| Paddlers | Bridget Boulle & Angela Taylor |
| Boat | Double Surfski |
| Course | Long Course |
| Year | 2026 |
| Finish Time | 3:40:23.6 |
| Category | 80–99 Women |
Editor’s note: Bridget sent us this story as a voice note on her way to her sister’s house for a sauna after the race. We’ve transcribed it exactly as she told it — raw, honest, and very much Bridget.
So I’m giving you the full post-match report, right off the bat, before I forget and my brain goes blank.
It was — yeah, it was good. I don’t know, it was good. The conditions were very, very tough. I didn’t realise how tough until we got in. They had to delay prize giving because everybody was so late coming in. So I guess that just gives you a sense of it. It was hard.
The Forecast (and What We Missed)
It was interesting because when we read the forecast, the one thing that was consistent across all of them was that the swell was going to be massive. We knew that. We definitely knew that. And we knew it was going to be a bit of a problem around the island. But the thing with big swell — in my kind of, I don’t know, slightly faulty mind — is that swell is just swell. You just bob over it, right? Even when it’s big, you just don’t want to be anywhere near where it’s breaking. So it’s definitely doable as long as it’s not breaking. You just have to give the island a hell of a wide berth, which we always plan to do. So no problem there.
The wind forecast wasn’t too bad, and I was very glad about that. If the wind had been really bad, I’d have been like, hell no. And the wind was pretty much fine — a bit of a headwind on the way back, which was less than ideal, but it was all right.
What I kind of didn’t estimate was how choppy it would be. You’re spending a lot of energy just balancing and you’re just not going very fast. The first few K’s were especially choppy. The swell hadn’t really picked up yet that much — it was big enough, but it was just constantly choppy. Constantly.
And then I had dressed for the cold because the forecast said a maximum of about 15 degrees, so I was expecting to be cold. But actually the water wasn’t that cold — it was about 15 degrees, which is cool, but it’s not Atlantic cold, it’s not 12 degrees. And the sun came out. And I was so fucking hot the first few K’s it made me feel sick. I just wanted to claw at myself, I was so hot. I had a neoprene vest on and this other heat layer thing and a windbreaker. I kept trying to flush water down my front, but it just wasn’t enough. I could not keep cool.
Five-Metre Swells and a Stomach That Said No
Whether it was from the heat or from the swell, I can’t really tell, but about five K’s in — just as we started getting towards the island — I started feeling pretty shit. Pretty queasy and nauseous. And I was like, oh shit, that’s not a feeling I expected to have. I think it was seasickness, just from all the bobbing up and down, maybe mixed with the heat.
I was trying to drink as much as possible. I had electrolytes, energy stuff, a bar — just trying to get something in me, thinking it might settle my stomach. But it was not making things great.
Then we came round the island. The wild side. And the swell was fucking huge. So, so big. The forecast was something like 3.4 metres average, but Brendan looked at the buoy readings, which are more accurate, and he said on the sets it was five metres. And that didn’t even seem big enough. It was like houses moving towards you. Double storey houses. So, so big.
Which — it’s just swell, right? When it’s not going to break on you, it’s not that bad. But I just got sicker and sicker and sicker. And then I was like, oh my God, I’m gonna throw up. And then I threw up, right there, as we’re making our way around the island.
Angela was like, “You all right?” I was like, “Uh…” She’s like, “Do you want to throw up?” I’m like, “I already have.” She’s like, “Oh, shit.”
Poor Angela. She had to put in a double shift because I was really, really just hanging on. We carried on and carried on and carried on. And then we got around the island and I was just — vomiting. Vomiting and vomiting until there was nothing left in my stomach. And there’s vomit everywhere, all over me. I was like, mm, lovely. Isn’t this delightful?
Poor Angela was like, “I don’t know what to do, so I’m just keeping on paddling.”
I was like, “No — that is the only and best thing you can do.” There were no safety boats around where we were at that point. The swell was so big it was almost impossible to see where the safety boats were. And if we’d stopped, it would have got a hundred times worse. So I said, “Don’t do that. Just keep going.”
She’s like, “I don’t know what to do. I’m just going to keep going.”
I was like, “Just keep going. You’re doing a brilliant job.” She was paddling for two, basically. She was doing a sterling job.
Anyway, to be fair, after that huge mother of all spews, I was much better. You know when you just — oh, I just needed that out. Much better. And then I was able to kind of actually string together a bit of a paddle.
I had been paddling the whole time in between, just not very strong paddling. I was putting in, but it wasn’t the best strokes. But to be fair, neither of us were taking the best strokes because it was so choppy. You’re sort of just doing what you can.
Taryn’s S3 and a Very Large Tanker
And then the last stretch — it takes for bloody ever. Which, to be fair, I was expecting, because people did say that last stretch just goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on. You just feel like that stadium is never fucking getting closer. And that is definitely true. It felt like it was never fucking getting closer.
We were really lucky though. I don’t know if you know a girl called Taryn — I think we’ve paddled with her before. Anyway, she was on an S3 with two other people, Bronwyn and someone else. We kind of just tagged them. Stuck with them. And because they paddle at Oceana a lot, they knew the best line to take. That was really good. They helped us around the island massively because we just tied on to them. We were really lucky to have them.
And then, probably about four K’s from shore — this fucking tanker. Luckily, on the way there, we’d got a lift with two other people from the club and they’d actually spoken about how you can run into big tankers. I was like, what? I thought that was the reason they can’t change the dates — because they managed to free up some of the traffic. I didn’t expect it to be completely clear, but still.
So then this huge tanker comes. And I’m like, “Is that a tanker?” And Angela’s like, “Yeah.” “Is it moving?” “Yeah.”
And it looks so far away, but those things are so huge and they move so quickly. Luckily, the guys had said: just be careful, those tankers move much quicker than you think. They’re so big you think you can get in front of them, cross in front of them, but you absolutely cannot. Go around the back. So we did that and it was fine. But Jesus — from the angle it was coming, it was hard to see which direction it was actually heading. Anyway, we got around the tanker. A bit scary, but it did at least take my mind off feeling like shit. So that was good.
The Wall
Then we got into a reasonable rhythm. We were going all right with like — I don’t know — four K’s to go. It was long, but we were like, okay, we’ve got this. By that stage, I was not looking for safety boats anymore. I was like, right — now we better fucking paddle this in, baby. I’m not quitting now. Not at this point.
If there had been a safety boat near us while I was chucking my guts up coming around the island, I would have taken it. But at that point — no. No.
Then we were going quite well, and then Angy hit a wall because she had really been putting in a big shift. We both started getting a bit colder. By that stage the layers were actually useful because we were cooling down and our muscles were stiffening up. And I just couldn’t take on any liquid or fuel. My stomach was like — ugh.
I had stupidly filled my bladder with electrolytes. I’d tried that method out in training, so you’ve constantly got something coming in. It was very diluted but it still had a taste. And actually, I just wanted normal water. Anything with a taste was making me feel queasy. So — okay, we’ll chalk that one up to experience. Next time: just water, please. Put your energy stuff in a separate bottle. You live and you learn.
Sorry — you’re getting the full blow by blow. I’m on my way to my sister’s house now for a sauna, which will be nice.
So yeah — Angy hit a wall and the last two K’s, we both kind of hit a wall. I tried to pull her through the last two K’s but I didn’t have much left in me. The last two K’s were really pretty hard.
The Finish Line
It was only the last — I don’t know — 600 metres. Then I could actually see the kids. I could see Brendan. And I just teared up. I was like, oh, I just want to be there. You know? You’re just so emotional.
Anyway, it was really lovely getting in. My parents were there, my brother came, my kids were there, Brendan was there. It was really nice. And then obviously lots of people came down and they were just like, “The conditions were so tough — well done.” Everybody was basically going on about the conditions.
We were hoping to do it in under three hours. Oh my God, who were we kidding? We did it in about 3:45 in the end. But we didn’t come last. Not even by a long stretch. Quite a few people came after us. Including — oh shame — one guy, the last guy to come in, was out for six hours. Old guy in a single. All out. I mean, Jesus, what a crazy dude. He must have been 70. Just coming in in a single.
And Andrew, who I train with — he’s also part of the squad, he’s 70-ish — yeah, he did it in a single as well. Shame, when he came in he looked hypothermic. There were a few people that were very cold when they came in. And I sort of didn’t realise — because I was fairly chilly by the time we got in, and I had been massively overheating before — that if you weren’t as layered up as I was at the beginning, you were going to be very cold by the end. People were very cold. Some were quite shattered. And quite a few people had been rescued. A few people gave up.
Actually, even Monica — who’s at the club and is like fucking hardcore — and Fiona, who we were going to kind of stick with, we never found them. Well, they turned back after a few K’s. So when we heard that, we felt a bit like, oh okay. Yeah, I think we did all right in the end.
We were happy with ourselves. But it definitely — as funny as it sounds — Angela, on the way back from the island, doing the long trek back towards the stadium, I was like: the only thing going around in my head was I’m never fucking doing Cape Point Challenge. I’m never doing it. That was the only thing going around in my head.
But now, in the light of day — I don’t know. I still don’t know if I’d be able to do it. But it was really cool. Other than feeling like shit — if I hadn’t felt like shit, it would have been quite a cool adventure. Because it was pretty amazing to be out there with this absolutely fucking ginormous swell and just be like — holy shit. Not many people get to do this in this teeny tiny boat, you know? So that’s a cool feeling.
Anyway. Now I’m at my sister’s house. You’ve had the full blow by blow as I made my way here. And I’m gonna hop in the sauna.
Hope you guys have a good day. And good luck with tomorrow and the start of everything to come. All right. Bye.
— Bridget Boulle | 2026 Prescient Freedom Paddle | Double Surfski Long Course | 3:40:23.6 | Category: 80–99 Women
