7.28 am.
Three hundred metres off the coast of Port Phillip Bay.
Right arm swings past, then the left ... kick, kick, kick.
The pattern continues consistently, monotonously, like a clock counting seconds.
Despite being out in the ocean, the conditions are flat and docile and there isn’t much noise, except for the paddle of a canoe and the sound of Stuart Shaw swimming alongside.
Shaw has been swimming in the open ocean for almost 90 minutes and, if things go well, the race should last for only 4½ more hours. Roughly.
As the time ticks over to 7.30am, Shaw stops to rest with his paddler, who provides the swimmer with some of his prepared mid-race energy snacks — pureed pouches of vegan rice cream and mash potato and gravy.
Shaw is participating in an Ultra 24 event where 34 competitors must swim 24km from Safety Beach to Sorrento in the open ocean.
For this Herculean effort Shaw has been preparing for months.
He trained by swimming 30km or more a week before having to qualify for the race by competing in a 10km open ocean swim at Geelong late last year.
With his body refuelled, the stopwatches reset to 30 minutes and the eagerness to test himself, Shaw pushes back off the canoe and restarts his marathon swim.
Right arm swings past, then the left ... kick, kick, kick.
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On a sunny afternoon down at Shepparton Aquamoves, 48-year-old Shaw spoke about how important his preparation was and why he used alternative snacks to keep him going during the race.
“You have to have regular stops to refuel,” he said.
“Our plan was to stop every half-an-hour and I had some made-up meals in a pouch and I made sure they were puréed up and had those and a sip of drink, and then we would set our watches again and go for another half-an-hour. Then, we would discuss how that last half-hour went.
“I tried using gels and energy drinks and all that, but they just made me feel sick.
“Normally, I wouldn’t enjoy that (vegan rice cream and mashed potato and gravy), but when you have been swimming for a while, it tastes very nice.”
The race was earlier this year on February 17, with Shaw and his fellow competitors taking to the water at Safety Beach at Port Phillip Bay at 6am.
Shaw’s high-level training, impressive stamina and creative nutrition led to the Shepparton athlete storming home, taking second place with an impressive time of 6.17:29, nearly two minutes ahead of third place.
“It was dark when we set off and the conditions were fantastic; it was flat and the first two hours of the race were against the tide — which they told us was going to happen,” he said.
“After that there was no tide and then the last few hours was with the tide.
“I loved it. I love being in the ocean. I loved the challenge and the fact I could break it up into small chunks. I loved that I was lucky enough to see so many beautiful things in the water.
“Saw a couple of things that would have scared me normally. A couple of sharks, Port Jacksons. It was enough to make me jump a little bit,“ he said with a laugh.
“A couple of big rays and just a lot of sea life, which was pretty cool to see. They were underneath me; you wouldn’t see them all the time, but occasionally.”
Shaw works with disengaged students at Berry Street School as his day job, an occupation that he says he loves due to its rewarding nature.
During the interview, Shaw conceded he was close to cancelling as he does not like to toot his own horn per se.
However, the endurance athlete remembered hearing about the Ultra event and how it inspired him to compete.
Something that he hopes will happen to others when they read this article.
“My message is, I want to inspire other people to try and get out of their comfort zones,” he said.
“This got me out of my comfort zone and I would love for this to inspire somebody else to try something. It doesn’t have to be this big; it can just be coming down to the pool for a swim and getting yourself active.
“That’s the main message I wanted to get across.
“I am very grateful. I did this not only for me, but hopefully, somebody else will look at getting out of their comfort zone.”
Shaw was firm in his gratitude for those around him who helped inspire and support him while he undertook this mammoth challenge.
“I am extremely grateful to have been able to do this swim and it was a real team effort,” he said.
“I’d especially like to thank Liliana Angeles and Ingrid Fraser for giving me my inspiration as they had done this swim in 2023. Ingrid Fraser (again) and Tommy Avram for working on my injured shoulder to get me over the line.
“Pat Brophy, my support paddler, without his patience and support, I would never have made it — Luke and Lizzy Martin for making the trip down and the amazing drone shots.
“The Goulburn Valley Crocs Team for their training and comradeship. Finally, my beautiful family, Laura, Erica, Isla and Kiera, for their unwavering support and tolerating grumpy Dad after all those long and exhausting swimming sessions leading up to the race.”