fortypointtwo

Welcome to the home of the Forty Point Two Challenge:

Almost live updates for the Lake Taupo swim   Check this link for progress!

To swim across Lake Taupo from Little Waihi (near Turangi) to the Taupo foreshore (Yacht club) following Fina open water swimming rules (meaning no wetsuits allowed). 40.2km hopefully in a very straight line with breaks only to refuel the body every half hour.

This site was set up to document Anna Marshall and Jason Papps 40.2 challenge, but now with that goal achieved it’s time to use it to keep up with the latest swimmers as they choose to follow us and take on this special challenge.

The original team:

	Ali Dennis - Coach and Mastermind
	Anna Marshall - Masters Surf Lifesaver, ex Waterpolo Representative, New Zealand Ironman finisher and multiple marathoner looking for an excuse not to do Ironman again
	Jason Papps - Current Canoe polo representative, ex surf lifesaving and waterpolo representative looking for a new goal

Our swim challenge was due to take place either the 23rd or 24th February 2008 (we would choose the best weather day) - oh and what a choice we had!  A very nasty day on Saturday, or just a nasty day on Sunday!  

Jason chose to swim on Sunday the 24th February 2008 while Anna waited for a better day.  She swam on Tuesday the 11th March 2008 - you can read more about our swims on the “The Swim” tab. 

Anna and Jason are both members of Ali’s Kilbirnie swim squad (training at the Wellington Regional Aquatic Centre on Tuesday and Thursday mornings).
Anna started with the squad in January 2007 for final preparations for the Taupo Ironman. Jason joined the group a little later to be able to spend some more quality time with his wife Jacinda who spends many of her waking hours training for elite triathlon competition.
Both Anna and Jason have a competitive background in swimming from their childhoods, but it’s fair to say that this was a long time ago!

Ali recognised early on that both these swimmers had great potential and were in need of a good challenge. For Anna, this is furthering her endurance sport quests but for Jason this is his first foray into the endurance medium.
Ali has experience of the Taupo swim from training up his swimmers to compete in the “Dawn to Dusk” relay events, and having two members of his group Trish Coley and Harvey Steffens complete the individual crossing in 2002 in very difficult weather conditions.
The Goal:  So how did Ali convince these two that this challenge was worthwhile?At it’s most basic, what’s the point in training if you have no goal to reach for…..and if you’re going to have a goal, what’s the point in it being easy?
He gave them the following options and left them to come up with the right answer:
Option 1: Jason to get faster and swim 100m Freestyle in under 60 seconds
Option 2: Anna to complete another Ironman event
Option 3: Both to attempt a Cook Strait crossing – 26km
Option 4: Both to attempt a Lake Taupo crossing – 40.2km
……and so the Forty Point Two challenge was born.