Dover Champions of Champions

Well this weekend was the BLDSA Champions of Champions in Dover Harbour. It was a 5mile, 3mile and 1 mile race one after each other! The 5 mile started at 0930hrs and the 1mile finished at 1730hrs so it was a LONG day! I went to Dover with Karen T and we camped in our motorhome (known as the beast!) at Little Satmar Camp site just outside Dover in Capel-Le-Ferne. It is an excellent site with clean facilities and they really like swimmers so I would recommend it to anyone visiting Dover! Anyway Karen and I got to the harbour in time for the briefing and before we knew it we were off. The weather was a mixture of clouds and sun and the sea was rolling a little. The course was a mile long so we had to swim around 4 big yellow bouys 5 times for the 5 miles, 3 times for the 3 miles and once for the 1 mile! The first 5 mile race wasn't easy and I was lapped by the leaders on my second lap which was a little demotivating!! I was also VERY slow but kept going. I ended the 5 miles in 3hrs 16mins (told you I was slow!) which was disappointing for me!

I didn't have much time to re fuel before we were back in the water for the 3 mile! There also seemed to be more people doing this race as others had appeared. Off we went and I completed the 3 miles in 1hr 51mins which is again slow but not too bad! This time the leaders lapped me just before I completed my second lap!!

The last mile was hard - it was hard to get back in the water after being in and out all day but I did! I actually felt okay and managed to swim the last mile in 36mins which is much quicker than earlier in the day!

Anyone who completed all 3 races were presented with certificates at 1800hrs and it turned out I was the 10th senior lady overall which was okay! Karen was 7th - she did really well and was certainly much quicker than me!!! Well done Karen! Becky L was 3rd lady and was amazing - Well done Becky!!

I had a great day and weekend but it wasn't easy! Good experience and training for the channel swim!