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The pics are all of Team oceanswims.com, in the form of Mrs Sparkle and The Sports Mistress swimming a duo in the Laydees 100+ category, but the story is by Penny Palfrey, that extraordinary swimmer who in the last couple of years has swum Cook Strait, the English Channel (twice), the Strait of Gibraltar, and last year won the Manhattan Marathon, and a few weeks back won the Tampa Bay Marathon. Normally, Chris Palfrey writes reports for us of Penny's swims, but this time Penny herself -- "the other half", as she puts it -- told us what it was all about. Penny is a past winner in the Rotto swim and regularly figures in the results. She's quite a phenomenon. Right now, Penny and Chris are getting ready again for Manhattan.

Penny Palfrey's weekend to Rotto ...

After a fairly pleasant 8 hour journey across Australia, we arrived in Perth around lunch time on Thursday 14th February, Valentines Day, however for us getting up at 4am there wasn’t much valentineing going on. But we were both happy to be doing what we were, that is my husband Chris -- the usual writer of our swimming journeys -- and myself.

As we waited for our luggage to arrive on the carousel I wondered how many people in the crowd were here because of the annual Rottnest Channel swim, when at that moment “hello, hello’ hello” who would be there but Mr Oceanswims and Mrs Sparkle themselves with their friends from Brunswick Heads. Chat, chat, chat.

Soon we had our bags and it was time to organise our hire car before meeting my sister for lunch just outside the airport. Unfortunately, that was all the time allowed on this short trip for non-Rotto family members.

The following day, “the Friday before Rotto” has now become tradition for us Palfreys: it’s a swim at Cottesloe Beach followed by breakfast at the Blue Duck café overlooking the beautiful Indian Ocean and Rottnest Island. We had a table for ten booked which was soon filled with swimming friends and family with a couple of extra chairs pulled up. We noticed that Kim Beazley and Alan Bond also ate breakfast there that morning.

After breaky, it was off to the “out of towners" swim briefing. From there we headed back to our hotel in Fremantle meeting many old friends as we departed the briefing.

Chris’s brother, Martin, from Sydney, and Heather, their mother from Melbourne, had joined us by now. Martin was planning to do a double Rotto crossing.

Friday afternoon was spent at our boat briefing with our wonderful friends Wayne and Barbie Williams who have tirelessly helped us for many years, with boats and crew for our swims.

Yukky! Hi-carb sports gel.

It is an early start for all on Saturday morning. We are up at 4.30am knowing however that our crew have already been out of bed for some time organising the boat side of the swim. Chris and I eat, drink, stretch then eat and drink again until it is time to head down to the hotel reception, knocking on Martin's door as we go by. Martin says he’s almost ready and will be in reception in a minute. Whilst in reception Chris makes a bee line for the concierge’s desk. He wants to look at the weather forecast again; by now seabreeze.com is a favourite on the concierge’s computer.

The taxi has arrived and is waiting but there is still no sign of Martin. Heather comes from Martin's room. He’s still coming, she says. Apparently he's on the loo again! Martin was a little nervous about his double crossing it seemed, but who could blame him?

Early morning aboard Felix and Oscar, heading downriver to the sea, and the start of the 2008 Rottnest Channel Swim. The Sports Mistress is pensive (one day, we must look up that word and find out once and for all what it means, for newspaper caption writers toss it off ... Just like that!).

One sees some strange sights out in the middle of Rottnest Channel.

Finally we arrive at Cottesloe beach just before 6am. Soon the registrations are open we have our name ticked off, our arms numbered, and timing bands activated. We are ready to swim to Rottnest Island.

This year the weather and forecast was for reasonable conditions with some swell, but at least the swim was going to take place, which was great news after last year's disappointing cancellation due to bad weather.

It was an overcast morning which offered us some protection form the sun. The water temperature was a warm 23C with some swell and chop coming from my left side (the south).

The sun broke though and shone on my back for a few moments exactly as I passed though the ten kilometre gates. I could see the bottom for most of the swim.

The Sports Mistress receives ministry from the team physio.

Cap'n Rod's in charge.

I was pleased with my swim and time of 5hrs 23 minutes and third place in the woman’s event, after having some time out of the water due to some health issues towards the end of 2007. Chris came in at 5hrs 54 minutes and Martin turned around and began swimming back to Cottesloe Beach while most us were headed for the pub and others still had many hours of swimming ahead of them to complete their one way journey to Rottnest, finishing late in the afternoon to rowdy applauses of all in Thompson Bay. You guys, I take my hat off to you.

Presentation took place and we headed for the ferry back to Fremantle. We sat with Barbara Pellick and her family. Barbara had just completed her 20th Rottenest Channel crossing. Well done, Barb.

Mrs Sparkle looks at odds here with her coach, mentor, physio. No gratitude, obviously.

Our phone rang. It was Brian, Martin's boat captain. Marty has 3k to go. We willed the ferry to go faster so that we could meet Martin at the finish, when we arrived in Fremantle. I called Brian again. Martin had 1k left to swim. We jumped in the car that we had parked at C shed that morning. We raced off to Cottesloe. Martin was being dragged North and was past the Blue Duck café and headed for the beach. The light was fading fast, the wind had picked up and was quite strong. There was also some current just off the coast. We parked the car where we could see the lights of Martins boat coming in. Martin was dragged farther North. We moved the car and ran down the beach to meet Martin. Martin had planned to swim back to the boat after the swim, but this plan was changed and it was now for us to take him back to the hotel. All his gear was on the boat, however.

We rustled up some gear we had to put around Martin when he finished. Brian wrapped Martin's clothes and towel in plastic bags, Chris stripped off his clothes to his jocks, Brian threw Martin's gear overboard, Chris swam for the bag which was floating South and looked as though it would sink. I followed Martin along the beach. He was still swimming and getting dragged farther north. Goodness knows what the onlookers thought was going on up on the promenade, some sort of drug drop or something.

Martin made it to shore after 14hrs and 1 minute of swimming and swore that that was it for long swims for him (of course we don’t believe him).
I hurried Martin up the beach behind a sand dune where Chris soon joined us. It was a quick off-with-the-wet-togs-and-on-with-the-towels, old jumpers and a plastic garbage bag to keep Martin warm.

Thomson Bay, early evening Rotto swim day. There are few better places to be.

Soon we were in the car with the heater on headache-hot and phoning Heather to pour a warm bath and order some food from room service.
As we entered our 5 star hotel with Martin wet & greasy, with bare feet wearing old tracksuit pants and a jumper that we could only get one arm into and a garbage bag, it being Saturday evening and there was a sea of young women all wearing LBD’s (little black dresses), Martin said to me, “I wonder what they’re all looking at”, we decided it was his left nipple which was exposed by the too small jumper. What a laugh.

The following morning Martin, Heather Chris and myself along with Martin’s boat crew Brian, Donna and Richard joined up for a big breakfast, then the four Palfreys returned to Perth airport, Penny and Chris to Queensland, Heather to Melbourne and Martin to Sydney.

Yes another fabulous weekend in WA.

Congratulations
Martin Palfrey double crossing 14hrs 1min.
Barbara Pellick 20th Rottnest Channel crossing
Melissa Benson first solo swimmer to finish (go the girls)
All swimmers solos, duos and teams you make this swim the fantastic event it is.

Thank you
Our wonderful friends Wayne and Barbie Williams, JR, crew Neil Joe, Reece, Ryan and Hayden.
RCSA organisers
Sponsors.

Definitely not just another weekend in the garden.

The Sports Mistress hitched a ride to Rottnest, or for a metre or so, anyway.

Mrs Sparkle has two lovely jugs at the Sail & Anchor Hotel, Freo, on Sunday. That's the way to cap off a Rotto swim!