Local swimmer Kim Bryan is off to Australia this week to compete at the Rottnest Channel Swim.
The competition is a 19.7 kilometre open water swim from Cottesloe Beach to Rottnest Island in Western Australia, and is highly regarded as one of the country’s most iconic swimming events. Swimmers are able to compete solo, as a duo, or as a team, although the competition is considered a team event, because the swimmers are surrounded completely by a network of paddlers, boat skippers, and crews. The event is hosted each year by the Rottnest Channel Swim Association.
The Rottnest Channel Swim is one of the largest events of its kind, with around 2,400 registered athletes. Solo competition times range from around four to nine hours.
Bryan and her Australian swimming partner Katie Lovis will tag-team the waters in the channel, checking these far-reaching swim goals off their bucket lists.
Wind surface currents, water temperatures, hypothermia, ocean swells, and race distance all play a role in the difficulty of this long-distance swimming competition. Proper preparation for this endurance competition is critical.
While conditioning for the race, Bryan would regularly have to travel to other towns to access indoor swimming facilities in the Rocky Mountains and in Alberta. One hurdle Bryan will have to overcome is not being able to train in the ocean, as training in indoor pools are the only Canadian winter alternative for logging the necessary training distances required. Bryan has been plunging into the pool in Vernon and meeting with an open water coach for tips and strategies for navigating the swim through the ocean. She was expected to meet up with her swimming partner Lovis, and the rest of the support crew, in Vernon prior to their travel to Australia.
Bryan graduated from the Blue Fins and the University of Victoria swim teams, and accepted a job as recreation services coordinator for the Town of Golden, where she has been working and swimming for the past six years.
With determination garnered from her years as a Blue Fin, and all of the hours spent travelling to pools around the surrounding area, Bryan is set to compete at the Rottnest Channel Swim on February 23.
