Thanks to my coach, who announced first thing on Monday morning, completely out of the blue, that he had booked me onto a six hour Channel qualifying swim at the beginning of May, I felt I needed to get back into the open water sooner, rather than later - despite the practically Baltic temperatures! I am not actually swimming the Channel, but I am swimming Windermere two way in August, so he thought it would be good to not only to do a long swim, but to also be able to practice feeding from the boat. I was sceptical about it being a good idea, on the back of the temperature, but eventually, after the promise of coffee and a large slice of ‘recovery’ chocolate cake afterwards, I agreed. This meant though that if I was to have any chance of staying in for at least some of the six hours, I really needed to get back into the lake straight away to habituate, and as there was no time like the present, decided to swim that same weekend.
By the end of the week though, I was seriously regretting the decision that I’d made to do it, because unfortunately as the week progressed, it became clear that the 'uncharacteristically higher than the norm temperatures for this time of year' that we had had for the previous two weeks were not destined to continue, and the predicted forecast on the day of my swim was winds of up to forty miles an hour combined with a lot of vertical rain! Very non-tropical, and not one bit like the weather I had hoped for, or indeed had recently become accustomed to. This change back to the more seasonal temperatures that March brought, made me wonder if it was worth hanging fire until the temperatures were at least in double figures before I braved it, and if I was being honest, I would prefer to hold out for it being somewhere a little more Mediterranean, but that would probably mean waiting until the twelfth of never…
So, I dug out my wetsuit and open water kit bag, and I won’t lie, it was a struggle to remember what I actually needed to pack for the swim, other than the new goggles I'd purchased especially (well it was a special occasion after all)! Thankfully swim bud (Shark) sent me a list that included: wetsuit, hot water bottle, bobble hat, swim socks, swim cap, Swimzi, flask, ear plugs, bucket, tons of clothes and a towel. I noted that she deliberately left off the nasty non-Crocs that I knew she had a lack of love for, but I smuggled them in anyway, knowing that there was a good chance that she would find them and probably try and hide them somewhere, like the bin for example, as my previous arguments in favour of the nasty non-Crocs being an essential part of my kit (regardless of being horrid), fell on deaf ears. She remained absolute in her dislike. Despite the comprehensive list, I was still worried that I hadn’t packed enough. I had been hypothermic before and knew the importance of getting warm again (the right way) after the swim, and so I packed several extra layers, a silver blanket and some hand warmers. I was, in my youth, a Girl Guide, and that “be prepared’ ethos drummed into us all back then, was finally standing me in good stead, even though it put the car’s suspension under some considerable stress! It was a good job really that Shark only came along to hold my towel, demonstrate her David Bailey skills and cheer me on with encouraging words like “put your back into it…” rather than swimming herself, because you could forgive me for thinking that I was including a week long holiday at the same time, I had left no swimming eventuality uncovered, leaving absolutely no room whatsoever for anything else.
I don’t mind admitting, I felt more than a little apprehensive on the drive to the lake, partly because it had been a while since I was last in, but mostly because although I’d packed my wetsuit to wear, I wasn’t entirely convinced that I would be able to fit into it after spending the winter months practically living in the pool which, thanks to the extra practice, had left my shoulders much bulkier than they were last year, and although this meant that they would be stronger, and more able to get me through my long swim (still can’t manage to do one single solitary press up though, despite my very best efforts), but the downside would be that the likelihood of me fitting into my wetsuit were slim at best, but as skins was absolutely not an option, it had the possibility to be the shortest trip ever without so much as me even putting a toe in the water! I explained my fears to Shark, but I needn’t have worried. She was nothing if not determined, and I knew how she loved a challenge. Let’s just say that after a lot of heavy handedness and a knee in my back, I was in. I’ll admit it was very, very snug, but I was in!
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Once I was off and had finally caught my breath I settled into a more even breathing pattern and began swimming heads up breast stroke. Breast stroke for two reasons, firstly because it was really cold; it was the best way to avoid the inevitable and uncomfortable ice-cream head, and secondly because if I’d seen even one fish/tadpole/leaf I know I would have panicked. A lot. And that would have cut short an already really short swim. To be honest, there could have been a shoal of sharks next to me, and I would have been completely oblivious, and I began thinking that this heads up swimming was definitely something to consider as the way forwards for me, solely on the back of that! The last lap I swam front crawl. This was not because I was feeling more confident, but rather instead because I panicked a little at the bottom end of the lake, and then noticed that there were several other swimmers ahead of me, so I figured that if I caught them up (front crawl being the fastest way), any hungry fish that I had convinced myself were in the lake, that were looking for lunch, would be less likely to have a nibble of me if the pickings were rich!
I wasn’t in the water for very long, but it was long enough to remind me of all of the reasons why I love swimming in open water. I felt invigorated and energetic … and hungry! The very lovely Bake Off Chris, to give him his full title (part of my swim famalam, who is never allowed to not swim there, obviously because he is a great guy, a great swimmer and an all- round good egg, and absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with his amazing baking skills) had made some chocolate brownies, which he informed me he’d made to celebrate me coming back to the lake because he realised that it was too short notice to be able to book a marching band or organise a fly-over in time. This was such a lovely thought, but unfortunately, I had given up chocolate for Lent! If I had known he was baking I would have hinted very heavily that I really liked lemon drizzle cake. All was not lost though, and as I was not above such things, took four of them home with me to freeze for after Easter!
I admit that I was quite apprehensive about getting back into the lake, I’ll also admit that it may not have been entirely just down to getting back into the cold water that made me so … and whilst it wasn’t the longest of swims, it was a lovely reminder of how much I love being in the open water, how much I have missed my swim famalam and unfortunately how much I really, really need to get myself a new, and better fitted, wetsuit!
One last note, you can also follow my progress on YouTube, where I do a vlog, and I post (usually) daily updates. You can also find me on Twitter, Instagram and on my Facebook page, Open Water Woman, and for those of you that would like to read more about my Windermere one way swim in 2017, my book Open Water Woman Swims Windermere is available on Amazon.
Here are the links:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Open-Water-Woman-Swims-Windermere/dp/1980614660/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546178539&sr=8-1&keywords=open+water+woman+swims+windermere
