Capsized in Keswick

Since my last post mid July I have had around ten open water swims, the first couple after Charlies swim being in The North Sea at Seaton Carew near Hartlepool, which as always expected after the balmy lake felt absolutely Baltic! at 55F. I have also had a very beneficial sprint session at Ellerton Lake with Chris Pearson.                                                             
                                 

Last week for the first time since 2008 KGB accompanied me with the kids to Seaton, to watch me swim in near perfect conditions, the water was a little patchy ranging from 55F to 58F, though it was more or less flat and very enjoyable, I wanted/needed to ensure I kept up the colder swims prior to the upcoming BLDSA event. That said, KGB purchased a wetsuit last Wednesday and was keen to test it out which meant another visit to the lake.

On Friday 30th after a day at work we drove across Country to the Lake District for the Derwent Water BLDSA 5.25 mile swim, on arrival we checked into the very very nice bed and breakfast 'The Lookout'  just outside Keswick Town Centre, it was a delight especially after the recent episode at 'The Dover Dump. I had been made aware that Dan Martin was also to be in attendance in order to support Alice Harvey a young, very talented swimmer from Jersey. (she has already swam around Jersey and Jersey to France). It came as a great surprise when Cliff Golding called and explained he was also with Dan and Alice, it made my day knowing Cliff was soon to be with us. After showering we walked into town, met up with the gang and headed to an Italian feed spot and a couple of beers, followed by an early night for much needed sleep.

As usual the early start routine was to attempt to force down breakfast (I find it difficult to eat anything before 10am) then take the short drive to the Lake for registration, numbering and re introductions firstly to Dave Neal who again we hadn't seen since 2008 who had kindly offered the use of a kayak. I also met Karen Throsby and her partner Peter. Karen is due to swim the English Channel in just two weeks time and has undergone a very methodical, detailed and extensive preparation. Below Karen (L) Alice (R).

At the five minute warning all boat crews deployed on the water, KGB was using Dave's sit on Kayak storing flasks of hot maxim, wearing her new wetsuit to avoid the cold should the rain start. Swimmers were then counted into the water before the event/race was officially started by Pam Morgan the BLDSA President. The course was to be a triangular route with two left turns, basically over two miles out, left for the width of the lake then left again and another +two mile stretch back to the start/finish point.

The first leg was with a slight head wind, I found myself adjusting my stroke slightly to compensate for the mild chop, I spoke to KGB after about forty minutes and told her I would feed at the first turn buoy, it was nice to eventually see her pouring my drink which she handed me at the turn after about 70 mins. The depth of the lake then dropped severely, I was swimming through dense weeds and at one point scraped my hand across the lake bed. I took another feed at the next buoy before we turned to head south.

A short time later I was passed by Alice, this was nothing to worry about, if anything it would make life easier for navigation as KGB could just follow, being that the finish was nowhere to be seen. Well....that was the plan.

Then it happened...I was swimming along minding my own business trying to stay in the zone, the water was a steady 62F and I was on the home stretch to complete my longest open water swim of the year, when without warning over went my kayaker into the water, capsized and soaked to the skin. I could see her trying to right the kayak as the flasks bobbed around one of which disappeared from sight into the depths. A few minutes later as KGB struggled to climb aboard we were joined by one of the safety craft, too late I'm afraid as we were now ready to recommence our efforts.

My mind was now wandering I could see Kelly was drenched and did not look too impressed or warm, we were being blown of course, with Dan and Cliff well off in the distance. About half and hour later I took one more feed and plodded on, we had drifted into a cove and could not see the finish line until we were more or less on top of it. Once we finally sighted the piers I stroked home in a time of 2 hours 40 minutes, around ten minutes sooner than predicted, which considering the unexpected incident wasn't too bad at all.

We waited around for all swimmers to finish before the presentation, followed by final goodbyes to friends old and new. I had completed the swim without injury, made an excellent recovery with no adverse effects to the time in the water on what had turn out to be a damp grey day. Overall brilliant training and another step en route to bigger goals.

River Nene 5km Swim

Earlier this week I realised I had a rare weekend off work, with three available days free from child care commitments. Initially, following last weeks trip to Cork, I thought this would be a great opportunity to visit Dover for the first time since September 2008. As the week progressed it became apparent that logistically Dover was going to be a no go. However as one door closes another opens.

I had been in touch with Dan Martin via twitter and he kindly invited me to The River Nene OSS swim near Peterborough, the distance from home was only going to be 170 miles so it was relatively close in comparison to Dover.

Friday afternoon once KGB had finished work we departed south, after some traffic frustration on the A19 we made good progress and arrived shortly after 7:30pm at the Castle Farm Guest House in the village of Fotheringhay . A very peaceful, picturesque location with great history. After unpacking we were collected by Dan who drove us to a nearby pub for introductions to his parents, who were very welcoming to say the least, a lovely couple who seem to run around after the big man all day long! After a good feed and a couple of pints of Guinness we were tucked up and asleep for midnight.

The plan for Saturday was to start the swim at Cotterstock for 11am, swim the 5km stretch to Fotheringhay, refuel by way of a picnic, re warm, then swim another 5km to Elton Lock. As it turned out, due to a couple of late arrivals, the laid back approach to these social swims, and some transport shuttle runs by KGB,  the start didn't actually take place til just before twelve noon.

About a dozen swimmers (half in speedos half in wetsuits) entered the water, it was a little green and murky but flat as a pancake, quite surreal after swimming in the sea on Thursday, it was more like being in a pool. I was last to get into the River as I had waited for KGB to return to the start in order to collect some kit left at the waters edge.

I jumped in the wooden jetty and soon got into my rhythm, I was sighting ahead and soon located another swimmer (Rob) in speedos of a similar pace, we swam together most of the way, the route itself was very scenic though I was not taking a lot of notice as I was more or less flat out! We had a brief stop at Tansor where Dans dad George and some others were on the bank of the river to check on everyone's welfare. The temperature on my watch was 54-55F at this checkpoint, after a few seconds of treading water we all continued on.

Around half way we swam up to a lock where we were required to scramble up a muddy bank to negotiate the obstacle, Rob and I ran around the gravel path to keep warm and dived back in. The water had been, and continued to be very patchy in terms of temperature, at times it felt freezing cold. I didn't hang around to get a reading, I was already swimming hard especially so through the cold spots.

Before long I noticed the Church of St Mary and All Saints in the distance. I knew I was getting close to the picnic stop. Moments later I spotted KGB, she had walked from the start and was taking some great photos. After another ten minutes, 1 hour 20 minutes after jumping in, I reached the cars and exited the water.

There was a great atmosphere as we all had hot drinks, picnic food and laughter. Unfortunately due to the late start we were unable to wait for the restart, so at 3pm we said our goodbyes and thank-yous and made the three hour drive home and back to reality.

Many thanks to Dan (the man mountain as you can see above) for the invite, to all the other OSS swimmers, and to the parents of Dan....George and Sue for their hospitality. Not forgetting KGB for her support, after care and photos. I will definitely return to swim the straight ten km with Dan before the summer is out.