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!

BLDSA Wykeham Lake

It was a relaxing weekend just gone as I was competing in my first ever long distance race. I swam the BLDSA Wykeham Lake 5km race. It was excellent - the weather was really sunny and the water in the lake was very comfortable. We had to swim a 5 lap course and it was really well organised. Karen T came up from the west midlands also to compete. We both finished - I managed it in 1hr 43mins which is quite slow as I understand the winner swam it in 46mins!! BUT at least I wasn't last!

Swan Pool

Last weekend I made a trip to the midlands! On saturday I met up with Karen T (from my Gozo trip) to take part in a 1000m race with triathletes on a lake near Milton Keynes. It was fun watching 98 triathletes done full body wetsuits when all I had was a swimming costume. As we got in the water to start my initial thought was how warm the water felt - as I looked over all I could see was people shivering as they waited to start! Anyway I did the 'Big Cow' race in 20.58mins which turned out to put me 74th overall and 3rd female vet - not bad seen as it was my first ever swimming race!
Anyway on the sunday (the real reason for going to the midlands!) was a 6hour swim in Swan Pool, Sandwell, Nr Birmingham. Dan Earthquake from the Channel Swimming Association had arranged for the swim to take place in order for swimmers to undertake a 6 hour qualifing swim for the channel. Myself and Karen had already done our 6 hour swim in Gozo but I reackoned it was good practice! Well the weather was awful - it was ponking it down with rain and cloudy! Both Karen and I hid underneath our cagoules until the last minute in the vain hope Dan was going to cancel the event! He didn't and at 11am precisley off we went! The pool is a 800m lap course around 7 bouys so I worked out each lap would take me about 16mins or so! The water was okay and not too cold! To cut a long and boring story short both Karen and myself managed the 6 hours! I swam 20lengths (10miles) but I don't know how many lengths Karen did (it was certainly more than me!)
As I got out of the water at 5pm the rain had stopped and the sun was trying to come out between the clouds! I was tired but okay and not too shivery! I really enjoyed the swim (sad I know!). I then headed off to my aunts house 20mins away for a welcome bath and beef stew!! Big thanks to Karen and Peter, Dan, the lifeboat crew who did safety for us for the whole 6 hours (how boring was that!?), Aunty Linda and Jim!!

Lake Coniston Again Again!!

Hi everyone
Yep I was back in Lake Coniston this weekend - this time I had visitors as 2 really good friends of ours - Gio and Kath joined us on the lake - they have a new inflatable kayak also so wanted to have a play! My aim was to swim at least 5 hours but this would depend on the weather and water conditions. As you know it was scorchio this weekend - the sun was out all of the time however the water hadn't warmed up that much! It was 13C which was okay! On saturday we got to the lake and I set off - after the usual 'oh my god its cold' thoughts I set off - the aim to swim for 2 hours down the lake - feed then cut across to the other side and then back down, next feed in 1 hr and every hour afterwards. As I got to just over 1 hour my mind decided it had had enough and I had an overwhelming urge to give up!! I decided to rethink at the feed and by that time came I was okay again! I carried on!! In the end I managed 5hours and 18mins which was really great - I felt good and could have carried on! The only thing I suffered was really bad cramp in my calfs!! God it was agony! I need to think about how to rectify this!

My first taste of the channel

Hi all
Well this weekend was my first taste of the channel - we went to Dover on friday until the monday and stayed in Little Satmar Holiday Park in our motorhome which was lovely.
On saturday we turned up to the beach front and met up with Freda Streeter who organises the swims as a matter of safety. Everyone is given numbered and coloured hats - red for solo and yellow for relay swimmers. She then gives a brief of where to swim and for what length of time! I was number 12 and we had 3 hours to swim with a feed on the shore at 1 1/5hrs. The water was 12C and the sun was out so it was loveley swimming! John plodded up and down in his kayak keeping a watchful eye on me and the other swimmers. I managed 8500m in the 3 hours. Sunday was pretty much the same except we were given 4 hours this time - feed after 2 hrs, 3 hrs then swim 1 more hour if you could! The sun was shining but it was really windy so there was a big chop in the water especially swimming to the eastern side! I managed the 4 hrs!
Big thanks to Freda, Nick and John! 7 hours sea swimming was difficult but good fun!

My lovely support team!

This is my lovely support team - all 3 will be on the boat coordinating my swim and feeds. They are (from left to right) - Laura, John and Carol.

Lake Coniston Again!

John and I went back to Lake Coniston last weekend (16 - 17th May) and stayed in a really good campsite called Park Coppice (Caravan Club) in our motorhome. It was quite blustery and raining for most of the weekend. The water temp was 10.5C which was freezing and instantly my hands and feet froze again! I put my head down and started swimming however the wind was making the water choppy and difficult to swim in! I managed 2hrs and 7mins before my entire body froze and decided it was time to get out. I struggled to stand due to my feet being numb but John helped me out! The shivers came quickly and it took me a while to thaw!! I did love it though!! Thanks to John for keeping an eye on me in his inflatable kayak even though he struggled to keep going in the wind!