Does the Triple Crown of Open Water Call You? Erika Beauchamp Answers the Call, EP 251
May 08, 2024
Kelly Palace and Maria Parker
The Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming includes: 1) Swim Around Manhattan--28.5 Miles 2) Catalina Island Swim--21 Miles 3) English Channel Swim--21+
After surviving Breast Cancer at age 50 Erika Beauchamp decided to attempt the Triple Crown of open water. She has completed the first of three legs to earn this crown. We chat with her about her motivation, training and plans. If you've ever thought about this goal, this show is for you, or if you just want to be inspired!
The Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming includes: 1) Swim Around Manhattan--28.5 Miles 2) Catalina Island Swim--21 Miles 3) English Channel Swim--21+
After surviving Breast Cancer at age 50 Erika Beauchamp decided to attempt the Triple Crown of open water. She has completed the first of three legs to earn this crown. We chat with her about her motivation, training and plans. If you've ever thought about this goal, this show is for you, or if you just want to be inspired!
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the award-winning Champions Mojo, hosted by two world record-holding athletes and health life and leadership coaches. Be inspired as you listen to conversations with champions and now your host, kelly Pallas.
Speaker 2:
I am on deck after a master swim practice in Richmond, virginia, at Quest Swimming with Erica Beauchamp and I am so excited to talk to Erica because she is attempting the triple crown of open water distance swimming. And, erica, thanks for talking to me. You are in between the workout that I did with you, which was I don't know what, was that $4,000? About $5,000.
Speaker 3:
That was $5,000. Now you're taking a break Doing another 5,000.
Speaker 2:
Now you're doing another 5,000. Okay, so we're not going to be too long. So tell us what is the Triple Crown?
Speaker 3:
So the Triple Crown of swimming involves three different open water swims. The first one is called 20 Bridges, which is a swim around Manhattan, and that's about 28 1⁄2 miles. The Catalina swim from Catalina Island, california, to the mainland is about 20 miles, and then the English Channel swim from England to France, about 21 miles.
Speaker 2:
Wow. And so you know, just like a little secret, part of me would love to do that at some point, or wanted to do that. Maybe I'm past doing it, I don't know, not at all. So you are 50 years old, I am, and give us just a little background. How did you come to this? Like, what brought you to want to do this?
Speaker 3:
So I grew up a swimmer. I swam through high school. I had knee injuries and couldn't swim in college, and so after that I kind of went back and forth. I did triathlons for a while, got into Ironman and now my knees are too bad to run. So I got back to my first love, which is swimming.
Speaker 2:
And I love the open water much better than a pool.
Speaker 3:
I hate all the flip turns. They drive me nuts. So when I can hop in the river or the lake and swim, for you know, 10, 15 miles straight, that's pretty cool. So that's my true love. And that's when I started getting the idea of doing the Triple Crown was about two years, two and a half years ago, and about a year and a half ago I had to sign up for the English Channel slot which I have for next year. You have to give about three years notice for that 2025.
Speaker 2:
So you have, so you've done, catalina.
Speaker 3:
No, you've done Manhattan Yep. Catalina is this summer in August, and then next year is English Channel.
Speaker 2:
Okay, what? Which one do you think is the most challenging, or what is the most challenging about the whole thing?
Speaker 3:
I think the most challenging swim is going to be the English Channel because of the water temperature and the currents. I believe it should be between 60 and 62 degrees the water temp for that one, so that one's traditionally the most challenging. I feel like Manhattan's the good beginner one, which is the first one I did, even though it's the longest. You have a current assisting you around the island and you're not really out in the big open water of a channel. And the biggest thing with all three, I think, is you know financially and then just making the time train, and I spread it out over three years. Some people take longer, some people cram it all into a year or two, but just maintaining the training for three years, just cram it all into a year or two, but just maintaining the training for three years to get through it all.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, how? How does that training look like, what does a training week look like, or you know, just in general.
Speaker 3:
So right now I'm starting to build. I'm at about 40,000 a week and I'm going to build slowly. This summer, I think before Catalina I'll be up around 60 for the week, which I think I feel like is a lot more than a lot of people do. I think you could probably make it on 40 a week. It just depends on how your body responds to training. But I typically do three weeks up and then a recovery week. Three weeks up and a recovery. It's a slow build throughout the year.
Speaker 2:
And what about water temperature? So it's hot here already. It's only May and it's hot in Richmond and the water temperature was pretty hot today and I heard it gets really hot. How do you prep for the cold waters?
Speaker 3:
So we do a lot of. I have a lot of friends that swim long too and we hop in the James River while it's cold, and then I also have, luckily, family that lives in Michigan so I can go up there and swim a little bit. But we've definitely found if you do a bunch of swimming in the cold water in the spring, it actually carries over to the summer and you become acclimated and you don't lose that, it seems like in like six months or so. So we do a lot of build in the spring when the water's chilly, and then that carries me over too.
Speaker 2:
So you've put the 28 mile Manhattan swim behind you. What was the hardest part about that?
Speaker 3:
So for that one we were cruising up the East River. We got going like fast, Like I think we were going like six miles an hour at one point, which was so cool. And then we hit the Harlem River about two hours early. So I had to fight the current for about two hours longer than expected as the tides were shifting. So we swam next to the wall and my kayaker, alex he's the best kayaker. I would honestly you should go with him if you can, but he was hand paddling next to the wall and I was right up close next to him for a couple hours and that was definitely the hardest. Wow yeah, fighting the current for that long.
Speaker 2:
Wow yeah, fighting the current for that long? Wow yeah, that's crazy.
Speaker 3:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
So, erica, I know you said that you, you know you were an iron man and you did the long stuff, but how specifically did you decide wake up one morning and say I want to do the triple crown?
Speaker 3:
All right. So the story is in 2019, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and, as I was going through treatment, a wonderful open water swimmer named Sarah Thomas was getting ready to do her four-way English channel crossing and I found out she was a breast cancer survivor. She also still had. She hadn't had the exchange surgery for her implants yet, so she was swimming with the expanders in her chest. And so, as I was undergoing treatment, I was talking to my surgeon and he just thought this was the craziest thing. You know that she could do it with the expanders. So he's like, well, give me six months. When we get you all set, you can do whatever you want.
Speaker 3:
And so, from watching her, she inspired me to get into the water, do up water swims she had done the triple crown, she's done all kinds of stuff and do up water swims she had done the triple crown, she's done all kinds of stuff and so I started researching it more. There's also a local swimmer, courtney Polk, who has done it. And so I followed her and just watching them and I'm like, yeah, I think I really want to do that someday. So, yeah, it was a very cool story.
Speaker 2:
That is really an inspiration, gosh.
Speaker 3:
Wow.
Speaker 2:
And so how long after your breast cancer were you back in the water?
Speaker 3:
your surgery. I had the first surgery, the double mastectomy, in September. In October I was allowed to get in the water and just kick. I couldn't use my arms, and that held true. I could only kick in the water till about January, and then January he's like I had the exchange surgery and he's like you can start using your arms a little bit and I'm just taking off from there. So that was spring of 2020.
Speaker 2:
So before that, you decided you were going to do the Triple Crown, or was it during that?
Speaker 3:
During that period, when I was undergoing treatment and I you know, sarah Thomas was there who had had cancer and was doing all this great stuff since then, yeah, yeah, she just totally inspired me. I'm like all right, I'm doing it. So I started researching and put the plans in place and booked my English channel slot and that is beautiful. I got Chad here at Quest to help me with a plan and he's been coaching me and helping me through it all. Chad's been your coach here he is, yep.
Speaker 2:
So yeah, chad has some great pedigree. Maybe I'll get him on the show. But yeah, quest Swimming here in Richmond's wonderful. So is there anything that I haven't asked you that you think might be good for people to know about the Triple Crown or about you?
Speaker 3:
Oh, I just think, keep getting out there and challenging, pushing your boundaries, that's. You know, I always want to keep doing that, or else I just feel stagnant and I love being in the water and like, all right, what's the next big challenge?
Speaker 2:
Yes, all right. The last question that I always ask is when you dive in, the water can be a lake or ocean or whatever just spiritually, what goes through your mind when you hit the water? Just, happiness.
Speaker 3:
I just I release tension, I put my head down and swim, especially in the open water, more so than the pool for me. The pool, it takes three or four thousand for me to get there, but out in the open water it's just just go and enjoy, you know the view, and just decompress and shut down life, basically, and just have some me time and recharge.
Speaker 2:
Yes, wonderful. Well, we kept it under 10 minutes, thank you.
Speaker 3:
So now you have another five thousand Five thousand to go, thanks for taking the break.
Speaker 2:
Erica we wish you all the best.
Speaker 1:
Thank you so nice meeting you.
Speaker 2:
Nice meeting you.
Speaker 1:
Bye-bye. Thank you for listening to the Champions Mojo podcast. Did you enjoy the show? We'd be grateful if you would leave us a five-star review on iTunes to help others find us, and we'd also love to hear from you. We're on all social media platforms or you can reach us at championsmojocom.
