Testimonials HITtheWALL 2017

 

7.7.17

" Just a quick word of thanks to all involved in the recent Battle of Carlingford Lough ... you made it feel very relaxed and safe !

This was a very special event and one that I did not think would be possible to accomplish when I took up open water swimming a few years ago.

Onwards & upwards !

 

Many thanks,

CM

 

 

Barry O'Sullivan

Hi Padraig,

congrats on your inclusion in the WOWSA top 50, brilliant.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks to you and your team, it was my first time at the event, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was so well organised, including the challenging weather on the Saturday to simulate various conditions, fair play to you all.

We will be sure to be back.

 

All the best

Barry O'Sullivan

Dublin Swimming Club

 

 

Nuala McGurk

I couldn’t recommend the hit the wall weekend enough, so well run, lots of support and fun. Quite simply the best open water team ever. Love you all at infinity! Keep up the good work xx

 

 

Claire Ryan 

Excellent weekend!! Thanks guys

 

 

Gabrielė Jurevičiūtė

Thank you very much for having us!

 

 

Mercedes Bagnall 

Thanks for great weekend

Audrey Burkley

Thank you for a great weekend and all who gave their time to make this weekend possible.. I have learnt so much over the weekend. I would like to thank each one of you.

Caroline Boyle 

Really enjoyed Friday and Saturday. - I didn't stay for Sunday and Monday - left that for the real warriors! I'm still glowing from completing the 7.5k on Saturday afternoon � thanks to all the Infinity Crew

Colin Lindsay

I have just had the 'pleasure' of taking part in Hit the Wall 2017. My goal for the weekend was simply to achieve the 2hr Qualification swim to allow a relay at...

 

 

Carmel Collins

Thank you all @ infinity for everything the whole weekend. I had a great weekend xx

 

 

Lesley Hamilton 

Loved every minute. Well done to all the swimmers. Deepest respect to each and every one of you.Conditions brutal at times! Congratulations Infinity on yet another fabulous event. Roll on 2018 �

 

 

Teena Gates

Yay. I actually completed a time trial � 110 - 67 mins. I'll have to come back next year to beat that ��‍♀️

 

 

Colin Lindsay

I have just had the 'pleasure' of taking part in Hit the Wall 2017. My goal for the weekend was simply to achieve the 2hr Qualification swim to allow a relay attempt of the English Channel later this summer.

I guess I expected a weekend of swimming which I definitely got (a few days later and my sore shoulders can still confirm that!) but I also got so much more.. I consider myself extremely lucky to have a World Class facility like this just 30 miles up the road from home. The Infinity Team are immense from the folk at the front that you see every day who shout and spout and encourage and push to those a little further back behind the scenes there is a multitude of people making this event the best it can be. Also on the water the support and safety crews were incredible - throughout all the swims over the weekend I don’t think I ever raised my head to sight and not catch a glimpse of a kayak or boat keeping watch over me.

But at Hit the Wall it is not just the Infinity Team who make the event so good but also the fellow participants. Swimmers from all over the world many of who have been there done that and got the t-shirt (quite a few have a wardrobe full of t-shirts). These people have been where I want to go and every single person I talked to over the weekend was more than happy to help, encourage and advise.

If you want to improve your open water swimming capabilities or if you are attempting or considering a crossing of any Channel, but particularly the English or North Channel, Hit the Wall 2018 is where you need to be and don’t be thinking you need to be an ‘elite’ swimmer either I sure as hell ain’t one of those.

My sincere thanks to all of you... I might even come back next year. And yes I got my 2hr qualification!

 

 

Judith Campbell

Congratulations Infinity 2017!! Great team to be part of and thank you for keeping us all safe in the water.1hr swim in the dark and 2hr chilly qualifying swim was defiantly an accomplishment for me! 
Congratulations to you all and all the swimmers �

 

 

Sarah Shortt 

Another brilliant weekend! So well-organised, challenging, but always fun. See u next year :)

 

Massimo Martino

Subject: Hit the Wall

Hello Dear Jacqueline and Padraig,

it was really an honour spending the weekend swimming with  you and your fantastic Team

I am writing you to give you the feedback (a.), sending you the links to the pictures that Michelle did (b.) and thank you again for the fantastic/marvellous/awesome Celtic Pottery you gave us (c.).

a. Feedback:

Overall:

Organization: great! I felt always secure during all open water swims, even in the night lake swim your staff knew who / which number was in the water!! great!!

Communication: everything was precise and easy to understand

Location: very nice area, a bit too busy on Saturday evening, but was not bothering too much, you just need to reserve in advance.

Training: I found very useful the Yoga in the Morning, I injured my right shoulder and I tend to forget to warm it up before a swim

Room for improvement: is it very hard to give some advice because you did already an enormous job organizing it!

anyway here some hints:

Lake swimming in the night:  I would have done something more water related like swimming in the ice or in an ice pool... I had a very insufficient experience with Wim Hof in July 2016, but Padraig is a well trained to cold and think you can offer a nice challenge... and note that for some already swimming in the night is a high challenge :-)

Training: perhaps there was someone watching how I was swimming, perhaps I should had to ask Michelle to Kayak near me and check... perhaps a little technique hints could help

Swimming: remember the swimmers to warm up before they swim... anyway this is our duty :-)

 

 

Aidan Walsh

Subject: Hit the wall weekend

Padraig Jacqueline  & co.

Thanks for such a well organised and enthusiastic event. This was my first year doing outdoor swims and never dreamed of doing 18.5km of swimming over 2.5 days. (that’s probably why my arms were hanging out of shoulders on Monday!)

The night swim was amazing and the battle swim on Saturday just made my 2 hour qualifier the following day a foregone conclusion and I would never have said that before.

 

Thanks again

Aidan Walsh

 

 

Joanne Horgan

Hi Padraig and Jacqueline,

Firstly, thank you so, so much, to you and your incredible team for an amazing weekend! It really was thoroughly enjoyable and very challenging. None of which could have been achieved without the support of you and your team and no doubt and unquantifiable amount of planning!

We'll be back next year for round #3!

Just wondering if you could confirm if it will be the same weekend and same (overall) location? We got lucky with accommodation this year and want to book it again for next year.

 

Thanks guys,

Jo

 

 

GB

Hi Padraig and Jacqueline Not here to sit on the wall, you're here to HIT the wall! That was true.

I wanted to say thank you so much for an unforgettable experience this past weekend!  I am now home back in California still reliving the whole weekend in my head. I admit, I was terribly mortified and intimidated by the whole experience because I felt like I was surrounded by elite swimmers; Channel swimmers that were beyond my athletic caliber. What made the biggest impact was how the whole Infinity crew, support staff, and swimmers shared so much unending positivity to me especially when I really needed it. It personally pushed me into becoming a better athlete. It gave me an idea of what it takes to be a marathon swimmer; whether by going forward each day, each stroke, each yard or meter you gain. No matter how small it is, just keep moving forward. That is a great feat in itself. In addition, I made friends along the way near and far. No one made me feel any lesser as a 'rookie' long-distance swimmer as they were open to giving helpful tips, bits of nutrition advice, their personal stories and constant positive reinforcement. The Battle of Carlingford Lough may be peanuts for most long distance swimmers, but for me, it was the beginning of my journey. At first, I told myself to do my level best and I would be at peace if the staff would pull me out of the water along the way. It made a whole difference when I met another fellow swimmer named Amy, who is also from California, when she said "Gay, you just do YOU!"  I did what I could: Sing a little tune in my head, focus on my mantric breathing, making sure my stroke was in good form as it slid through the water each time; which felt like a jillion strokes all in slow turtle mode. I don't remember the names of the kayak support (they were there every stroke along the way!!) but they kept saying "Good girl!" or "You are doing brilliant!" or even "You need to turn left!" because I was anticipating them taking me in. I suppose their encouraging words cued me to keep going. I think the last half mile, I felt my face getting colder. As I reached the mouth of the harbor I was exhausted and didn't know which buoy to follow. I recognized Jacqueline from the boat and expressed that I couldn't see because I was at an emotional point. Following the boat was my moving marker that led me to the finish line. That was the most exhilarating feeling ever! My eyes were welling up in my goggles before approaching the launch pad. As I took a breath, I heard welcoming cheers along the pier. Better yet, open arms were a comforting end of an amazing event. I guess I realized I did not give myself permission to give up or surrender. And I guess we all have that fear but it's PASSION that makes us fearless. The funny thing is that it doesn't stop there!

 

 

Paul Ramsell

Hey Pádraig and Jacuqeline

Just a quick email to say thanks for a great weekend yet again. You have a great team behind you and you should be very proud of them.

It was last year at Hit The Wall that I  pushed myself and built up my distance. From there I have swam distances I never thought possible. I may not be the first person over the line but I will give it my best.

Thanks again and we have already made plans for returning next year.

Best of luck with your new venture, the swim academy.It looks great and we will hopefully make a trip up to that also.

 

Say thanks to all your staff from everyone in Myrtlleville.

 

Best regards

Paul Ramsell

 

 

John McConnell

Subject: Awesome - Battle for Carlingford Lough

Hi Padraig

I had a great swim at the Battle for Carlingford Lough on Saturday.

Water temperature was lovely.

Thank you to you and all the team for organizing this great event.

Sorry I was unable to stay for the prize giving.

Please bring my medal to Camlough this weekend and I will see you there on Sunday.

 

PS if you are planning any other long tidally assisted sea swims please let me know, I would be keen to do more.

 

Yours Sincerely John McConnell

 

 

Hi Pádraig and Jacqueline

I just wanted to say thanks again for a great weekend of swimming. It was my first experience of Hit the Wall and I loved it. If I hadn't been minding a dodgy shoulder I would have been yellow hat all the way as it was a brilliant opportunity to see how far I could go. It was amazing to be able to swim with such great swimmers.

The support teams on and off the water were brilliant. All their time and hard work was appreciated.

I'm sorry I didn't make the close out session and was unable to pick up my cert. Would it be possible to get an electronic copy that I could use for my EC relay qualifier, please? Do you know if I need to get the CSPF one completed too or will the HTW one be sufficient?

Best of luck to all the Infinity Swims over the coming months, I look forward to following the updates on Facebook.

 

All the best,

Dee

 

 

Marie Watson 2.6.17

What a weekend thank you to all involved. Hit the wall surpassed all expectations. I learnt so much in and out of the water... while having fun. I now cannot wait for our team to take on the channel... each swim prepared you and increased your confidence but no babysitting. Loved yellow hats too! Thank you all.

5 stars