A swim around Felixstowe Pier - I feel a trend coming on!

Above: with Luca 2 days after his second birthday on Felixstowe beach. Sunday July 31, 2011.

To try and get back into swimming in the cold water (although it really isn't "cold" this time of year) we set off in two cars to Felixstowe, which is only a 40 minute drive for us, last Sunday. It was 9 month old Nico's first proper trip to the beach, with Luca being an old hand at it after last year's Suffolk Open Water Swimming trips every Sunday. With my two proposed swims for next year still in the planning stages, I need to start training, and Brighton and now Felixstowe were setting a trend of swimming around piers. This was my small step for today - to swim around Felixstowe Pier.

Although it was a beautiful sunny day, it was quite windy with many "white horses" visible on the sea. Getting into the sea felt really cold and I am really out of touch with getting into the cold water malarkey! I headed off to the pier while mum, dad, Beccy, Luca and Nico all sat on the beach in the sun wondering why this nutter keeps getting the sea and swimming around piers!

It wasn't a long swim, but it was good to be in the sea again, although it was very choppy and the tide was strong again like Brighton. On the far side of the pier, I did as I did in Brighton which was to swim at an angle of about 60 degrees into the tide, which then sent me in a straight line along the side of the pier. The worst bit was the cold water going in my ear. It really hurt for some reason. Really hurt. Never experienced that before. Anyway, suffice to say, I completed the swim and returned to shore satisfied. It's all the start of a years worth of training again to achieve my goal of swimming one river swim in Germany, and another swim in Suffolk involving two rivers and the sea.

After the swim, we headed of to 'Old Felixstowe' in search of a pilot boat. I got some good contacts at Felixstowe Sailing Club. Hopefully I can update things shortly, but first, I must go to hospital today for a hernia operation. It's been there for about 8 years but in the past couple of months it has been starting to hurt. Hopefully I can then get in the pool in about 2 weeks time to start the training properly. Both swims will be to raise more much needed funds for St Nicholas' Hospice in Bury St Edmunds.

2 Swims in The English Channel in Brighton in 2 days - Loved it!

This week I have been in Brighton again for 3 days as part of my ongoing Advanced Clinical Massage training. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Wrist and Arm Pain was the topic. During the first day, I made up my mind that I was going to swim round The West Pier, Brighton's most photographed building which was destroyed by fire in 2003 but soon to be replaced by the incredible i360.

Swim 1 - Wednesday July 13, 2011

So nearly 11 months after getting in any sort of water other than the bath or shower, I left the course at 5:30pm, headed back to my hotel, changed into trunks, T-Shirt and flip flops, and headed for the beach, towel, goggles, hat and earplugs in hand. I was on a mission. It felt strangely exciting, like something I had never done before. I walked down the beach and got ready, heart thumping 13 to the dozen at the thought of swimming right round this mighty structure in front of me.

Above: The West Pier, Brighton, by photographer Nicole Carman.

I went through my usual (when getting in cold water) routine of stepping in, bending over and splashing the cold water over me. It felt frigging freezing! Yet, it was probably about 16 Degrees C. About the same temperature as I had spend nearly 14 hours in exactly 4 years and 3 days ago on my first English Channel Swim. I kept on walking in, then took the plunge. Literally. I dived in and started swimming slowly. The stroke was fine, water felt quite warm actually, and so I headed off for my trek around the pier.

I stuck to the outside of the buoys. I assumed they were there as there was steel on the seabed after the fire. I was a bit worried as I had no idea how deep it was or how far below the surface any steel may have been. But the sea was as flat as a mill pond, and I felt OK. Not very fit, but OK. I pulled up level with the end of the pier, then turned left and swum around the back. The vast rusty steel columns were very intimidating and really quite eerie. As I swum around the back, I had a feeling of being along way out, alone and not really very sea swim fit for being out here on my own. I kept going, then turned left and headed back towards shore. It felt good. As I passed the end of the pier, I cut in and headed back to my starting point where my towel would hopefully still be laying. I made it to shore feeling very pleased, but as I stood up, I felt extremely dizzy. I kept wanting to fall over to the left. It was all I could do to stand up. Like a type of vertigo. My head was spinning. I steadied myself and just stood there until it disappeared. Weird indeed! Never experienced that before. But I had done it! I walked back to the hotel in my trunks and settled in for the night, determined to do the same the next day.

Swim 2 - Thursday July 14, 2011

At the end of day 2 of the 3 day course, we were all invited out to dinner by the course instructors, Rachel and Sue. This was to be at 7pm. So I rushed back to the hotel and went through the same routine as the day before, heading off to the beach determined to swim around again. When I saw the sea, I couldn't believe the difference to the day before! The tide was coming in at about 45 degrees to the pier, and the waves were huge. I know we swimmers do tend to exaggerate about huge waves, but these were big buggers, especially when you are not sea swimming fit. I didn't care, I was going in. I went through the same routine and eventually got in, literally being battered and beaten back by the force of the incoming tide.

I started to swim forward and got hit again and again by the waves. This was tough, but the worst thing was I was getting swept towards the large steel girders of the pier at incredible force. I am never sacred of the sea, but I do respect it. I decided that if I swum behind the pier, I would be swept into the steel, so I decided to swim along to the end of the pier then come back again. On the way out, I swum away from the pier at 45 degrees, which compensated for the sea coming in at 45 degrees. This meant that I swum in a relatively straight line. Clever I thought!

On the way back, I did the opposite. I swum toward the beach at 45 degrees into the tide which meant again I swum in a relatively straight line. But on the way back, the waves picked me up and hurtled me downwards, one of them pinning me to the seabed for a few seconds. I didn't panic, let it pass, then carried on my way. I arrived back on dry land, experienced the dizziness again, but not so badly, then walked back to the hotel, showered and met up with the rest of the people on the course for a great dinner.

I am really pleased to have completed these two very contrasting swims, back in the pool now until I visit Brighton again in September for the advanced sports stretching part of the course.

Feeling the urge to swim again after 11 months out!

Above: Standing in front of the old Brighton Pier, June 2011, pondering my next swim.

Since March 2009, our life has been in a constant state of flux. We have had two beautiful sons, Luca and Nico, both Beccy and I have been elected to St Edmundsbury Borough Council and having changed career direction from 20 years in IT to Sports Injury/Clinical massage, I have been constantly on training courses to qualify in my chosen new career. This has taken me from Bury St Edmunds, to Grantham, to Birmingham, to London, to Dublin, and currently includes many trips to Brighton until January 2012. It was while on a trip to Brighton last month, that I decided that I needed to swim again. As I gazed across the English Channel, seeing France looming even larger than it appears from Dover, I decided on a swim I want to do, but will take some organising.

On my return to Bury St Edmunds, the first thing I did was to contact the excellent team at Culford School Sports and Tennis Centre, who once again agreed to sponsor me for my next challenge. My training base will be in the superb 25 Metre pool at Culford where it all started in 2006 when I announced to my wife that I was going to swim the English Channel. I can't believe that it was in fact 4 years ago on Sunday July 10th that I completed the first swim. Incredible how time flies!


I just have one small issue to sort out before I can start training in earnest - a hernia! I have had a small hernia in my groin for about 6 plus years. It hasn't hindered me in any way, shape or form. In fact, I swum the channel with it twice! However, due to the vigor's of my job, I have now torn it slightly and will be operated on on August 8th, followed by 10 days rest. Then it will be all systems go! For now though, I will need to start organising things to see if the swim is viable. It will be a river swim, and in Germany. That's all I want to say at present.

Off to Brighton again now. Hopefully will pluck up the courage to get in the sea. It will be tough as I haven't been in a pool or sea for all these months.

Cheers.

Hoffy.

2 Firewalks Completed - It's all about the Body and Mind...

Above: The moment I completed my first of two firewalks on Sunday February 20, 2011 for The Stroke Association.

Yesterday I completed another of my long term goals by completing not one, but two firewalks. I handed just over £293 (inc. gift aid) to The Stroke Association yesterday, but hopefully I can add to this over the next week or so.

Arriving at The Haberden, home of The Bury St Edmunds Rugby Club, at about 3:45, I queued up with about 80 other potential firwalkers to hand over our sponsorship money, and sign our disclaimer. As I walked in, the fire was built and lit ready for us to commence at about 5:15pm.

Above: The team from UK Firewalk build and light the fire ready for about 80 firewalkers to do battle with both body and mind.

After a very interesting and informative training session with two time Guinness World Record Holder for the greatest distance walked on fire - Scott Bell, we all walked out onto the Bury St Edmunds 1st XV Rugby pitch to the cheer of the quite large crowd, took our shoes off and queued to await our turns. The ground was absolutely freezing. I think taking our shoes off was designed to make our feet numb to the pain of the fire. It really did make them numb.

Above: The fire is well alight, the crowd was cheering and it was time to commence the firewalk!

Scott Bell started us off by showing how it was done; stand at the start of the fire, mental focus - picturing yourself completing the firewalk before you have even started it (much as I did many times on my channel swims), a big breath - in through the nose and out through the mouth, then...just walk across totally focussed on the job in hand (or should I say under foot?!).

It looked easy, he walked across and everyone followed, one by one to large cheers of the crowd for every successful firewalk.

Eventually it was my turn, and I went through the mental routine as described above, and as I had in fact been doing many times in my head in the days leading up to the firewalk using NLP visualisation techniques.

Deep breath in...focus...and...walk!

It went very quickly. Scott had measured the temperature at 533 Degrees Centigrade. That's HOT where I come from! But having mentally prepared for it, apart from a small bit of charcoal catching in between my left foot toes, I didn't feel a thing. The body can cope with whatever you throw at it, as long as your mind is in the right place. I enjoyed it so much, I went back and did it again!

My feet were as black as black can be afterwards. Even today after washing them last night, and bathing them this morning, they are still quite black. But no pain, blisters or after affects. Just pleasure at having completed the firewalk and having exceeded my £250 target for The Stroke Association.

Thank you to my family and friends who turned up to watch (Beccy, Luca, Nico, Mum, Dad, Terry, Viv, Mike, Monica, Julie & Dave) and for those who sponsored me. But it's not too late to sponsor me. Just click on the link below and donate securely online on my JustGiving web page.

www.JustGiving.com/HoffysFirewalk

No swimming at present, so I am doing a Firewalk to raise funds for 'The Stroke Association'

Above: On February 20, 2011, I will be walking across 1300 Degrees F Coals for 'The Stroke Association'.

2010 was a strange year for swimming for me. It is important, that when you set yourself a goal, you are totally focused on achieving that goal. For both of my English Channel swims, this was the case, but for my 2010 swim of The Wash, it simply wasn't. We had a multitude of personal issues which were more important than swimming. The biggest of these were the fact that Beccy and I were waiting for our second child to be born (Nico - October 27, 2010) and that I was going on a multitude of courses to help us build up our Personal Wellness business. Looking after my family and my business had to be my no. 1 concern and so although I completed The Great East Swim, The Great London Swim and a successful English Channel Relay, it ended there. I haven't been in a pool or the sea since September and am not sure what lies in store from a swimming perspective at present. I am happy with this, and I am sure I will be back, but not at the moment.

Valentines Firewalk for 'The Stroke Association'

That said, having been a charity fund raiser for as long as I can remember, I couldn't resist being able to tick another little goal off my list, as well as raising funds for a cause close to home. On Sunday February 20, 2011, I am going to complete a firewalk for 'The Stroke Association'.

What is a stroke?

A stroke is a brain attack. It happens when the blood supply to the brain is disrupted. Most strokes occur when a blood clot blocks the flow of blood to the brain. Some strokes are caused by bleeding in or around the brain from a burst blood vessel.

My Dad.

In 1990, 6 months after retiring, my dad had what is called a TIA (transient ischaemic attack) sometimes called a mini-stroke. For many hours he did not know where he was, where he had been that day or anything you told him literally 10 seconds previous. Just over 10 years later in 2001, he had a full stroke which affected his speech, and right arm and leg. He has never fully recovered and requires a zimmer frame to walk. But he was one of the lucky ones as you will see below.

Facts about stroke

Every 5 minutes someone in the UK has a stroke. Each year an estimated 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke. Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the UK. A quarter of a million people in England and Wales are living with long-term disability as a result of stroke.

What is The Stroke Association?

It is the only charity solely concerned with combating stroke in people of all ages. They want a world where there are fewer strokes and all those touched by stroke get the help they need. Their mission is to prevent strokes and reduce their affect through providing services, campaigning, education and research. The Stroke Association helped my dad, and so now I will be helping raise funds for them.

I will be doing a firewalk for The Stroke Association on Sunday February 20, 2011. The firewalk will involve walking barefoot over a 5 - 6 metre strip of burning hot embers reaching temperatures of 1300 Degrees F. A fire-team builds the fire, and when it has burned to red-hot embers it is raked level and prepared for the walk. I will remove my footwear and walk across the coals!

Please sponsor me...

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and sponsor me now @:

www.justgiving.com/hoffysfirewalk

Thank You.

Paul Hopfensperger (Hoffy)

Body and Mind Studio Sponsors the 2010 St Edmundsbury Sports Awards

Paul and Beccy Hopfensperger of Body and Mind Studio presented the 'Unsung Hero Award' at a glittering ceremony to celebrate Abbeycroft Leisure’s St Edmundsbury Sports Awards on Sunday September 26, 2010.

The award, sponsored by Body and Mind Studio was presented to Terry Wright, a volunteer coach at West Suffolk Swimming Club, at Bury St Edmunds Corn Exchange in front of 320 guests from the St Edmundsbury sports world.

Above: The Body and Mind Studio 2010 'Unsung Hero Award' trophy.

Now in its fourth year the awards celebrate the outstanding sporting achievements and performances of individuals and teams from St Edmundsbury at local, regional, national and international level.

The 2010 winner Terry Wright was nominated with the following information “When Terry’s eldest daughter joined the West Suffolk Swimming Club he was quick to offer help. Now all four of Terry’s daughters and his wife swim with the club and Terry has become an irreplaceable volunteer. When a broken lane holder reel prevented the club using anti wave ropes Terry dismantled it, took it to his workshop, and repaired it and the club was back in action within five days. Despite having dyslexia, Terry self funded a UKCC level 2 coaching award and is now part way through his level 3 swimming coach qualification. He is a volunteer coach on poolside for up to 10 hours. Terry is also a keen fund raiser and just 18 months ago Terry and his family raised £1,000 for the club in a sponsored swim. For Terry nothing is too much trouble”.

Above and below: Body and Mind Studio Managing Director, Paul Hopfensperger, presents Terry Wright with his trophy.

Paul Hopfensperger of Body and Mind Studio, said: “As a personal wellness and sports injury company, we are delighted to support the St Edmundsbury Sports Awards this year. The dedication that these men, women and children have to their chosen sport and their achievements in the sporting world representing St Edmundsbury are inspiring, and to present it to someone from my specialist sport, swimming, is simply fantastic!”

Above: Paul and Beccy Hopfensperger with Terry Wright and his trophy.

Michelle Banfield-Curran, Abbeycroft Leisure’s Sports Development Officer and organiser of the St Edmundsbury Sports Awards, said: “We are grateful to Body and Mind Studio for their support of our 2010 awards. Without our sponsors this event could not take place and the hard work and dedication of these sports men, women and children would not be recognised publicly.”

www.BodyandMindStudio.co.uk

'Channel Buoys and Gulls' on BBC 'Eggheads' Friday September 24, 2010

After over a year's wait, the big day is here tomorrow, Friday September 24th, 2010 - "The Channel Buoys & Gulls" take on the mighty 'BBC Eggheads'! Click here for original story.

When?: 18:00 on BBC Two (except Northern Ireland (Analogue), Wales (Analogue))...

'Team Iryna International' - English Channel Relay - July 04, 2010 - England to France, 12 Hrs. 44 Minutes!

Above: The route of the 'Team Iryna International' English Channel 6 person relay team, consisting of the following simmers in swim order: Pawel Nowak (Poland), Paul Hopfensperger (England), Carl Willis (England), Iryna Kennedy (Ukraine), Katja Waldorf (Germany) and Julian Bennet (England).

Leaving London following my inaugural (and possibly final if we have to wear wet suits again!) British Gas Great London Swim, I headed down to Dover while Beccy and Luca headed back to Bury. Tomorrow morning I was going back into The English Channel for the first time since my 2008 solo. I was really looking forward to it.

Arriving at 'Swimmers Beach', King of The English Channel, Kevin Murphy and one of the relay team members, Pawel Nowak, were just getting out of the water after a 6 hour training swim. Pawel is training for his solo attempt later in the summer. Kevin invited me round to his flat in Dover for dinner with his wife Jane, and after a trip to Tesco with Kevin, Pawel and his girlfriend, we were cooked a wonderful Polish style meal. It went down a treat. I then headed off to Varne Ridge to find Iryna and her family who were going to give me a bed to put my head down for about 2.5 hours. I went out like a light only to be woken up by the alarm clock at 1am. This was it, we were off!
  

Above: (Left to Right) Carl Willis, Iryna Kennedy, Pawel Nowak and Julian Bennet waiting to board the support vessel, Sea Satin, piloted by Lance Oram.

Above: (Middle) Katja Waldorf board Sea Satin with Julian and Carl.

Above: Just some of the large quantity of water and food required to support 6 swimmers across The English Channel.

After being explained the rules of a Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation English Channel Relay, I helped Pawel get ready. He was going to swim first, so that he knew what it was like to start a channel swim, and swim in the dark. This was in preparation for his solo swim later in the summer.
  

He dived off the boat, swum to shore and at 02:47 Hrs. British Summer Time on Sunday July 04, 2010 he set off from Shakespeare Beach heading for France.

Each swimmer has to swim for an hour in a pre-determined order which cannot be changed during the swim. The next swimmer enters the water on a signal from the official observer. During the takeover, the new swimmer must enter the water from behind the swimmer in the water and swim past the preceding swimmer. The previous swimmer should exit the water as quickly as possible with the entire takeover taking no longer that 5 minutes. I got ready to enter the water...

Feeling slightly nervous, slightly excited, I waited for the signal from the observer....then at 03:47am, I dived in behind Pawel, looked up for him and swum past him to start my first hour in the channel as he got out.

As it was only an hour, I decided to just sprint. It was fairly chilly initially, but once I had got going it was fine. I found a good pace and just set about doing my job.

Above: Pawel gets out after his first of 3 swims. The electronic guidance system plots our course.

As I swum, I could see that the sun was slowly rising on the horizon. It was beautiful, if not rather red. "Red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning" I thought. As we found out later, I was right!

The next swimmer in was to be Carl Willis. He prepared himself, and went through the same routine as I did.

 

 

Above: Carl Willis prepares to enter the channel as the red sky looked stunningly beautiful.

...my last few strokes at full pace, as Carl approcahes me from behind...

I then had a total of 5 minutes from the initial siren to grab on the back of Sea Satin, and haul myself out of the channel.

Back on board it was a surreal experience as I was not used to getting out after just an hour and watching others swim. It had been a great swim. Really enjoyed it, and couldn't wait to get back in again. Poor Katja however, had been really sick while I was swimming. She was really suffering.

After Carl's swim, Iryna entered the water at 05:47 Hrs. to do her first hour. This was her relay team and it was a big moment for her as she dived in The English Channel for the first time. As can be seen from the photos, we were now in the shipping lanes.

She did her first leg admirably, until at 06:47 Hrs. Katja entered the water for the first time. I was a bit worried about her as she had been so sick, and was worried about the cold. However, she did a great job! A really good, strong swimmer.

Next one in after Katja, was to be Julian Bennet. He couldn't wait to get in! He entered the water and swum up behind Katja at 07:47 Hrs. and started his first leg...

Katja hauled herself up onto Sea Satin and wrapped herself in her towel. She was really cold. Shivering profusely.

I encouraged her to get dressed as soon as possible so that she could warm up. She got dressed and laid at the bow of Sea Satin feeling cold and very sick again. Meanwhile, Julian ploughed on, on the journey to France...

Katja with Carl's sister on board Sea Satin after her first swim. Our pilot, Lance Oram and his assistant (I didn't actually get to ask his name - apologies) did a great job and played excellent music all the way across the channel. 

We went through the entire cycle for the second time with the swimmers in at the following times: Pawel: 08:47 Hrs., Me: 09:47 Hrs., Carl, 10:47 Hrs., Iryna: 11:47 Hrs., Katcha, 12:47 Hrs. Katcha had taken along time to warm up and had been really sick. I feared for her diving in again, but below is a photo just before she got in at 12:47 Hrs.

 

Above: Cap Gris Nez, our destination and every channel swimmers hopeful destination. The closest point to England.

Above: Katja during her second stint in the channel between 12:47 and 13:47 Hrs.

At 14:47 Hrs., Pawel got back in the water for the third time for what was to be the final leg of the swim. He walked ashore just to the east of Cap Gris Nez finishing in a time of 12 Hrs. and 44 minutes. We all dived in and swum to shore to meet him.

Having had a few photos taken, we all swum back to the boat ready for the trip back to England. It had been a really enjoyable and successful relay swim which I think we would all always remember. As you can see, the weather on the beach was absolutely beautiful, things were about to change though!

 

You can never tell whet will happen in The Channel, but the sudden change in conditions on the way back really shocked me. To us inexperienced sailors it was what you would call damn rough! To Lance Oram, it was just Gale Force 6 and "a little cheeky". I sat on deck opposite Pawel and had to cling to the railings for dear life all the way back. I had never experienced this before. Unreal!

 

When we finally landed back in Dover, we all said our goodbyes, and I drove the 145 miles back home to Bury St Edmunds. Katja put our names and route on the ceiling of the white horse which is a Channel Swim tradition. Next time I am in Dover, I will sign it.

 

It had been a really busy and successful weekend. The British Gas Great London Swim on Saturday, and an English Channel Relay on Sunday. Quite a nice little weekend really!