eau de chlorine

Its that time of year when the open water swims are drawing short if not to a close, with it the unwilling re attendance at the grotty swimming pool with the hideous chemicals and associated tedium. Whilst we are attempting to maintain a weekly swim in the sea, the pool will slowly take over and the distances increased on a weekly basis probably til around April/May next year.

Actually last week I managed to squeeze in three swims at Seaton Carew, twice with Channel Swimmer Joe, and once with the girls all of whom made it to the buoy...congratulations and welcome to our little club!!
The water is holding steady around 11-12c though the sea state changes by the day.

My first real pool session was last Thursday (17 Nov) with the familiar 5500m descending ladder, ie 1000, 900, 800 etc. down to 100. I like to use this session as a gauge or benchmark as to my fitness level. I was pleased to see I haven't lost too much yet this year. I just need to be sensible on the build up in order to avoid any overuse injuries. Other than that Charlie and I have been getting in the school pool each Sunday for some drills with Chris Pearson (he swam Windermere 1 way with me back in 2010) hopefully we can continue this til at least Christmas.

There you have the latest update...Im off to meet Batman at Seaton today in the fog...should be fun..brrrrr

Lake Windermere One Way

Rising at 6am on Wednesday 25th August after a reasonable nights sleep, the weather looked fantastic as I walked the dog, prior to the usual uncomfortable and dreaded forcing down of porridge. This eating first thing on a morning lark never gets easier for me. The car was packed with enough supplies to feed every living relative! Chris Pearson arrived (he was going to swim in his wetsuit and as many other bits of rubber / under garments as he could find) Departing from home at 7am I was surprised by the amount of traffic using the roads as we crossed the A66. Progress was thwarted by the odd heavy goods vehicle, caravan or tractor. Ambleside as always, was a welcome sight, however just as Windermere itself came into sight...so did Chris' breakfast! not what I wanted to see, hear or smell. A brief welfare break and we were once more enroute to Bowness our intended rendezvous point with the rest of 'Team Robson'.

I had reserved an electric boat at Shepherds for a couple of reasons...no physical exertion to be required, some cover from the weather would be afforded to the crew, the noise would be minimal if any and most importantly there would be zero fumes to upset my stomach or head whilst swimming.

The ever jovial Sarah Tunnicliffe had already arrived, closely followed by our skipper for the day Mark 'Pash' Pashby, after introductions, hugs (and hungry parking meters) we off loaded the cars, the girls stowed everything on the boat whilst Pash was briefed by the horizontal laid back staff.

Moments later, slightly behind schedule we left Bowness and motored (at 4mph!) to Fell Foot the official start point of the swim. This was ample time for me to brief Sarah regarding the finer points of my feeding plan and Pash for the best route to Ambleside, as Chris rested his weary head.

Conditions looked near perfect, a slight breeze, breaking clouds, I couldn't have wished for more. The crew were chatting away, picking out landmarks for navigation purposes and becoming slightly nervous at the imminent event, to the extent that we all needed the toilet! With Fell Foot in full view Chris squeezed into his rubber torpedo suit, Pash skillfully moored us at the jetty, it was time to strip, grease up and commence my attempt to swim Englands longest lake.

(Some Windermere Facts: ten and a half miles long and a mile and a quarter across at it's widest point, with a depth of up to 220 feet. The lake is so large that it has a slight but discernable tide. Deeper than the English Channel.)

Chris stood on the Jetty dancing around freeing himself from nervous energy as I applied Vaseline around the arm pits, neck and groin, the crew took their positions, Pash started the clock at 11:14am as I lowered myself into the water and began stroking in as relaxed a manner as possible. Initially we had to manoeuvre around several moored yachts before having much open water ahead. The boat was positioned to my right hand side, so all I had to do was breath, I was completely confident of being piloted the shortest possible route, I didn't want to have to sight ahead which strains my neck, it was great having the boat for company, knowing all my needs were taken care off by a very upbeat, enthusiastic crew.

The arrangement was to feed every 30 minutes taking Maxim and possibly some solids in the shape of jelly babies, chocolate rolls, jaffa cakes, milky ways or similar. I had pre mixed the maxim just before we left home using the guide Nick Adams posted on the Channel group earlier this season. All Sarah needed to do was pour 200mls into the feed bottle, add 200mls of hot water, attach to the 'Cliff Golding reel and line' and dispatch to the swimmer.

The first feed arrived in what seemed like no time at all, I commented to KGB that the water was 62F, drank the maxim as quick as possible together with two jellies, and swam on. At this point my stroke rate was 64spm. I felt great. The next couple of feeds were fairly uneventful, Sarah was keeping notes on what I consumed, Pash logged the location as KGB snapped away with the camera..it was going like clock work.

According to Pashs' log:
Feed 2 @ 12:15 Blake Holme Nab..Plain Maxim 400mls
Feed 3 @ 12:45 Dog Nab.. Maxim and Coffee 400 mls. Stroke Rate 68 spm.
Update @ 12:54 passing Beech Hill Hotel
Feed 4 @ 13:15 Rawlinsons Nab..Maxim 400mls

So.. two hours had now passed, Pash recorded that I was in good spirits, was joking about the water temperature and splashing the crew mid stroke, I remember splashing both Pash through his open window and Sarah (she was quick to tell me off). I was happy enough, but was developing a bit of a headache which I put down to the Cressi goggles I opted for at the start (they have yellow lenses and make any day look bright and cheerful). As a result I flipped over mid stroke and spoke with Sarah requesting some clear Aquasphere Goggles at the next feed.

Feed 5 @ 13:45 Black Coffee

Feed 6 @ 14:15 Maiden Home..Maxim 400mls

Update @ 14:32 Passing The Lillies (adjacent to Belle Isle)
I recall this point in the swim, I knew this meant we had now crossed to the West side of the Lake where we would remain until the last couple of kilometres, I was also aware this was the half way point, all of this knowledge lifted my spirits I remember upping the pace somewhat as we travelled through the shallows.

Feed 7 @ 14:45 Thompsons Holme..Maxim plus 2 Jelly babies, Pash also entered the water here (he must have needed to take a leak!) he would swim somewhere near the boat upto, but no further than it was time to return to the East side of the Lake (plan was to cross somewhere near Wray Castle). KGB was now piloting the boat after instruction from the skipper.

Feed 8 @ 15:15 Bass Rock to the left side..Plain Water..I was starting to feel a little full on maxim and felt the need to flush out my system before I over loaded, Pash approached me in the water and asked if I was OK, I responded saying "I'm having a bit of a blip but I'm OK"

I swam on once more knowing the next hurdle was the cross over, somewhere around this stretch the water again became a little more difficult to the extent that I was adjusting my recovery to combat the waves, it soon became apparent this was due to speed boats and water skiers, I was amazed to see this as the lake has a 10mph speed limit..Is it possible to water ski at such a speed? Whatever the answer is to that, the boats as well as the passenger ferries all gave me something else to think about and broke up the boredom of the ideal conditions with which I had been blessed for most of the swim.

Feed 9   @ 15:45 Maxim

Feed 10 @ 16:15 Wray Castle..Plain Water..Pash now tried to leave the water, he was struggling to get into the boat so much so that I decided to swim on alone as this was clearly going to take some time. I could see a large green buoy in the distance and tried to make progress in that direction until such times as the boat caught up. I also used this time to backstroke for a couple of minutes resting my shoulders as well as seeing if the boat was on its way. 

With Pash back on board and wrapped up warm, onwards we continued, I asked if we were about to cross the Lake and was pleased to be told we were already doing so, by this stage the days Maxim was feeling like it no longer wanted to stay in my stomach, it wasn't due to the swell, it was something else, I was becoming increasing agitated by the nauseous feeling, it was forcing to stop, face away from the boat and let out an almighty belch each time, I was not actually vomiting though it was on its way for certain. 

Feed 11 @ 16:45  Offered a feed of choice.. maxim / water, I declined everything at this point due to the stomach issues and decided to continue without hoping it would settle down, a Rennie tablet had no effect so I plodded on recognising Low wood Hotel and knowing full well  I was inside the final mile.

Throughout the next half an hour or so the sickly feeling continued, I stop several times to address this, took a breather before swimming on, Sarah was then entering the water for the final leg through the small boats moored near the Ambleside Youth Hostel, an area I know very well, the end was literally in sight. KGB was now seated on the front of the boat cheering us all on as we slowly closed in on The Ambleside Waterhead Pier.

After 5 hours 58 minutes and 58 seconds Chris, Sarah and I all swam across the finish line..to much cheers and congratulations...Job Done!

I was delighted to have finished, to have completed the swim and hit the target I set some time ago at the start of the season. I struggled to dry land, and proceeded to be violently sick, my hips were very sore and my stomach felt like it had been turned inside out.

Eventually we all dressed, returned to the boat and motored off South to Bowness, I was presented with bottle of Champagne by Chris (thankyou Chris) and a toy medallion from Sarah! The journey back to Shepherds was lovely and peaceful, the sun was shining allowing me to fully take in the days events.

The sickness continued preventing me from enjoying a post swim meal but that wasn't important. The day was a complete success...My Crew whom I cannot thank enough were absolutely awesome, everything went exactly according to plan and I learnt a lot. Not least of which is the strength at which I can handle maxim.!

Thankyou all so very much...it was a great day. I will be calling on your services again of that you can be sure. Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou

Capt Pash Pilot extraordinaire

The end in sight...

another feed

Ellerton Eeeek

Yesterday (July 14th) I returned to Ellerton Lake with Chris Pearson and three Tri girls , they were all clad in rubber and thought it highly amusing that I should be swimming near naked, despite the lake being 67 degrees F. We had an excellent interval session, again I managed to talk them into shedding the rubber for the final five minutes. Much to their amazement they enjoyed the freedom . I told them if they swim me then that is a condition to which they must sign up!! If you want a giggle click on the link above.

We were only in the water 70 minutes but the quality was good, we experienced a thunder storm at one point which was strange though the lake itself remained glassy flat.

Today I returned to the Lake with Charlie in his new wetsuit, he was terrified but I am delighted that he eventually summoned the courage to jump from the jetty (twice) and joined me in the water, its a great start so I just hope he fancies returning some time soon.

A very relieved Charlie..a little cold, a little scared and not impressed. Well done Charlie,believe in yourself x

Glow in the Dark...!?

  Pleased to say I have had some consistency with five swims last week all of which were outdoors, Monday 22 June I visited The North Sea at Seaton Carew, alone as usual now, I noticed on arrival the sea was looking a bit angry. I was on the verge of forgetting it without safety cover but talked myself around and waded into the water. I had no choice but to dive straight into the breakers and fight my way to about 300 metres from shore where the water was more swimmable. Once out there I checked my watch and headed North along the coast to my regular turnaround point, the swells were big and pretty much head on, the short leg is typically about 8 minutes however due to the conditions it was 15 minutes before it was time to head South, similarly the Southbound leg is around 20 minutes but today it was closer to 35, just shows what a massive impact conditions can have on an open water swim. I was very pleased to have stayed to swim and felt great exiting the water after an hour at 57f.

Tuesday Morning was the opposite in comparison, flat sea, sun shining and company in the shape of John F, timings were back to normal albeit I was swimming back and forth to John to check on his welfare, 75 minutes today at 57-58f, and a very creditable 55 minutes for John, what a difference a day makes.

Thursday I couldn't get to the beach 'til 4pm after work and to be honest I was tired before I even set off, having missed Wednesday I wanted to try at least a dip, so I was delighted to notice the glassy conditions and high water, another hour alone and no problems with the water temperature.

Friday was going to be a reconnaissance day. I drove to Seaton purposely at low tide, intending to walk the route to the North Gare of the River Tees in order to check for hazards before attempting the swim in the future, I walked past some scary looking iron groins that were covered in rust and the remains of a shipwreck from the 1800s only the wooden ribs of which can now be seen as the remainder has long since gone..

   About another 1500m South my attention was drawn what appeared to be a rocky outcrop at the base of a beacon, it was producing large amounts of white water covering an area of about ten square metres. I spoke with a local fisherman who was beach casting and was informed the white water was in fact discharge from Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station, now that was a worry, the turbulence created was of sufficient concern for me to call the power plant and ask some questions; they advised me not to swim near the discharge outlet which was described as effluent, amounting to millions of gallons 24/7 365 days a year, the water they pump out had been used as a coolant and enters the sea at no more than 30 degrees C, no wonder the fish and seals like it down there! Mark Potter from  British Energy said it should be fine if I can stay a few hundred metres away......yeah right, I had visions of him sat there eating doughnuts with his feet up like Homer Simpson at the Springfield power plant, laughing at this glow in the dark swimmer.

Finally I reached the North Gare and explored some rock pools where I saw more star fish than ever before, the water was crystal clear too, the walk back to my swim area was a long one around 45 minutes so it would be a long swim but not one I fancy doing alone just yet. I settled for another hour alone and headed home.

Even more contrast to these swims was Saturdays visit to Ellerton Lake, I had arranged to get up early after night shift to swim with Chris Pearson and his tri friend Sarah, I was tired but the weather was great, the others started first before I dived into the 67f water, the warmest I had experienced since 2007, we swam some intervals and generally worked hard for 75 minutes, I even managed to get them to shed the rubber for the final ten minutes, I dont think Chris will be converted to speedos but Sarah seems to be very tempted.

Other news I have entered the BLDSA Derwent Water 5 mile event at the end of July which will be a nice stepping stone to Windermere 10 miles and future swims of double the distance!!