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Swimming 10km for 10k

  • ""REACH YOUR TARGET OF $10K THEN WE REACH AND EDUCATE ANOTHER 200 KIDS"" -WSNZ

      21 November 2012

    Too many New Zealanders drown every year, but by learning to swim and survive, we become more ably equipped to cope with an adverse situation in the water. Swim and Survival skills are fundamental to safe aquatic activity yet the swimming standards of our children have been declining at an alarming rate, this is a statement supported by research. While New Zealand schools were traditionally recognised as the primary venue for our children learning to swim this can no longer be assumed. Many schools are not able to meet the needs of their studentsf which means many children miss out altogether on swim and survive education. Unfortunately, there is a lack of supporting policy to ensure New Zealand children are in the water developing swim and survive skills. This puts all New Zealand children at increased risk. WSNZfs key objective is to ensure that every child in New Zealand has the opportunity to learn the core life skills of swimming and surviving. Through their Sealord Swim For Life initiative they are providing opportunities for 140,000 primary school pupils to get the opportunities they need and deserve. Your support will help WSNZ extend this vital initiative. What will New Zealand primary school children receive through your support? ? A minimum of 10 lessons of 30 minutes duration; ? Quality instruction and exposure to a fundamental swim and survive programme; ? Children will be instructed either in a private/council facility or a school pool; ? The average cost is $50 per 10 lessons (compared to market rate of $145 per 10 lessons / thatfs our leveraging ability). SO IF WE REACH YOUR TARGET OF $10K THEN WE REACH AND EDUCATE ANOTHER 200 KIDS.

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  • Do we have what it takes?!

      21 November 2012

    It started with the State Ocean series Paihia 3.3km ocean swim, while the post swim adrenalin was still going we got enthused to sign up for the 10km swim. The morning after, the adrenalin had worn off and we were struck with the reality that in 2 months time we needed to swim 10km in the open water. Neither of us had swum any further than 5km in the past during training, and this was in a swimming pool with the luxury of a wall at each end and the knowledge that at any point we could stop and touch the bottom. In true, all or nothing, style we decided that this weekend we needed to go to the pool and swim 10km. This seemingly silly idea was not based on ensuring we were physically prepared for the challenge but more to get an understanding of what it is like to swim for 3+ hours and ensure we were mentally prepared for the challenge. With Ben in Wellington for the weekend, we both headed off to the Freyberg indoor swimming pool for our 10km undertaking. The pool is 33m long, so thats 304 lengths we needed to clock up the 10km, thankfully I have a Garmin GPS watch that is able to count lengths for us so all we had to do was swim! Three and a half hours later we exited the pool tired, shattered, yet excited in the knowledge that we have what it takes to complete this challenge. The picture below shows the summary from my Garmin watch in case you didnft quite believe we were crazy enough to give it a crack. Also on the event calendar this summer is the Taupo and Tauranga Half Ironmans, so rest assured when wefre not swimming wefll be out cycling and running instead!

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    • 21/11/2012 by New

      It started with the State Ocean series Paihia 3.3km ocean swim, while the post swim adrenalin was still going we got enthused to sign up for the 10km swim. The morning after, the adrenalin had worn off and we were struck with the reality that in 2 months time we needed to swim 10km in the open water. Neither of us had swum any further than 5km in the past during training, and this was in a swimming pool with the luxury of a wall at each end and the knowledge that at any point we could stop and touch the bottom. In true, all or nothing, style we decided that this weekend we needed to go to the pool and swim 10km. This seemingly silly idea was not based on ensuring we were physically prepared for the challenge but more to get an understanding of what it is like to swim for 3+ hours and ensure we were mentally prepared for the challenge. With Ben in Wellington for the weekend, we both headed off to the Freyberg indoor swimming pool for our 10km undertaking. The pool is 33m long, so thats 304 lengths we needed to clock up the 10km, thankfully I have a Garmin GPS watch that is able to count lengths for us so all we had to do was swim! Three and a half hours later we exited the pool tired, shattered, yet excited in the knowledge that we have what it takes to complete this challenge. The picture below shows the summary from my Garmin watch in case you didnft quite believe we were crazy enough to give it a crack. Also on the event calendar this summer is the Taupo and Tauranga Half Ironmans, so rest assured when wefre not swimming wefll be out cycling and running instead!