24 hour swimming in Austria, my third participation

The yearly 24 hour swim in Radkersburg (Austria) was conducted for the 6th time from Nov 05 to Nov 06 2010. It was the 3rd time that I participated. 57 male and 19 female solo swimmers and 243 relay Swimmers (49 Teams of 5 swimmers with 2 swimmers missing) made up 319 participants that swam 106,831 laps (=5,341.55 km). On the average each swimmer covered 16.74 km. Overall there were 109 people less in the pool, compared to 2009 (428 participants) making the swim much more enjoyable. Although the event took place in a pool I believe the experience that I am about to share right now is relevant for open water swim-training. The race took place in an outdoor pool with heated water that is part of a wellness-center. The race started on Friday 4:00 pm and ended on Saturday 4:00 pm. Each participant was wearing a chip around his wrist that counted the accomplished laps which were displayed on a screen in the lounge in moment by moment updates. The conditions were perfect, with sunny and calm weather and temperatures above 20°C /70°F during the day. Expected weather conditions in Austria for this time of the year would be rainy with temperatures around 7°C/ 45°F. In my last two participations I started with a 7 hour swim, rested for 10 hours and then I continued with another 7 hour swim covering approx. 35 km (22 miles). This year I ventured into new territory and attempted to swim all the way through (except short stops for drinking, toilet, etc..). I figured if I succeeded I would be able to reach the hitherto unimaginable goal of swimming 50 km/31 miles within 24 hours. Strategies to accomplish the goal to reach 50km / 31 miles: 1. Concerning sore shoulders and muscle fatigue I just would like to mention that 6 years ago I had a paradigm shift from swimming against the clock to swimming with the least amount of strokes per lap. Needless to say that before I used to have sore shoulders after swims exceeding 5km, but with this new approach I seem to be able to swim "forever". As a matter of fact I started to feel some pain in my left upper arm after 2 hours but it went away soon after. 2. Concerning sufficient energy supply during the race I didn't do any carbo-loading before the race because I preferred to eat my favorite dishes (such as korean food, etc ...) instead of stuffing down some pizzas. In my last two races I had to learn the “hard way” that I am (personally) not able to take in solid food during the swim which restricts me solely to power drinks. Usually I mix 80 grams of isotonic powder with 920 grams of water (=1 Liter containing 300 Kcal). According to my protocol from the previous races I use up 1 Liter of isotonic mix for every 3.5 kilometers. To be able to last for 50 km I would need 50/3.5 = nearly 15 Liters (containing 4500 Kcal). That doesn’t look like a sufficient energy supply to last for 24 hours, given that each hour of freestyle swimming is demanding at least 500 Kcal. Besides it is impossible to drink more which would only result into a sick stomach. Much to my surprise I survived the 24 hours with merely 14 Liters of isotonic mix and 2 liters of soft drink towards the end inspite of a supposedly insufficient energy supply. I tried to eat 90 grams (=3 ounces) of chocolate at midnight (8 hours into the race) but my lower intestines got upset one hour later. As I continued to stay on fluids my guts subsided within the next 10 hours. Towards the end they got upset again when I changed from isotonic to soft drinks because I couldn’t stand the taste of the isotonic mix any longer. :) 3. Concerning the break-times I am not a fast swimmer so I knew that in order to reach the 50 kms all breaks combined must not exceed 5 hours. As a matter of fact I had 13 breaks (total resting time: 3 hours and 18 minutes). During these breaks I would look at the screen in the lounge, mix isotonic drinks or go to the toilet (when I got the cramps after eating the chocolate :)). The extra time I was able to save allowed me to exceed the 50 km barrier by 3 km (precicely 1063 turns which is 53.2 km or 33 miles). I was breaking up the swim into 14 legs with an average duration of 1 hour 30 minutes. During each leg I would only stop for drinking at the end of the lane. During the most time of the race I was ranking as number 3. After 46 kms I was 2.3 kms ahead of number 4 but I didn’t have the energy for the final heat and finished as number 4 among 57 male competitors. Nevertheless I am blown away by the achievement, given the fact that I swam less kms in my training than in the competition. The biggest chunk of my training was a 11.3 km swim one week prior to the race. Please have a look at the results: Results Aftermath After the race I went to my nearby hotel room, showered and ate a little bit. Then I collapsed around 7 pm. I woke up twice during the night because I was so thirsty and I drank two cartons (=2 Liters) of milk. The salty taste of the milk was so delicious!. I slept until 6:00 am the next morning. Then I had a good breakfast and after a 2.5 hour car ride I was back in Vienna. Felt good for the rest of Sunday, but I was still pretty tired. My entire upper body was hurting and I was feeling some muscles that I never thought I had :). On Monday I felt like getting a cold and had some shivering. Since Tuesday I feel OK and I started with my jogging again. Until now I did not have excessive hunger and I ate regular meals. I didn't loose any weight either. :) Summary Looking back it was a great weekend and a special privilege to see the sun rise during my swim. It was spectacular to watch the sun gradually dispelling the darkness and then dissolving the morning mist transforming the sky from a royal yellow canopy into a deep blue. I am greatly motivated for some nice open water projects in 2011. May be a dream that I have had for many years will be fulfilled: a swim from Grado, Italy to Croatia across the Gulf of Triest (21 kms / 13 miles) I would like to thank everybody who supported me to surpass the 50kms-in-24-hours-goal through prayer or any other means. cheers Gerald