Page 26 - RADC Bulletin 2018

by the frequency of spotting more jellyfish than swimmers. Checking course I should still be on track, but don’t seem to have the optimal spot for encouraging current. Some of the markers, the fort, the telephone poles, seem forever to get to, but mile by mile it’s easy to get into a rhythm, speeding up as a swimmer is seen ahead or the feeling that something has touched my foot.
And the finish is in sight! Swimming becomes increasingly difficult, I pause to track my course and find I am being pushed backwards. The last 300m is against the current and a slog to get to the finish. Encouragement comes from seeing other swimmers, hundreds of them can now be seen as our course narrows to a bottle neck finish for the ladders on the pontoon to get out of the water and cross the finishing line to stop the timer! Sprinting I finally reach
the steps and drag myself out with the assistance of the safety staff. A towel is exchanged for my race chip and Gatorade and chocolate shoved in my face by staff, obviously these freebies make it totally worth it! The team all make it in within 20 minutes of each other, Katie winning with
a very respectable 1 hour and 9 minutes. That places most of us in the top ten for our age categories and we celebrate with more free chocolate and an attempt to steal some Samsung baseball caps off a passing rep.
Sadly with no time due to our flight back, we can’t collect our certificates but once together we take a quick photo of the giant results board before running off a bit wet and bedraggled to the airport, and back to Junior Soldiers and blustery Harrogate for life to resume as normal.
Endurance swimming is a new sport
for me but open water swimming is not. Despite trying to make this article amusing, I really would strongly encourage people to consider this as a new sport! The benefits of a non-impact sport will carry you through into old age without crippling your knees like so many land sports, and the open water, rather than pool swim, makes this
a robust aerobic activity as, with no pool sides to hang onto, you have no choice but to continue swimming at speed for as long as the course you’ve chosen. And the cold water of the UK is supposed to be good for anti-aging - what more do you need to sell this?! There are multiple internet sites to help people find open water swimming lakes near them. Most are open April to October and cost the same as a pool swim. We gained sports grants to send us to the Bosporus swim, so if you have a works team, it’s certainly an amazing competition to suggest at the next dragons den of AT funding! Good luck!
SPORT
Pyeongchang 2018 Paralympic Games
Major Nikki Jordan RADC
Alpine Performance Manager, Armed Forces Para-Snowsport Team
First held in 1976 at Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, the Winter Paralympic Games were the first Paralympics (summer
or winter) to include athletes with all disabilities (not just wheelchair). Since then, the games have expanded and grown to be part of the largest international sporting event after the Olympic Games. The 2018 Winter Paralympics; held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, was the
12th edition of the event and hosted 569 athletes from 49 nations competing in 6 sports. As Alpine Performance Manager for the Armed Forces Para-Snowsport Team (AFPST), it was my absolute honour and privilege to witness these Games and the athletes first hand.
The opening ceremony took place
in Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium and featured an awe-inspiring display of dance, martial arts and fireworks. But the best was saved for the Athletes Parade, where Owen Pick had been selected as the flag-bearer for Team GB.
24 RADC BULLETIN 2018