nutrition is guided by my friend , Tara Diversi , who is also a channel swimmer and an academic dietitian at Bond University . When swimming , every 40 minutes I ’ ll stop for about 30 seconds to feed on a combination of electrolyte and maltodextrin with cordial or flat coke . I consume about 40g carbs per hour and as much fluid volume and electrolyte as dictated by the conditions .
To endure the cold water of the English Channel I gained 10kg in body fat – I ’ m glad I don ’ t have to do that again for his upcoming swim . In Hawaii , the ocean will be warm ( 24 ° C ) which will create significant fluid losses via sweating . This will mean I ’ ll need to drink about 800ml per hour . Like most marathon swimmers , I have ‘ treats ’ for when I ’ m feeling in need of a pick me up ; these typically include nutella sandwiches , lollies and chocolate . After five to six hours of swimming , fatigue and muscular aches will usually start to set in , for which I ’ ll take panadol and ibuprofen .
I have an amazing crew , without whom I ’ d never achieve anything ! Nicole Piha , whose support and passion has seen me through so many of my swim adventures with encouragement , feeding , tough talk and advice ; and Andy Sibley who will crew for the first time soon .
Oceans Seven is a series of seven swim challenges around the world . It includes the English Channel , Catalina Channel , Gibraltar Strait , North Channel , Cook Strait , Tsugaru Channel and Ka ’ iwi ( Moloka ’ i ) Channel . Many marathon swimmers have this as a long term goal , but it ’ s an overwhelmingly ominous and tough ask ! In July this year , I ’ ll be swimming around Manhattan Island in New York , and in 2018 I ’ ll take on the Catalina Channel . Beyond that , who knows ? Maybe I ’ ll aim to complete Oceans Seven ... but for now I ’ ll just keep taking it one stroke at a time .
Through my swimming , I am proud to raise funds for dementia research at Alzheimer ’ s Australia . Like many people , my family has been impacted by this tragic disease , which robs people of their independence , memories and lives . My grandmother is aged 91 . Once a proud matriarch , she has lived in a nursing home for the past ten years . She does not speak , feed herself or recognise her family . Ironically , she seems to be physically indestructible , surviving bowel cancer and a broken hip !
The sad thing about Alzheimer ’ s is that by the time people show symptoms or at the point when the disease can be detected by doctors , the damage already done to the brain is so profound that there ’ s nothing that can be done to help . For this reason , research and interests lie in identifying how we can diagnose those at risk , and stop the process that causes Alzheimer ’ s before there is even any evidence of the disease . To help achieve this I raised $ 15,000 with my English Channel swim , and this time I ’ m hoping to hit a target of $ 25,000 .
You can support Cae ’ s goal by donating online at https :// give . everydayhero . com / au / aquacae
OH ! MAGAZINE ( MARCH 2017 ) 7