1.1 How this crew guide came to be written
This crew guide was written first as a resource for my sisters, who had never crewed a solo marathon swim before but were going to be supporting me on a multi-way crossing of Lake Willoughby, and I continued developing the content for my own first time as the crew chief for a friend's swim across Lake Memphremagog. We had to figure things out for both swims, so I wrote it all down along the way and sharing here so that other swimmers or crew persons can use whatever they found helpful for their own swims...​
Swimmers and crew members will all have different needs and ways of doing things, and this will shape the extent to which they plan and get organized ahead of a big swim.​ The information you'll find here is written for someone who is crewing for the very first time, but my hope is that both novice and seasoned swimmers and support crew alike find it useful too and contribute from their own experiences so it continues to grow and evolve. In addition to building out the content, at the bottom of each topic page are photos and videos submitted by swimmers and support crew illustrating practices they used in their own swims. If you have suggestions, photos or videos from your own experiences to share here, let's chat - send me an email! wildbigswim@gmail.com
1.2 How to use this information in swim planning
The swimmer is ultimately responsible for the "swimmer side" of any solo or relay marathon swim - knowing the swim route and rules of conduct, having a support crew in place that is informed, skilled and equipped, and leading preparations ahead of the swim. The swimmer may want crew members to take on and lead certain things for them, so it's best for the swimmer to have a conversation with crew members about this to make sure everyone is on the same page. If the swimmer's crew members are the happy hyper planning type, they might be willing to take on planning tasks such as making lists of the supplies and gear that will be needed, writing up the swimmer's feed and medication plan, organizing calls for team discussions, picking up supplies, and so forth. It makes sense to approach the planning as a team, since the crew will be in charge of managing things on the boat once the swim gets underway and the swimmer will have to trust them and let go of any control they have over the process at that point.
This crew guide is written in a way to support both the swimmer and the crew, no matter who has agreed to take on these tasks. It's organized with two streams of information in mind, so that readers can easily find whatever is most useful to them:
​
-
How the swimmer and crew can plan and prepare for a swim
​​
-
How the crew can handle things once the swim gets underway
If you're crewing or solo swimming for the first time, you're probably wondering just how much planning ahead of time you'll need to do. It depends on what the swim is and how you're built. I come from a project management background, and my brain is wired to think of swims as little projects where I get to think through everything that might be needed, develop mitigations for risks, and go down rabbit holes on the ‘what ifs’. For me, being organized ahead of time isn’t about needing to control every aspect of a swim, that’s impossible to do anyhow, but instead it’s about being as ready as possible so that I can focus on other things when the big day comes. Once my planning work is done for a swim, my stress about it just melts away. And I think most people in a crewing role would appreciate having information ahead of time so that they can feel prepared going into the swim too.
​
Section 5 Getting organized ahead of time talks more about how to plan leading up to the swim and the Document templates for written materials you might want to put together for your crew. Just ideas, of course!