The beginning
I love being able to support other swimmers and was thrilled on the 9th January to get a very polite message from Adriana asking me “would I be interested and potentially available to crew for my Taupō swim”. I replied “I would love to be part of the team” and received a very upbeat YAY!
On the 1st March there was the “are you free on Saturday or Sunday this weekend, I also have Vic on crew and also Vicky”. All three of us, Vic, Vicky and myself have swum Taupō and the skipper Philip Rush holds pretty much all the Taupō records there are to hold including the fastest double (80.4km yikes!). So on the 5th March I had the privilege of being one of a very classy support team for Adriana Milne and her conquest of Lake Taupō.
By this stage we had a Adri Taupō Crew group chat and….
Food was starting to feature
I should have realised early on that this swim was going to feature food in a big way. Messages arrived on the chat, “do you need anything for breakfast we have bread, bananas, peanut butter, oat meal, porridge etc etc….and “what about dinner after the swim Adriana (the swimmer) asked”. Then did we need lunch – Vicky and I said no but I did indicate some treats would be nice and I mentioned I had some hot cross buns to share with the crew on the boat.
Vicky and I drove up together on the Friday night post work arriving in Turangi about 10.30pm. We crept around very quietly to ensure we didn’t wake the swimmer. Then we were all up at 3.30am for a 4.20am departure and a 5am swim start. That morning we were presented with an incredibly organised food preparation process. There was tape on the kitchen bench as Tailwind, Pure, Bananas, sandwiches, coke, mashed kumara, gels all had their sections.
The superorganised kitchen
Then there were the lists of things to do before and after the swim….One note said …After the swim have food ready but I might want Maccas….
Early into the swim on went the BBQ
The swim started well and for the first 4 hours Vic and Philip Rush were in the IRB. Vicky, Corey and I were on the big boat. We napped, ate including bacon and egg rolls for breakfast and I spent some time at the BBQ.
The on board BBQ
But for the swimmer the food wasn’t any fun…
Four hours into the swim Corey and I swapped into the IRB. Phil and Vic told us that Adriana had taken on too much food and drink and we were to water her drinks down and limit the food. We noted this and watched Adriana swim. She was looking good. However, when we signalled to her it was time to feed, it quickly became apparent that all was not well. Adriana was miserable, complaining about the drink tasting of mould and nothing tasting good. We indicated we would get another flask of water and sort it for the next feed.
Well, that didn’t work – by this stage Adriana has started to cry and was clearly showing her reaction to our food offerings with a facial expression that just said YUCK. Corey and I tried to encouraged her saying “food often always tastes bad on a swim.” I suggested some sour lollies to clear out the bad tastes. This was met with some enthusiasm. The next 30 minutes went better – Corey and I got some smiles and I got some great photos as the sun started to heat the water and the swimmer. The next feed Adriana said “are there any of those hot cross buns left” I thought yes….but please don’t let the crew have eaten them.
Some smiles
The new food plan
From then on the carefully considered and mapped out food plan was ditched as Adriana set her sights on the end of the lake and whatever the crew were eating. She enjoyed sausages, meat patties, peanut butter sammies, biscuits, powerade and some more hot cross buns. The only downside of all this yummy food is that it took some time to eat and her feeds were longer than planned.
Having a support person view of feeds was helpful to me as a swimmer. Whilst in a lake taking some more time to feed has limited downsides- there aren’t the tides pushing you – there is the wind. I know in my next sea swim I will be much more mindful of the speed of the feed.
The finish
There is nothing quite like watching someone finish a swim. One you know they have trained for, worked for, cried for. As Adriana came to the shore, I was overcome by emotion, a big lump welled up in throat and the tears of joy started. She had made it ! 15 hours and 45 minutes after she started and raised a heap of money to support those impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle.
But even when the swim was over it was still about food!
Quickly we were in the car with Adriana and her partner Ben with the heating at 32 degrees. Ben looked to Vicky and I and said what do we do now…”whatever the swimmer wants” we chorused. Adriana didn’t want Maccas but did have some of the lovely spaghetti bolognaise that Ben had made. The next morning she was up and eating and was planning the day around a bakery visit!
Congratulations Adriana and thank-you for the allowing me to be one of the team!
If you want to learn more about Adriana’s amazing swim read her blog here – https://redtogs.wordpress.com/
The Bakery visit with Vic Pinarello- one of the classy support crew
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