#TAW R10 S6 RT199 Guinness World Record 021119

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Saturday 2nd November was a very special day for #TeamAngelWolf ... it was the day we attempted and achieved 2 Guinness World Records!

The goal was for Nick to swim 5kms and 10kms in open water, pulling his son, Rio, (a Person With Disabilities) in his kayak.

The venue for the attempt was Dubai Offshore Sailing Club; a beautiful venue, we love it there! Thank you DOSC for being amazing hosts and for all the support and help you gave us; we are very grateful. Truly, it was a perfect venue, for such a huge challenge!

We went down to the site the day before to prep everything, and, it was such beautiful, perfect conditions; calm, flat water - it was exciting to see, knowing it would make for a wonderful swim the next day!

Then the day of the challenge came - everything was different within 24 hours! The wind had picked up over night, the sea was very choppy and rough and steadily got worse throughout the day.
People kept reminding us, that if this was an official triathlon race, it would get cancelled ...but to us, as long as Rio was safe and happy, then the show still goes on! Rio’s safety and happiness always comes first. We knew Rio would love the sensory of choppy water and that there were two boats shadowing us for safety; so try we would.
If Rio became unhappy or if it became not safe, we stop ... that is always our rule.

We were very grateful that His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council Saeed Hareb came to see the start and finish of the challenge; to have this level of support was a huge honour for us and our mission! Thank you Dubai Sports Council.

We also had an official judicator from Guinness World Record with us, watching us very carefully from one of the boats for the whole 10kms to make sure we kept to the rules!
Nick had very strict rules and guidelines on what he was and wasn’t allowed to do, e.g. he was allowed to be passed his fluids/food but he could not touch anyone or the boat or land for the whole 10kms.
We are very grateful for the support that Guinness World Record gave us for this challenge; thank you GWR Arabia.

We were happily surprised and very thankful to all the people from the community that came along to support us that day; so many helped supporting from the beach, and, we had over 55 people choose to give up there time and energy to swim along side Nick and Rio for parts or all of the challenge; we appreciate that they did this, especially considering how rough the water was! We know that some swimmers got seasick it was that rough! So THANK YOU to you all for the help and support you gave us, making sure that we completed the challenge and guarding Rio and Nick; very grateful to you all and so glad we could share the experience of swimming alongside Rio, so you could see first hand why we do what we do!
Rio was our inspiration that day. We do not know many 16 year old boys that would sit happily in a kayak for over 6 hours in rough water and never moan ... he smiled, giggled, clapped his hands and sang (especially ‘Happy Birthday’) for the whole 10kms ... always just enjoying the given moment; he loved the experience ... he is our rock star!

As always thank you to our #TAW Athlete Pack family that are always there by our side for support - always grateful to you all.

Mum (Mama Wolf) was the support team in one of the boats, keeping a close eye on Rio; giving him regular liquids and foods; and passing Nick his nutrition and liquids he needed.
She soon discovered that she had not outgrown a childhood memory of seasickness ... she managed to hold out for a couple of hours on the boat, but then the seasickness was unbearable, so with huge guilt she had to have a break and for the first time pass her role onto someone else (thank you Tania!) which confused Rio for a while! With a recovery break, she returned to her role back on the boat for the last few kilometres!

Little Wolf (a.k.a Tia) had lots of fun on the beach that day hanging out with friends and SUP boards!

Considering the conditions, Nick did amazing! The last 3 kms were tough for Nick with exhaustion; but knowing he had already come that far, hearing Rio happily sing and the motivation support from the Pack of swimmers with him kept him going!

Final time for the distances was:
5kms: 2 hours 42 minutes 48 seconds
10kms: 6 hours 6 minutes 52 seconds

... had the conditions been calmer water, we know we would have completed much faster times!

The next day we revisited the venue ... and typically ... beautiful, calm water conditions ... absolutely perfect for a 10km swim ... oh well, it all makes for a better dramatic story for such an epic challenge!

Thank you Guinness World Record and GWR Arabia for all your support in making this challenge happen and helping us spread our mission messages further to help create a more inclusive, healthier, kinder global community!

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