I’m sure there were more than the recorded 220 swimmers today on the 2nd day of the New Year. Doing the B&B swims makes the best NY resolution. Swimming in the ocean is one of the healthiest activities we can do and so good for our mental well-being too! B&B swimmers think positively, laugh more and enjoy life to the fullest! Look at this lot!
The day started off cloudy… (How dare it? It’s a Thursday, my blog day, usually the sunniest day of the week!) So no sunrise pics today. I got the 4 bolderdashers though off at 5.50am.
Air temperature was warm and ocean calm and inviting. I missed the Drinks Express heading off but here a few cross paths with the 7amers.
I did my 3 Point Challenge kinda swim today with a run, swim, run, swim and caught the first arrivals for a nice pic at Shelly.
It was Bella’s son Barney’s birthday today. He’s only 10 and has swam all the way twice this week. Well done Barney!
It was Marije’s 1st year anniversary of swimming the B&B since Ted and I talked her in to it a year ago. She hasn’t looked back and comes nearly every day. She does it all breast stroke so don’t let any friend give you the excuse they can’t swim freestyle. Anything goes here, fins, snorkels, wetsuits, Germans with big lips, swimming from halfway etc! Marije is in the blue rashie!
A few more Shelly photos…
Lovely Anne Edwards, who is doing Ian and JK’s job with Simon, while they are away, gave the ‘Let’s Go.’
Although the water was a bit cloudy and there didn’t seem to be many fish about, if you know where to look, (over the white rocks by the tall palm tree at Halfway) there were old wives, diamond fish, grouper etc. Teagan at 14 is a fantastic deep diver!
So that’s the swim today but…Keep reading!
I loved Lesley’s blog yesterday recapping the year, so went through my Thursday blog photos and pulled out a few of my favourite of 2013 to remind us of a few magic moments…
January 2013, we were sad to see Jules and Michael head for Perth but Lesbubbles, Ian and JK take on the leadership roles of the B&B. Lesbubbs is also one of the people who pick up rubbish, undies, condoms etc she finds in CTB to protect out fishy friends!
We also started joy jumping in 2013!
February we had the bull ray that smiled… and the beach covered in seaweed and then ughh…maggots after breeding in the heavy dump of weed. Didn’t deter us swimmers…(Look at Jeff’s face!)
March the sun started to rise later so some beautiful sunrise shots and the 6.30am early swim got a name, The Drinks Express, (after Andrew Drinkwater the Captain). They head out under glowing skies.
April had Sparkles swimming with a lionfish
Anzac Day was amazing with over 400 swimmers…
In May the cuttlefish were about and fascinated us all (except Lesbubbles! )
Alyson swam right up until the birth of Lukas on May 2nd, the day after LSA’s 60th birthday
June and the start of the Winter swimming season. The number of swimmers stayed quite high as so many felt the benefits of cold water swimming and there was the challenge of the Cold and Beautiful badge! Robbie started off a fundraising group for Bear Cottage. We had to suffer the torture of the glow of his white, pasty Irish body!
There was also the nude solstice swim!
It was so cold we had snowballs in July 😉
And out came the hot water bottles after the swim. Jules returned for a brief visit too!
ln August it got really cold and we devised our own water temperature chart.
Photobombing started to be taken very seriously
In September the wobbegongs were about!
In October press ups at Shelly began and Storchy’s Booty Camp as a pre-swim warmer upper really kicked off!
In November we raised enough money through our Gatsby Ball for a group of Kempsey kids to come to Manly and stay at the Royal Far West for a holiday and treatment. They greeted us at the end of one swim with refreshments and Thank yous!
The 6km and 10km challenge swims started again in December. 24 swimmers did the 10km swim on 14/12/13 and took up to 6 hours tackling strong winds and choppy seas.
ln December photobomb of the year award went to Skye Grove!
Rainer and Lesbubbles will have to try harder this year!
The year came to a close with the B&B’s 5th anniversary on 27th December. Here are the original swimmers 5 years on!
What a year!
l
OOH!! The Attendance Stats just got even more interesting!! Click on the Pink Graph top left of blog and check it out…. It shows “swimmer of the day” and so on…
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B&B Attendance Login
Come on folks – this is the most efficient way to capture your swims. It’s a smart phone friendly website so no need to download, just mark it as a bookmark. There are so many good reasons to use the B&B Login – like no queues, no need for glasses to find your name, and never missing the 7am call.
Log your swim between 5am and 9am for the easy way to ensure your swim is recorded in the daily attendance and on the Pacific Challenge. To get started, send an email to Ian Forster (ugoboyo@gmail.com). He will check that your email address is activated on the attendance register then send you info on how to get started. Happy clicking.
Summer badge swims
Every Saturday during summer there will be a 6km swim – usual route is to Freshwater and back; then once a month there is a 10km swim – this is to South Curl Curl and back. However, the final route depends on conditions that day so it is a good idea to arrive a little early to have a briefing from the designated swim leader. Both swims kick off at 7am.
The next 10km swim is scheduled for 11 January depending on conditions.
2014 B&B Calendar ON SALE NOW!!
Get one for yourself or pin it up at work. Give one to friends or send them overseas to the family back home. Only $15! BUY YOURS HERE NOW
Staying safe
Remember that there are no badges for scaring yourself silly! While it is great to extend your boundaries, it is important to know your limits. Do read these excellent tips on staying safe in the surf. To read, or even download, click here.
The Stats
Regulars: 220 (so they say, I’m guessing 80 didn’t sign in or log on)
Water Temp 22.2
Have a wonderful day everyone!
Lainey Loo aka E-laine
27 comments
Jane
02/01/2014 at 12:42 pm
Who’s that doing the fabulous photobomb in Pic 3 of the fabulous Blog? She’s showing you up, Lips!
Jane
02/01/2014 at 12:46 pm
And make no mistake, Marije’s breaststroke is faster than a lot of freestylers (me, for instance, but that’s not difficult).
Vanessa
02/01/2014 at 12:49 pm
Great Blog Lainey, missing the swims so much! Hope to be able to pop back for a swim in a couple of months! Happy new year to you all.
Bill McCaffeine
02/01/2014 at 12:55 pm
What great memories.
Poor Rainer to get overtaken on the last corner of the last lap within sight of the chequered flag….. by Sky !
Ed
02/01/2014 at 1:12 pm
Missing the swims
I have swum at Mooloolaba while at the Sunshine Coast
Not the same
See you soon
Simon
02/01/2014 at 1:59 pm
Lainey
As usual another really enjoyable blog.Thanks heaps.
lesbubbles
02/01/2014 at 2:07 pm
Lainey doesn’t see the magic in the following so I will mention it!! 😉
There was a total of 222 swimmers that swam to Shelly this morning AND the temp was 2.22! On the 2nd day of January!
Yes, hello!! I think this is a first for BnB! 😀
JeffwithaJ
02/01/2014 at 2:12 pm
Thanks Lainey for your blog. You have a light, fun touch with your words and great pics.
Lainey
02/01/2014 at 2:14 pm
I did actually but i was a bit ‘blogged out’ by the time I got the stats and there were heaps more swimmers than 222? Who didn’t come up on attendance?
Marije
02/01/2014 at 2:32 pm
Thanks for doing the blog. And more thanks for talking me into the swim new years day a year ago! best thing I’ve done in 2013 is joining B&B. I tried out about 8 strokes of freestyle today but think I’ll just stick to breaststroking.
Lainey
02/01/2014 at 2:38 pm
Edith Hurt, she’s a CanTooer so gets her practise from there!
lesbubbles
02/01/2014 at 2:46 pm
if you check the stats here – it has 222 shelly and 7 bolder…
http://www.faulconbridgesoftware.com/bb/pub/stats.html
Tayls
02/01/2014 at 3:05 pm
fantastic effort Lainey loo. You’ve put together a wonderful blog.
Teagan
02/01/2014 at 3:31 pm
Great blog. Love the pic of the bull shark.
Ian McK
02/01/2014 at 3:54 pm
Great Blog! as always Lainey loo! ! nice recap.
Both Gayle & myself will have swum a year with a great bunch of people since the 15th Jan !
Best thing we have ever done was getting up (early) to come down to B&B ! wouldn’t miss it now !
Lainey
02/01/2014 at 3:58 pm
Thanks Ness, we miss you too. Come and visit soon!
Lainey
02/01/2014 at 3:58 pm
See you soon Ed!
Lainey
02/01/2014 at 4:00 pm
Thx Marije, everyone loves you!
Lainey
02/01/2014 at 4:01 pm
Thx Tayls. I’m sure there will be more photos with you in them for 2014!
Jane
02/01/2014 at 4:01 pm
I think Ed’s post is a cross between a haiku and a clerihew. Quite lyrical!
Lainey
02/01/2014 at 4:02 pm
Great you are commenting on (and reading) the blog Teagan.Aly and i loved swimming and fish hunting with you today!
Lainey
02/01/2014 at 4:03 pm
Great to hear Ian. i love the way you run down to Gayle with her towel when she comes in. i think all the guys should do it for the ladies!
Simon
02/01/2014 at 4:48 pm
Hi
I forgot to let Lainey know that we had ’16’ newbies today!!!
Lips
02/01/2014 at 4:54 pm
Credit where credit is due. Have to admit, she manages to looks rather elegant!
Lips
02/01/2014 at 4:57 pm
Great blog Lainey!
You do have a soft spot for blog tarts and photo bombs. Just one of the many reasons we love you and your sunny Thursdays..
Alyson
02/01/2014 at 5:10 pm
What a year indeed! Great blog Lainey!
LSA aka HKTQ
02/01/2014 at 8:11 pm
Fantastic review of the year, Lainey and also Lesley’s one yesterday!
They really show the fun we all have! How could anyone ever think that swimming was boring!
Thank you both for all your hard work and for encouraging us all to be as wild and wacky as possible:-))