E55 - Euan Acket - Inside the 5 Bridges River Swim with Euan Ackert.

Today on the podcast, we’re joined by one of the key figures in New Zealand’s open water swimming scene — Euan Acket. A former elite pool swimmer and triathlete, Euan is now best known as the race director of the iconic 5 Bridges River Swim in Hamilton. These days he balances life as a husband, a dad to three kids, and a passionate advocate for river swimming and community-driven events. We talk about his journey from the pool to the river, what it takes to run a major swim event, and how life in the water evolves as the years go on. 

Nice guy!

Transcript

0:00

Welcome to our podcast. First of all, some news. You may be aware that Duncan and myself Jim have a little business called Swimscape, which is really focused on getting people to get to their swimming goals and also enjoy themselves. And we also had the podcast. So we decided to bring the names together. And now the podcast is going to also be called Swimscape. Maybe the previous name came from somebody who's trying to be a little bit too much of a clever dick. Anyway, we thought we needed to do this because we were getting into arguments as neither risk could work out which one was the clever one and which one was the other one. So it's now Swimscape. So for our first episode of Swimscape, the podcast we're talking to you and you and a swimmer who now lives in Hamilton, although he started off in Auckland. He was a competitive swimmer as his youth and got all the way up to the nationals. And he's also won the rangatoto swim. At the moment, he's kind of focused on running the five bridges swim down in Hamilton as well as raising his young family. So lean back, enjoy the story about the five bridges swim and a little bit about you and let's get into it. In this podcast, we're talking to you and hi, yeah. Good day, Jim. Cool. Right. You've listened to a few podcasts. You know how we start. We're interested in your swim story. So do you want to tell us a little bit about how you got into it and why? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, ever since you called upon me, I've been thinking back and my swimming started much as any kid growing up in New Zealand did. So I've got thrown in the pool prior to primary school and my story didn't start that great. So my goggles were filled with tears every single time I was thrown in the pool and I absolutely hated it. But that's a common A. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a scary thing getting thrown in the water, but it's a skill that we all need to have, especially in New Zealand being close to the coast. And then you carried on through there last year of primary school. You had your swimming sports and that's where I found a love for it because I won every single race. It's got swimming sports and I was on a super popular kid, but I had one blue first place ribbons and the popular kid that was the sports sports guy had all the second place ribbons and I thought, I like this. So incident to, you know, intermediate and obviously my parents were able to tell up there, got into a swimming club. So I joined the local club as only hunger swimming club. And yeah, went from there, started training for five times a week and nippin' up the heels of the older guys, went right through high school. Yeah, I've had some some major success there. I sort of got to the age of 18, 19 and you sort of discovered the real world and training 20 hours a week in the pool, didn't appear as much as I once did. You know, odor of chlorine was my perfunnel through high school. Yeah. Had the frizzy here and and everything. So yeah, it sort of felt by the way sort of ventually, but you know mixed in there was triathlon. I was a bit weak-bick skewer kids kid as well. So yeah. Yeah, is that still going? Start. Yeah, it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When we were with T3, obviously we were 10 to the mother and yeah, yeah, nuts. Okay. Good of an institution, the weak mix. So that introduced me to the cycling and running and sort of my swimming career, I got as far as New Zealand opens. I was sort of more of a sprinter. You know, a hundred meters, 50 meters was sort of more my my speed, but I was still doing five K ten times a week in the pool. So yeah, sort of, I guess I got with a little button and fell away from it, but with with my swim club, they supported the Auckland Masters who ran the Rangitoto Swam. Yeah. Yeah. Auckland Central Masters. That had four swimmers each year. Yeah, so we did all the time for it and everything. So, okay. So I got into open water swimming through them as well. Clam to fame, I have won the Rangitoto Swam. No waste. I don't know that. Wow. I will say it was probably one year that a few names didn't show up. Hey, that doesn't matter, we're in at that point. I don't know. No, I'm not wet too, so you'll be happy to hear. Yes. Hey, that's impressive, dude. Yeah, man. Yeah. So, and I was in the era with you guys one of the name Lauren Boyle. Yes. Yes. So I was of same age as her. We sort of swam little books each other back in the day. And then, yeah, sort of got into triathlon a bit more after my swimming career. Fell off a bit and then actually became a cycle career and down to an Auckland. So I got really fit again. When, hey, I could probably do triathlons a bit off the back of us, got back into it, got swimming with another name you know Mark Bone. Yes. Maybe a great guy to talk to. Yes. And yes, I was I was rubbing shoulders with a camera brown torrents over zoning and Rebecca Clark and all those top triathletes. So I gave them a run for the money of the pool. But, yeah, obviously cycling I kept up the run, teaching a summer to run didn't work out so well. Again, I went quite hard with triathlons, but stress righteous haven't. Yeah. Again, I think I have slightly logged into the end. I haven't been a swimmer for my foot. So yeah, the impact with the brand didn't see either with it. Yeah. Yeah. What was the discipline that you enjoyed the most? Probably the cycling really. Yeah, obviously swimming. Yeah, but the thrill of hurtling down a hill on a bike was definitely up there. I'd always lead out of the swim. At least I wasn't having a great one, but yeah, be out and then the cyclone hang on and I go backwards. I need to do as my run coach. Yeah, 20 kilograms ago, man. Speaking of weight, I mean, when I was swimming, you know, 18, 17, 18, I couldn't get over swimming kgs. Yeah. But it was nothing, but you know, lean muscle. Yeah. You're not too different than the brand. Five and tens. Yeah. Well, do you know? I'm 38 now. Bullets, do you? 38 now. Bullets. Daniel from 40, eh? Yeah. Yeah. I missed years of your life when you're 50 other than when you're injured, right? Yeah. Hey. So when you were at school, you mentioned those 20 hours a week. I mean, roughly speaking in my head, that converts to like 50 or 60 kilometers a week. Yeah, generally, a session would be four to six K. Yeah. They're going to be seven K. Oh, that's, that's massive. For a sprinter, that's, yeah, I mean, amazing. I think I coached that was sort of like, I had talent in the 1500 meter tip. Yeah. And I was doing a pool of swimming. So there wasn't really something I'd really focused on. I mean, I had a breakthrough swim by sprinting where I was a Wellington champs one year and, you know, I did the 100 meter free. It wasn't the greatest. It was more of a backstroker, but so I had this 100 free race and it was just a bit of a help, Mary, just go up there, hammer it. I made the final. Awesome. So I thought, I'm in the final, one of the outside lanes, because you know, lane 4 is your fastest and you're cascaded out. And it's quite a cool story where I outcomplete outside chance. I think my time, I think I just scratched the minute, about 58 seconds into the final. Yeah. Which, to a, to a competitive summer's not fast. And I had this swim where I just went, oh, I got nothing to lose, put my head down and just redline it right from the go. And this is a Wellington pool with a big drop-off. Yes. See, swimming swimming and going into the diving area. Yeah. And hit the wall, turned around halfway back. So 75 meter mark completely hit the wall. Just my arms felt like they fell off my body, but I was two body legs ahead of everyone else. Yes. So my mum does, up there screaming, like, her just screaming, ongoing. Tying up with the general end up. Touched the wall, did a 54, so I dropped a huge amount of time. Or a second TV. And got a second equal in the, I think it was 18 and under age groups. So that's my one, so Auckland, Auckland champs I got medals all the time, but nationally I've got one middle to my name and it was a silver and standing on the podium the guys were all the you know I'm six foot one and a bit and these guys are sort of six foot four and up so yeah that was a highlight of my sewing career really you know went and gave mum the middle and you know obviously being a swimmer you guys chatted to how it's complete you know your parents are such a huge part of that you know I'm a new kind of new parent so I can see the sacrifices I'm going to make with sports and stuff like that but yeah yeah how many kids have you got yet? So we've got three now yeah young guest is two months so grand hog day a little bit again August is four and the middle one's two so Arthur who's four Billy is out girl she's two that's cool hopefully is Oakley is two months don't tell me that's Oakley inspired from your cycling career we wanted something different and that's very cool we're settled on that and you could get a could get a sponsor in the future isn't it? Oh easy man I'm sure Ray Boehner it's my time yeah that's awesome man yeah so you with obviously the circles that you moved in your partner your wife is is or was a triathlete? Was it also was this definitely unfinished business so my wife a little bit of backstory there was working at some south of my career career I broke my face and couldn't be on the bike and I'd known Chris who rents some T3 at the time for many years and then also and they were advertising for a salesperson so I started working at some T3 as a salesman opportunity oh I should cut back I started dating some of my wife's McKayla and Neilson started dating issues in Cambridge an elect triathlete at the time started dating her and the option came to come and manage the Hamilton Brunch of some T3 so jumped of that because I want to be closer to her and obviously a career opportunity there rest of the history there we we checked up and three kids later three kids later but yeah so she was under 19 world champion when she was 17 yeah that's pretty impressive weapon runner she's probably the opposite to me her swims the weakest she's great on the bike and the run she's just lightning she'll catch you everyone she went through a bit of a tough time with Trion Z as I don't know yes cycling New Zealand they sort of had some trouble some times with yes I'd been but yeah we used to train out of the St Peter's club in in Cambridge so yeah she sort of fell away from it you know try to make a comeback it's a little healthier she's like we all do when we're redlining a sport and sort of just stepped away from it but she's 31 now and you know there's still unfinished business there I mean obviously we've got young kids so it's tough to juggle that and thing and you know it was especially try and find with three disciplines right yeah it's almost up she's it might be easier to pick one and come back with one yeah I think running was was in mind there so she's yeah it gets out of the academy all run but it'll put it put it back a few days when she's in careful not breastfeeding it at two months old so yeah yeah there's this unfinished business I guess much like my swimming career I actually when I was 28 I was working in Hamilton for a few years made a little comeback had been out of the competitive pool for a few years but as I say I was with the St Peter's club and felt like I had unfinished business I came back and did qualified for the the opens which we held in Auckland and did the hundred free and she's the calibre swammer I should say from when I was competing at 18 to 28 yeah like I think you know in an open chance now you've got the A final the B final not in the C final yeah whereas back when I was doing it you had one final yeah one final and and that was that and so you reckon that's obviously a positive sign for the sport yeah yeah definitely yeah definitely yeah definitely um yeah I mean swimming in New Zealand probably isn't a bit obviously best supported in terms of financially obviously but it's it's hard on you know you're on your speed and you're not going to put a sponsor on your butt yeah that obviously with social media that's changing a little bit yeah yeah yeah it's not easy you know it's expensive to do I mean it's been in the Alex you know especially if you can get across across the world swimming and racing you've never wondered for the most part unless you get a sponsor on board or it's a lot of sports right but I think being such a little country it's even worse right yeah definitely got some major talent I don't mean so we do I mean New Zealand's bats above the the way it pretty much every sport art so yeah you know so so maybe something that we always tell about right is there's there's a massive amount of kids that swim in the pool and do competitive pool swimming and then they get to stage we must then just stop right so why like how did you transition I mean I think you mentioned it working as a as a time keeper with all-concentral masters sort of opened up a couple of new events for you yeah it's just going again yeah because I mean what do you recommend can you to get more kids swimming open water yeah it's a tricky one I because because yeah I mean a pool swimming yes you're in a black line so yeah I mean the open water swimming and we're very lucky to have what we've got here in Zealand there's these beaches and rivers and lakes that you can swim in other countries aren't so lucky so yeah I guess it's and with these open water swans the young contingency might not quite be invited you know so I guess you could spread the spread a little bit more there you know the keyboard kids obviously the kids in total bit yeah do you think we need more shorter swans you know so you know people don't feel like they've got to go and invest in a wetsuit and you know they can they can stay close into the shore and maybe the parents are less concerned or something is is that something we should think think of yeah yeah I guess you could yeah it is a really tricky one really because it is such a niche sport you know you think I've heard you guys discuss it well for you think it's a cheap sport I just have to go in the water and and you can if you go to the local beach but but learning to swim can you try it properly yeah and and you've got to go to pool and you've got to you know get the goggles the cap the hosha bank but I guess with that said my local swim pool back when I was swimming it was two bucks to go jump the pool now it's eight ten dollars to do one session so you know I've got a local pool that I'd love to get into and I have to buy a concession card that's quite a lot to do and I understand because the pools are cheap to maintain though so it is a tricky one it is tricky and if you want to be I don't need even competitive but seriously competent at open water swimming you still need the pool right absolutely yeah it's for you then basics you don't want to go get in the chop and let me know then how to get your own over yeah so you have landed up we we chatted a couple of weeks ago a couple of months ago we we start for some help with the twenty first one yeah which we've cancelled and postponed postponed yeah don't say cancel apologies postponed April we want to see that yeah that's I'm really looking forward to that right but the reason why we give you a shot is because you are the race director and owner of the five bridges swim so maybe give us a bit of background they harder to land up on your lap yeah and tell us about this one yeah so I'm working for somebody three I'm in Hamilton now I'm on that lovely lady becala and the swam team three had supported the five bridges river swim yeah so we organised the caps for this one a lovely lady named Eleanor pinfold she was organising a cut can't say exactly how many years she ran it for but with the Hamilton Masters Club and they had been doing a great job keep you know pretty low key so grassroots swim I think it was twenty or thirty dollars to come and do it and you know they had I mean we're from fifty to a hundred people turn up and do it and as I say some T three supported so we'd get spot prizes Eleanor decided it was sort of time to they handed over yeah you know she'd been doing it for so many years and I think she she initially reached out to Scott Rice who ran the ocean swim series yeah they can do it ocean swim series beach series and something else so she she reached out to a few people that ran swam because she was really handed over and done really best I've been obviously a river swim there's a little bit more to it than an ocean swim yeah and yeah some instances obviously there's a few different different issues you could overcome and I had been stepping away from swimming a bit more myself but I've obviously had a long history of attending events and you know when you attend it and you go oh I couldn't have done this better or you know we could organise it a bit later and I eat me um yeah so I thought oh you know that that would be really cool to put my name to that and um and obviously it was possibly going to fall by the way so a little bit too um I was just saying before Duncan this is this next year's the 87th year it's been running so it's amazing our huge history um you know it's not all well documented but it started when we were two the game yeah um the first year so um yeah I put my hand up um ghost of Dalin offer her final swim and and um I'm ashamed to say I've actually only swam it once I swam the room a plenty but I've only done the event but did the event and um breakfast rip my arms off and one at that yeah and I because I was still quite quite fit at that time so I kept up with him and you know rivers something's quite cool because yeah you might be I'm shoulder to shoulder and then they'll go flying off as they call it a bit more um say he beat me and uh he's his name's on that trophy quite a few times um and yeah the next year I took it on and with the help of some team three at the time um we promoted a bit more and the first year we ran it we had a hundred and ninety one turn up that's a good turn up yeah it was awesome um I've tried to keep it pretty grass roots so um you know it has had a small price increase just because we introduced um professional timekeeping team yeah it's just something to take off my plates I can focus more on the on the swam in the swans um so yes now 40 bucks then to which still that's everything there does and I want to keep it that way like 50 bucks cash on the day um yeah and yeah so what have we come into the seventh year um you know code sort of push people back a bit we've been turning around 120 to 150 swans yeah um you know a lot of that's I need to get off my chaff and do some every time a little bit more but you know um to draw a few more in um and then you get the like to youtube down there for to yeah well I mean I've never swam it no I've never swam a lot of people haven't yeah I've been at a couple of times my parents live in Hamilton so have you done it well I've been running it for a year um I think so I think so yeah because I'm a lot of people who have done these the hookers one which is which I've never done you never done that um obviously you're up to help I went and that that's a beautiful song so you get the crystal clear water so we're further downstream you don't get the crystal clear water but um it's still obviously the safest one where we do all yeah I'll safely check everything and so where do you start so it starts at the Hamilton Gardens yeah um which is a really nice nice spot yeah um yeah and then from there it's called the five ridges for some for obvious reason you go you go under all five central uh car ridges in Hamilton uh and then the last bridge is the Fairfield Bridge which has these really cool arches that's I think it's been there since they started this one okay uh and then sort of 700 meters after that on your on your left there's a little uh um reserved vehicle to Anstery Reserve and up onto the grassy and old and yeah so was was it called the five ridges from back in the day oh I'm gonna have to consult him because it's actually because maybe there weren't far ridges back in the day uh well probably not no I think it yeah as I say the history from the um you know what I'm looking at on the trophy and uh yeah um what I got from Eleanor but um it was at 1.5 case one so they must have a little bit of an ore and I know who in the offset it used to be quite a short sort of two they used to actually go from the Hamilton Gardens only under one bridge okay so yeah it definitely wasn't always the five ridges changed format a little bit okay yeah yeah so it's now six and a bit kilometres I think seven point one seven point one so if you want to break the record for seven point one kilometres yes come and do us one so it is some of my fastest if it's for me what if not yeah you'll do records per 100 metre so we I think we equate it to you know the average swammer will do a hundred metres in a minute you know you'll do a minute per hundred and average swammer average swammer yeah because I will do like one third each time well no that's if you get now the flow and the ball is I'm given away trade secrets here but but yeah you know you do that in the pool you're moving oh man you're cruising yeah so seven point one cable with the car and you're sticking it we say it's the equivalent to about a three catch one okay so you know and we we do a test on the week before we get out a couple of kayaks couple swimmers and a boat and obviously safety check the river because there's a few more conditions but we float down it basically paddle here and there and we do it in about an hour 20 a car with 30 so we actually have a 90 minute cutoff time that the council and regional council give us yeah um to go over that time you're either you know you're really sightseeing you're off you're off getting the coffee on the side was that swimming upstream yeah yeah so yeah obviously that trade secrets saying in the current it's um we'll get you down there pretty quickly so there's obviously quicker corners or quicker lines if if you know the river pretty well yeah I mean obviously with a river the the flow of water is always going to sort of cut around to the outside of the corner so it's completely counter intuitive dunk and yeah so a real fast way to swim is the longest longest direction yeah quite often but as as you said you're you think you've actually got it nailed and you're swimming next to someone and next next you take a breath and they're 10 meters ahead of you yeah oh my god yeah but then it happens the other way around as well so exactly and and you've even got obviously got the bridges which is beautifully roll on your back and you're going to bridge to and it's um you know the the council and everything have have really done a lot for the the river and tend to cleaning it up too because I think I've read an article that you know the first few sums you're sharing the river with with cat and cows and so I haven't and so on so it hasn't wasn't the cleanest previous but it's it's really one clanker and um and yeah even after the first bridge you actually had a couple of will pools yeah yeah which um we we mentioned a briefing and it freaks people out there you go all right it's not the ones you've seen on parts of the caribbean it sucks you out of town and don't know yeah if anything it's just a little stall or you might spin around and then you shop out the other side that year I did it and had Brent Foster ride on his shoulder he caught one side of it you know if he slowed down and I think I actually passed him at that point but then he got slung yeah I thought I had him but so there's there's lots of little cool quips you know with with the song and is it generally so not not water quality per se but that tree branches and then things like that it's pretty clean it's pretty open yeah I mean obviously that's river swelling in general that's always the the main safety concern and we take it quite seriously with the sweep of the river the week before yeah any bigger river vents you know it's extra checked and we have a good crew that the check over the river before the summer in the morning I'm even the day before if they're able to so we'll have a chase by lead both we have a jet sphere that's sort of a go between them and a heap of kayaks out there and yeah often you know you might find some of the bridge pillars have blogs wedged up that they'll get dislodged and more so yeah there's a few hazards being in a river and you know the safety crew are there to navigate them it's something that we obviously say you know yes I think with sawings caught and caught in the river song um really more so than the open water potion sawing yes because you are shopping and changing and it does wind you know not a straight line really and other years different in terms of the speed of the river and the depth of the water yeah yeah so we're at the whim of either weather and then the the carapero dam because obviously all the water feeds into there and then they release it so it's mercury and the last two or three years I sort of got closer with them and and actually touch base with them a lot more and find it when they're going to release water and when they don't and they then can sort of accommodate us a bit which is cool because when it's really low a few more hazards pop up so it's been years where it's been really low and a few doing pop up but again safety crews there and then there's years where it's brain do on it's been really high and when it's higher it's faster yeah what's the record I was trying to I think Alex probably has it at 49 minutes that's quick so what's he done that for he's lying yeah sub fifty seconds forty something second well and true yeah yeah as I say I need to shift back to the records then they've been a first assault previously but Alex is probably one of the first assaults that's done it anyway so yeah you're you're really do we hadn't one guy one year crack over the our duty but he was doing breaststroke and he was getting the coordinates and we let him finish anyway maybe I'll be there guy this year with my broken shoulder do you make the guys use safety fits we don't make them but it's optional you guys are disgusted and it's something that's if it makes you more comfortable out there go for it and it makes you more visible so from our point of view we say you've got to wear a bright cap yeah so it makes you visible for the safety curve and then a total it's just add into that obviously yes plus it's a point to point some so you probably gonna I mean we've we've introduced a bus now so we'll take you from the the finish to the start in the morning say not when your keys okay absolutely park your car at the finish yeah yeah yeah and previously that hand been something that was there so yeah total it's definitely encouraged I've got a small small lock that I sort of hand out to nervous swimmers yeah yeah and obviously with with the swamp tooth people on their own support rafts as well they're quite welcome to have that they just got to turn the briefing in yeah yeah so you mentioned that the water qualities was okay do you actually test the water quality and the reason I asked that is number of Auckland swimmers thing oh it's gonna be so filthy swimming in that river and I've lived experience in yeah no and neither of I and neither is any some of the damage so yeah something that's been questioned Hamilton City Council do echo my tester so they say it's safe to swim within the city limits yeah so we take that as obviously there's a weather events that can bring that into question so that's where we we you monitor quite closely the harbour mass is quite involved too so which which harbour master oh you've got me in the spot yeah sorry mate it's obviously a river I mean a harbour master for the Waikato region based out okay tell it all the way about that he's accommodating he's wanting to help yeah yeah definitely yeah and we with so that when I started running it for the first five years we didn't have any real issues with the height of the river in one year we really did and that's where he was very knowledgeable you know it's moving at this sort of speed yes we probably needed just going on this is a bit too dangerous for us also obviously the start and finish area because of river the river rises and it can rise by two meters yes so I'll start I'll finish area normally go a little shrunk yeah yeah disappear coming off into a little bit just straight onto the grass and straight to the carpark so yeah definitely changes the dynamics how many times have you hit to rescue swimmers that didn't get out at the finish and started drifting down the river a few have overshot the finish yeah yeah so we we have the the boat and the jet ski station that finished for that very reason and a few strong kayaks because the current is pretty rapid yeah so there's been a few that have overshot it and I've uh retrieving it safely what the finish I've been whisked off down the river too and that took all my way back but but generally yeah that's that last bridge you know we obviously making people aware you're coming up to the finish it's on the left hand so we've got a big finish gantry there is flashing lights it's and obviously we encourage you to cite a bit more you know I'd say every five strokes is supposed to get returned you might be a special unit coming to the end a bit of a stroke you know um and yeah obviously though they've gone swimmers especially at the finish area at the outside areas where the river comes quick so there's a real and we've had a few real nail-bites of finishers between between people where you know the the strongest swimmers doesn't always win because they've read the current better the Saturn a bit more and then cut in right at the right time whereas the other business come in and that's the other thing with rivers you get eddies so in eddies where it hit pitches back and it goes back the other way um we had fun year where a really top gun summer got put because he came too early and he literally was treading water and there they got finished so he had to get back into the car and carry out so yeah that's that's that's fun different yeah different skillsets right yeah exactly yeah yeah wow and has there ever been one by a woman luck overall um possibly again you put me on the spot there's not in not in the time that I've run it um there's been some very close finishes with a athlete yeah yeah um so yeah not not my knowledge but I'm sure it'll happen at some point yeah yeah so what's the story with um with your swimming now so obviously you have a two-month-old at home um so you're doing a different kind of endurance event at the moment just keeping keeping family on track and fed and sleeping and rested so yeah I want to assume swimming's taking a back seat from out yeah yeah yeah still got literally you're back in the pool but um yeah with the young ones um obviously coded the the 23 category I don't know I got made redundant through that um didn't realize how good I had it yeah um and uh I got very lucky I fell in with a civil construction company and yeah I've landed on my feet in a big way in terms of supporting my family um but going into civil construction you go from a nine to five at a some shop to to 12 hour days yeah um you know seven till seven or seven a some days so um swimming yeah while um I've still got a passion there and it's it's more same through through via the five bridges one um yeah it's yeah get my kids in the pool now yeah and then swimming yeah yeah obviously uh my wife and I having this with swimming and triathlon careers um my wife actually was a swimming coach as well for so many years um so she started with um our largest one and then worked away into the Fairfield swimming club yes and she was the assistant coach there for quite a few years yeah um so yeah I think once they're amazed we'll probably end up just training them ourselves and see see what they can make of it what what's the biggest swim club in Hamilton uh probably some poor awesome peaters yeah again I've been out of the loop for a little while obviously with something three we're so connected yeah um at every meet and and you know I got in the water too so yeah you definitely knew back then but um yeah simple was definitely up there I think you probably didn't share it to a similar to the motive come from that club yes um yeah white head is going great history of swimming yeah some great swimmers have come out of it and are those that I need to um Hamilton open water laces that happened is double car falls and so that's more tailbone but you're white head off um five bridges then there's nothing really ragged on the way I could be completely wrong there there might be a little swim out there uh then you go to tab on a mount momentarily yeah yeah it's obviously quite a bit out there so yeah yeah so I I worked quite closely obviously being with some T3 getting over there a bit with share on the plate yes I remember that she's a legend there absolutely legend lovely isolated you're with meters well and uh very I think she's done the cook's right crossing yes and English child with jettleshire yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah we have yeah we have yeah go up good catch up yeah so um she was very supportive and we're taking on on the five bridges rivers on two we always went over and I've done there the um around the Mount Swim and she's I think she stepped away from a little bit more now and I actually bought a whole lot of her kit from her as well and yeah because she had a she had a couple of really nice swims but the the one that I've been down to was in is it like Rotomar yeah yeah which was it on I think was a three kilometer loop or two and a half kilometer loop following the line yeah that's awesome yeah yeah yeah like about a meter under the yeah under the waterline you following a rope it accents of the pulse from the open water swim setting yeah yeah that's a really good one you don't need to look up and start you're just following the line yeah yeah yeah not too cold that's on the area I mean you look I'm talking to that you guys don't mind the color yeah it'll be surprised yeah very surprised yeah um yeah I mean our our swim warmer I think we sit around 20 degrees 20 oh yeah it was always yeah I don't need a wet suit obviously we had carriage it because it's a bit of a safety smooch more so for swimmers but uh you don't need one no no my last couple of times it wasn't toxic yeah yeah yeah there's no you know sock to deal with either or anything like that so yeah just just a tiny for just a tiny fire and some ducks yeah yeah yeah um I think we've got I mean we've sort of given away by the time we we a this episode that the five ridges is one of the swims yeah so on the first round yes yeah so you were talking you you do this one the morning well that the very first swim of the of the weekend is when you tow tow two centimeters which you've won 4.6 yeah well if if they're like you and that's you go straight I don't think I don't know I just got a swim straight to yeah yeah straight to it pushes you a bit yeah it's probably a far far one-half case for the average dude um and then the idea would be um so you'd be starting that early right you'd be yeah so yeah so the idea would be to probably get that first swim starter at about seven a.m so you know you're getting the day started at far far 30 um jump off the pier at the other end um yes jumping off the pier so we you know obviously this it's a very niche field I think we were expecting you know on a 15 to 20 gas somewhere there about about there so we would get them across on some boats jump off some across and then we would be able to leave most of those boats in Auckland and then you know sort of rely on guys like yourself key spots around Auckland two guys yeah sorry I don't know how do you do that you know what since I've thought about this but yeah that that day is you finished that first swim and only when you finish you then get um whatever a text message or an Instagram message saying this is where swim two is this is when we're starting and then you know it's almost like a bit of an orientarian types and I know where you'll have a driver you know you make a little common driver you or whatever the case might be um we don't want swim as driving themselves for obvious reasons we're going to be naked by by the end of the day yeah and then you shoot off to swim number two yeah right and then we would have some help with with sort of key legends across New Zealand um when you're finished from number two you'll get told with swim number three years um and so forth and you say it's going to be right down the finish thing in Wellington so travel and boat and dance around yeah the travel's quite significant um because there's a you'll try to achieve the one the weekend or is it over three days three days three days so 72 hours nine swims and roughly speaking 42 kilometers of swimmy yeah it's a very durable yeah you know 42 cases it's not completely ridiculous but yeah it's uh you took it out yeah I was a sprinter and a you know I've done four four case ones but you know but yeah but you've got people doing you know you're going to swim down a river for seven cases yeah maybe we should start further up and see how far we can go down I've contemplated that so I mean it's it's you know it's the five bridges but they've just built a new bridge there you go yeah they're on here maybe the six bridges or you could have a second one um because there are actually a lot of bridges and I know people have done from Cambridge through um to Hamilton I mean you can you can hold whitehead own people have done it so yeah Brian just Brian Gray just swam care a period in the sea right yeah 150 150 kilometers and we'll be taking 20 five hours I want to say 27 I think 27 hours still logistics on that yeah including some upstream swimmy by accident in the wrong the wrong route yeah yeah I think you sort of take the wrong little slip and um they had just pre-dawn just dark safety boat that had been I think lodged on a sand bank oh gosh and sort of you know lost him yeah and he was in the boulevard dwell is dwell the dwells not a kimi-rude dwell what do you mean yeah obviously oh he was oh I see yeah yeah and he yeah he changed somehow he changed direction and just ran around the tremor on one of the little islands yeah yeah that was a proper swim right there was a yeah 20 27 hours swim yeah quite a bit of logistics involved with that as well um but yeah so yes you've got to have a six bridges swammy yeah I was going to say it's been the ideas been thrown around and um yeah I think I think the idea of a backwards swam too you know against the currents I know the hook of the hook do a little sprint but again you're really going to get you contingency of some maybe you'll lead around on fins and you can yeah yeah just for fun right whatever fins and pedals if you're up pedals I'll be there yeah yeah I still love my pedals obviously we're a point-to-point race though so there's a few other logistics that you're going to keep in mind yeah I don't have to be you can swim upstream turn around come run down and when we had obviously there's so many events around that time too so it's um it's quite trick I think one year we we coincided with the Hamilton Marathon which ran the guns too which ended up being quite cold was a big big big atmosphere and the even the course went through where our swam finished too so we really had to keep off the road there but yeah as I said there's so many events out of around now I sort of try and announce the date um sort of September because then you see wherever and as we'll fit in a little bit um you know we're not there's big ocean some series that can go we're here and so we want to fit around them because what's your days can do out so with the 8th of March so it's a Sunday morning yep and how do how do people enter so jump on the website fivebridgesriversome.com um we've got a Facebook page as well and yeah we've got a it's a sad time acting that handle it all now so it's all digital go on of the days when you go to um now we get chicken um yep get get your entry so yeah um jump on well so many old people like me that actually remember getting their first checkbook and being excited yeah well again um handing it over from Ellen I think it was just done paper entry um and again she's keeping it okay and um and it was ambassador supported swam so um you know I obviously didn't continue on the backing of the masters club so it's a very family affair um you know my sister literally helps you run she runs the website um helps me handling handiwantries and our Facebook posts and so on uh my my mum and my mother-in-law are nurses of many years and so mum mum or my mother-in-law gets trapped on one one of the support boats yep um and yeah dad's there at registration well this is their registration um the system was there too so completely family that's the only way to do it man yeah that's what makes it special as well right yeah yeah I mean there's certain aspects like the time you want to make it a little timeless so that it's accurate and um you know I won't say we don't still get things a little bit wrong from time to time and they might get mixed up and said in a funny way um you know you'll hear me trying to um be an MC which is something that was very weird to begin with and I mean you'll hear me the first first five minutes of talking when I do the briefing and I'm shaking a bit much like a husband on this podcast uh coming across really well yeah and then you get into it um yeah and you'll love it and you enjoy it and there's no greater for me currently other other than obviously my kids um then having those some is lined up counting down from 10 and holding their honkering there and watching them bucket into the water and it's just gonna be such a thrill you'll be such a buzz and that's why keep keep coming back for a day um and a supporter of the community here I mean everyone's raised about laughter we haven't other than COVID we had one year we did have to have to cancel it because it just got me too hard um and next year we came back and came back stronger and yeah I don't think we've had a bad weather day we're all touch wood geez you know we're we're always um it's always seems to be a sunny day and the the river's been really good to us all right never rames in Hamilton does it uh I'm just waiting for fog and see if people can actually work out how to get down the river when it's all foggy well we're not too early so it starts at 10 o'clock so the fog's clear yeah it's not in the middle of winter when you would get it so yeah so 87th year I'd love to carry it onto to see that that hundred year um you know I'm hoping it grows or I really don't want to grow it um obviously that's going to come with but advertising word of mouth is sort of in the way it's been spread for now um it's something that you can't explode because you can't have a foul when something's going to I mean you could with maybe stage it waves waves yeah so you know there's it's it's it's a song that's been going for so long but it's still sort of and it's something seem to grow yeah and I want to keep the grass roots so I don't it's it's 40 bucks in to um you know I have to add a bit because of the timing but some that was to kind of the cost I don't you know I can't even uh do it I'm not enough for the money I'm in it to to keep the the history here and um you know I don't want to to hike the cost see that but yeah it's it's um yeah it's it's a cool song yeah yeah well a hundred when it gets to a hundred hours will you be okay so um swim race is a side and swim events a side um we'll post those thought we just swim details on the on our instagram and on the bottom of this podcast so if you guys want to enter please come enter I think we need to go in swim yeah that was a bit on the list yeah we even have a we have a pretty delicate crew that come and do it to year and year out so we even have a contingency that come out from Australia oh really I get a few of those guys sort of come in to some events here yeah yeah so we had one Australian for example on the weekend uh we did a little charity swim on the weekend 12 by one mile yeah oh yeah yeah and there was one one Aussie um but yeah not a lot yeah I always get an email every year yeah a bit of a contingency that come out to do okay cool I've seen a appeals to them and yeah that's awesome we have people from around New Zealand do it yeah I know quite a few Aucklanders go down yeah yeah yeah it's a stone story from Auckland yeah so um that's where we want all you guys that are doing the like a Koemarama series to um well this issue yeah because it's a 10 o'clock started yeah you don't need to get overnight accommodation exactly yeah you're 90 minute driver at most um from Auckland and yeah Hamilton's a nicer face than I'm originally from Auckland and I get a bit anxious coming back now I'll be honest you know the it's too busy compared to Hamilton but friends and family here and yeah obviously there's a huge community here that are awesome yeah yeah yeah there's dicks everywhere there right there's dicks in Hamilton and in Auckland so novel cleverer so I was hoping to somebody the other day and they were like hey you know because immigration has been a mission right yeah and they're like would you immigrate again like would you go to Australia that's where all the money is and all and I'm like did if I had to move again it would 100% be somewhere smaller with less people further away from everything you know what I mean so I'm I'm with you on that one yeah yeah I reckon if I immigrate to the game if you'd be like Fiji or something like that you know somewhere tropical yeah yeah well you definitely don't need a witsuit for this one different wow you need some shock shields man right no that's that's all good thanks so much for coming in and um telling us your story really really appreciate it and uh it's been a little while since I did your swim I think I definitely need to to get back because it's great for me it's just an excuse to go and visit the fox as well so oh yeah yeah no thank you so much guys for having me it's been a been a real honour in the pleasure and yeah come and do the song guys your names will be on the list yeah we'll be done in March and we'll be done again in April for the time first so just make sure that water is clean and put up thanks to it it's good to see you again and uh we'll we'll see you in Hamilton yeah and in my pleasure thank you so much for me appreciate cool cool bananas hi my name is Caitlyn I'm Riley I'm the youngest person who have completed the Ocean 7 Challenge earthless really cool podcast has helped you learn something new maybe it's introduced you to new swimmers made you smile um then please take the opportunity to subscribe to Duncan and Jim's channel I'm sure they would absolutely appreciate all your support cheers thanks Caitlyn well as always you can give us feedback on our Instagram account at cleverdix or send us an email cleverdixinz at gmail.com we'd really appreciate hearing from you and cheers we'll speak to you again soon