Jess Goes For Gold!

A quiet drive along the A57 on the way to Manchester was a nice chance to reflect on past Open Water competitions at the Salford Quays. But this day wasn’t about me, just an opportunity to reminisce, it was about our own Jessica Hubery and my first opportunity to view an Open Water Regional Championships race as a Coach, the nerves don’t get any easier!

I’ll start off by saying this - I remain proud of each of these swimmers as they continue to amaze me day after day with their dedication and commitment to this Club and to this Sport. There have been plenty of speed bumps along the way, where others would have called it a day, this group have come back stronger and that trait will serve them well for the future, so to each and every one of you, thank you for making this one of the most enjoyable seasons of my coaching career to date. This now was Jess’s chance to do the same, to step up and put her demons behind her, after a somewhat tough and disappointing few months.

Since its inclusion as an Olympic event in Beijing 2008, open water swimming has grown in popularity, with British athletes winning three out of the six medals awarded. Open water swimming demands high levels of endurance and strength, making it a challenge for all swimmers regardless of their experience.

The challenge this time was a huge 3km Open Water race at Sale Water Park, 5 laps of a set course with every swimmer going under the Gantry to time their splits. Even for our 1500m distance swimmer, this represented a tough challenge, with the top 4 from the North East going through to the National Open Water Event at Rother Valley in July.

Thankfully she has prepared well, dipping into the Manvers Lake twice a week during her own time to acclimatise to an Open Water setting, going through the routine drills of sighting, drafting and turns as well as getting a good chunk of distance in both the pool and the lake. All that preparation seemed to be all for nought however when it was announced the Tuesday before the race that it would be without wetsuits (thanks to that one week of sun we’ve got), fortunately she had one more chance of getting in at Manvers without a wetsuit to experience the differences.

With all that said, you never quite know how swimmers will react in their first appearance at an open water event, rewind the clock back to the Open Water Camp at the end of May where Jess was leaving early after suffering a bout of hyperventilation from the cold temperatures and ongoing illness, you could forgive us for having our hearts in our mouths as the race began.

All that preparation paid off big time however, setting off in a heat of 32 swimmers, the leading pack quickly distanced themselves from the rest after the first buoy. Completing the first lap they made their way through the gantry, and as ever with open water you’re trying to recognise the stroke to spot your swimmer, Coach Jordan just managed to spot Jess sighting to the front coming into the gantry in the midst of the leading pack and that’s when the roaring started.

This wasn’t just about turning up and qualifying, this was about putting on a performance to be proud of, proving to herself and to her competition that she’s still the swimmer we know her to be. For anyone who knows Jess well, going out fast is nothing new, sometimes it works and others not so much. So another 7 torturous minutes go by before the leading pack come round to complete lap 2, and she’s still there! By then we know she’s settled down and is able to hold that pace and it was the same lap after lap from there on. Going into the final lap she managed to pick off a couple of swimmers before coming through the gantry for the final time, finishing with 37:02, holding an admirable 7:18-7:30 per lap.

Finishing with Two Gold Medals in the Yorkshire and NER Championships on her Regional Open Water debut is not to be sniffed at, this now takes her to the National Open Water Championships in July. Congratulations Jess you’ve certainly earned it!

For anyone wishing to give Open Water Swimming a go next year, the benchmark has been set, the gauntlet thrown down, and I hope there will be more taking on the challenge in 2025.