Cath

Well that’s a wrap!

2 days to go 🏊‍♀️

We arrived to Perth yesterday and I had a swim at Cottesloe this morning, what a treat! The sun is out, the water is crystal clear, the sand is white and I have never seen so many beautiful fish. When you look out over the water from Cottesloe (on a good day) you can get a glimpse of the sand dunes and lighthouse on Rottnest Island…. It looks so far away 🙊

We have the safety brief scheduled for tomorrow and it will be a chance for my team to meet and talk tactics on the best way to navigate to the island. It sounds like there will be a bit of a south-east wind and current pushing us north- especially closer to Rottnest. So it will be interesting to hear what the plan is.

While Tim and I are over here about to embark on this amazing adventure my beautiful Mum is holding the forte at home with the kiddos and we are so grateful for all she is doing ❤️

I also received a really lovely support email from the Stroke Foundation this week, Jessica finished her email with the following sentence…

‘Keep powering through – we’ll be cheering you on every stroke of the way! 💙 🏊‍♀️’

Thank you Jess, you have now provided me with the perfect mantra to help get me across to Rottnest.

The countdown is on…. Bring on Saturday! 

Race day minus 12 days

Excitingly today marked my last week of heavy training! Tomorrow I begin taper, aiming to back my load off 40% and also to ease back on the intensity.

I’ve given into temptation and purchased a full length race suit. I wore it in the bay yesterday in less than ideal conditions. Tim and the kiddos came to help with my nutrition stops and it was such a delight to see two little blonde people running along the beach waving and calling out to me- it made all the solo slogging away worth it 🌊 💗

As far as my fundraising is concerned, I can honestly say I am blown away by the generosity of you guys, my gorgeous family and friends. I’m humbled to think that we are helping the Stroke Foundation sustain vital programs including:

💙 Preventing Stroke

💙 Saving Lives

💙 Enhancing Recovery

If you haven’t already and you can spare even a small amount, I would really appreciate your support.

Cath 🏊‍♀️ 💗 x

One month to go!!!!

The Rottnest Channel Swim is fast approaching and all my spare time is either following a black line in the pool or searching for fish in the bay.

I’m averaging between 30-35km per week of swimming and I can honestly say that I’m loving the hard training. 

My Australia Day looked a little different this year. My paddler, James and two fellow Rotto swimmers (Matt and Lindsay) and I tackled our biggest swim yet- 15km from Rosebud to Portsea. It was a cracker of a day and left me so exciting about the next 26 days. However, it did also give me time to contemplate how fortunate I am to be in this situation. I am physically healthy, I have a wonderful support crew, helping with programs, advice, reassurance and guidance to get me to Rotto.

As a rehab physiotherapist it’s my job to clinically support my clients in some of their most vulnerable times. We are so lucky to have wonderful organisations like the Stroke Foundation in our community, who run life changing programs like enableme . These program have been made specifically for the Australian stroke community. It’s a place to talk to, and seek support from other people who have ‘been there’. It is a place to ask questions, to find the answers that you need and to set recovery goals. 

Please donate today, your donation will make a difference to programs like this, ensuring our Stroke survivors stay connected, supported and educated.

Thanks for reading and thank you for your support.

JVW Geelong OW swimmers

December check in

November update