Post Manhattan Update (New York, Toronto & Ireland)

For those wishing to find my post-race blogs, part one can be found here http://www.chloemccardel.com/blog/page/3/ and part two can be found here http://www.chloemccardel.com/blog/page/2/

Post Manhattan Update (New York, Toronto & Ireland)

New York

Enjoying 'Jersey Boys' in Broadway

Paul and I crammed as much sightseeing in 48 hours in New York post the swim race as physically possible! Because I was swimming every day leading up to the Manhattan race, spending a large amount of time resting my body (because I had a chest infection), we were both getting over jet lag and Paul was working we didn’t actually spend much time sightseeing! But we did manage a little bit of fun before the swim race. As my parents were in New York we all saw the Broadway musical ‘Jersey Boys’ about the 60s musical group Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, which all four of us thoroughly enjoyed!

The day after the race Paul and I went to the top of the Empire State Building which gave us a magnificent bird’s eye view of the city! I had recovered quite well after the race – much better than after my 25 hour Channel swim last year!! It was so incredible to be able to see the sheer size of Central Park from a great height. It was also enthralling viewing a 360 degree view of the city of New York and being able to pick out significant landmarks which we saw during the swim race (e.g. the bridges, Hudson River, Chelsea Piers (where I did my pre-race training), Golf Range (part of Chelsea Piers) and North Cove (near our hotel). We saw so many yellow taxis from the viewing platform area which mirrored our experience on the ground – there are taxis everywhere!!  A few other things we saw included Central Park, John Lennon’s old residence (where Yoko still lives – so we were told), Soho (a little disappointing I thought, I was expecting a little more eclectic and arty), Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (We both LOVED these historical sites), the 9/11 memorial (VERY moving) and Times Square.

Toronto

From New York we caught a short plane trip over to Toronto (Canada) where Paul’s friends lived. Patrick and Lisa have two beautiful children and they were the most accommodating and embracing family anyone could imagine! While we there Paul and I took a day tour with my Mum and Dad to Niagara Falls (see Gallery for photos!!). We took a helicopter ride over the Whirlpool (an amazing whirlpool where objects can get caught for weeks going around in circles!!) and of course Niagara Falls! We then proceeded to view the Falls from two more different vantage points. We took the ‘Maid of the Mist’ which is a little boat that takes you very close to the Falls. After taking pictures of the first waterfall we were taken into the ‘mist’ which is created by the large volumes of water rushing over the cliff edges.  Being inside the mist was absolutely riveting!! Paul and I had a ball of a time taking photos (the camera got water all over it!!), Paul lost his hat and we got very wet

Of course we didn’t just come to Toronto to spend time with friends and sight-see! I had to keep training, write emails and update my blog and Paul had work to do (luckily he can do this away from home).  I really enjoyed swimming in Lake Ontario which is part of ‘The Beaches’. The water was an amazing blue colour which appeared to almost glow! I was so surprised at the lack of swimmers (no swimmers at all during my first two visits)! By my third trip the air temperature had reached 26 Celsius and there were a few swimmers in the water.  The fact that the water temperature was 15.1 Celsius may have also deterred a few swimmers – but it was warm to me!

Chatting to the Life Guards at Lake Ontario

Paul and I chatted to a few life guards and locals and the general consensus is that the public do not believe the water is safe to swim in! The lifeguards had a strong presence on the beach and reassured me that the water was safe. They even keep a daily count of the E. Coli levels which I have never seen on other beaches and is a great health and safety initiative.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get an opportunity to swim with the LOST open water swimming group www.lostswimmingclub.com (they were founded by Rob Kent only a few years ago in 2006 and have grown at a substantial rate!). They are based in Oakville which is part of Greater Toronto but was 50km from where we were staying in the City of Toronto. They swim in Lake Ontario and insist that it is very safe for swimming. I must admit I have fallen in love with Lake Ontario and I would love to come back in a year or two and swim a single or double crossing!

Paul and I moved on from Toronto and headed to Ireland as the water is a little cooler than the English Channel and we would like to be closer to England where I will start my English Channel double crossing attempt late this July.

Ireland

Paul and I landed in Shannon and picked up our hire car!  We drove for two hours and

Beautiful Clonakilty beach, Inchydoney, Ireland!

finally arrived on Inchydoney Island where we found Clonakilty beach. Inchydoney island is a small island long connected to the mainland by two causeways and is located in the tourist area of west County Cork, Ireland.  

Paul and I settled into our amazing accommodation at Inchydoney Island Lodge and Spa very nicely! We were able to watch and listen to the tide roll in and out from our room :) We had arrived into the hottest Irish June in 40 years (in some areas) so the water temperature wasn’t as cool as we hoped it would be but it was definitely cooler than England so we were happy!! I swam at the beach frequently, culminating in a 12 hour swim in circa 12 degree water temp (we had originally thought it was 14 but realised it was lower…). Paul was an amazing support during my big swim bringing me warm baby porridge with chocolate powder – yum, yum!!  

Paul and I were also fortunate to catch up with Lisa Cummins, in the town of Kinsale. We all enjoyed a lovely lunch and Lisa was very kind to show us around Charles Fort. We had originally met last year in Dover when Paul and I were waiting for our channel swims. For those of you who are not aware Lisa swam an amazing double crossing last year staying in the English Channel for over 35 hours!!  In doing so she became the first Irish person to swim a double crossing and she also raised an incredible €22,575 for her charities! We also met Jennifer Hurley for the first time in Clonakilty (we had a great swim!). She has been preparing for her first channel attempt in mid August this year. You can find her blog here http://jensenglishchannelswimforbarretstown.blogspot.com    Good luck Jen!

We had a great time balancing Paul’s work, my swimming and sight-seeing in the 12 days we were in Ireland. We thoroughly enjoyed driving around the various places of interest within the ‘Ring of Kerry’ and highly recommend those visiting the South West of Ireland to visit this special area. Paul and I then moved on from Ireland to England… More details to follow in the next blog!!

Thanks to all those following this blog and my progress! It’s so lovely to read your emails. I will be spending most of the next 10 days concentrating on my swimming so I will respond to all emails but this may be after the Channel swim.
 

More information about my GPS Tracking and Twitter for my channel swim will be included in the next blog. My next blog will be this coming Saturday the 17th of July. The 18th of July is the start of my English Channel swimming ‘window’ – the earliest date I may swim.

Safe swimming!!!

Chloe