As a proud Western Australian company ACTON like to support local endeavours wherever possible and Ceinwen also
embodies our culture of dedication and commitment to excellence. We thought she was very deserving of some
support and sponsored her swim.
So in mid-September Ceinwen left for the United States with her husband Andy, three other swimming buddies and
support crew, ready to tackle the Catalina Island Crossing.
The swim starts at midnight from the island, to get the best chance of crossing before the sea breeze comes in
around midmorning, and also so the sharks don’t see your shadow cast from the sun onto the ocean shore!! Just
another challenge to be faced.
Unfortunately the first two members of the team were unable to complete their swims, so a lot of hopes were riding
on Ceinwen
The day of the swim was a preparation day of sleeping in, stretching, hydrating, reading and "focusing all my positive
energy and thoughts on the long night ahead. I knew it would take all of my strength to maintain a good pace over
the long distance and to stay positive. I knew it would be hours of enduring the cold, the darkness and the niggles of
pain, and over such a long time this requires back up plans and emergency thoughts of how to keep me going. What
if I felt sick, what if my shoulder plays up again, what if I get too cold, or if I freak out in the dark? I had to know my
reasons for pushing on, changing my attitude or mood, thinking of the positives, and being grateful that I was even
there in the first place."
Ceinwen slipped into the water just after midnight on the 23rd of
September and sprinted off, only to be called back as the crew
hadn't seen her start and hadn't started the stopwatches! A false
start on a 34km swim could have been a massive mental setback,
but Ceinwen simply started again.
It wasn't easy, she experienced nausea, a headache, pain, wind and
choppy conditions, thick kelp and cold water. Finally she neared the
shore, but the challenges weren't quite over:
"I start to see rocks underwater and they are absolutely covered
with sea urchins. I heard about Gr