TO PEE OR NOT TO PEE!
Having survived the first swim of the season, the hardy amongst us knowing the draw of the water, gave in and returned to Ellerton Lake the following weekend. The temperature was still a brisk 8 degrees. Lots of contact had gone on during the week, the newbee’s or tadpoles as I nick named them, had enthused the previous week about returning to the water. Several other people had also been in contact about joining us.
So at 2pm (soon to become a regular timeslot) we arrived in the car park...who were we looking for. Mobile numbers had been exchanged so people could contact me when they arrived. But soon enough several people nervously approached me “Are you Pauline” they asked.....I replied in the affirmative. Marie Lovell and her son Tristan had arrived...with wetsuits and all the other advised kit. I could see it on their faces, yes they wanted to get in but they were also very nervous about what to expect. I was going to have to be gentle. We were soon joined by the hardy crew and other new people. Jackie Cavensish, Alison O’Brian, Kate UpShall Davis and Kathryn Ayre, their nervous chatter belied what was going on in their heads.
In the changing rooms, the women learned the first lesson...putting on the wetsuit. An unforgiving piece of neoprene that if it does not wish to move – won’t. Over time they would get this down to an art form but for now the battle had commenced. Much laughter, cursing and wiggling later and they were squeezed in to their suits, discussion turning to makes and models and where to purchase other ‘swim’ items. Caps, goggles, earplugs, and for those that brought them gloves and socks at the ready it was time to head to the water. The chatter dying down as we got closer, these people were getting more and more nervous. “We’ll let the hardy group get in I said, and watched the look on the tadpoles faces and said group consisting of Joanne Charlton, Amanda Bell, Mark Robson, Dominic Gillespie and Geoff Armstrong deftly entered the water, gasping as the cold wrapped itself round their limbs and touched like a lovers kiss the back of their necks. And off them swam!! Movement equals warmth and they knew it.
As soon as they left the chatter commenced, us ladies turning the air as blue as the water in anticipation of the impending cold. I took the group onto the jetty to show them the swim route that we normally took. I then dispensed the vital information - surviving the cold. How to enter the water carefully and safely, by wetting the back of the neck and the wrists to lessen the shock of the water temperature on the body and prevent hyperventilation. Then the important bits....PEEING in your wetsuit! Mouths were agog that as adults we would willingly pee ourselves in public and not encased in the privacy of our toilets....oh yes I told them....do it, it will warm you up....and I will proudly let you know when I am doing it!! The other important bit....if you get into difficulty and I come to get you and you struggle – I WILL PUNCH you. Laughter at this but there is potential for the drowning victim to also drown the rescuer with their panic....I broke the tension by telling them that mouth to mouth would only be done if monies were exchanged!
With family and friends stood wrapped in fleeces, hats, gloves, body warmers and thick quilted coats it was now time to get in the water! “Just go to the jetty’s end” I instructed and get in when you are ready. Who would be the bravest and get in first....there was not a stampede; all of a sudden politeness rules...’no after you’ was said a lot. With huge gasps, they entered the water, chests heaving with the exertion of breathing, with chests tightening in the cold, further restricted by the wetsuit.
Bobbing like peas in a pan they waited by the end of the jetty.....was I getting in – not yet, I am not daft, I know what they are experiencing and know that when I eventually get in we will start swimming but they needed to get their breathing under control first and get used to the floatation that the wetsuit affords. “Have you peed yet” I ask....NOOOOOO comes the chorus, this will change in time!
I tell them what they are experiencing, the tightness of breath and why its happening and more importantly what to do to ease it. I tell them what I will be looking for incase of hypothermia (the temperatures mean it will kick in fast). Float on your back I tell them, more gasps as the icy water hits the back of the neck properly.....see you can float...so if all else fails go on your back and you will be fine. To take their minds off what is happening to their bodies I point out the route that the others are swimming. You’ll be doing that soon enough I tell them – Jackie at this point found this funny. “Yeh right”, “What all that way”, “God I’ll never do that” were the cries from the water. The lake having buoys laid out that we use to train with, 3 times round is approximately a mile plus a little bit I tell them.
And finally it was time for me to get in – in my normal fashion I cursed like a navvy trying not to show how cold it was. Was it colder than last week, it certainly seemed it but maybe that was all in my mind. Swimming round to where the tadpoles were waiting I got right in the middle of them; waited a few seconds then proudly announced “I’m peeing”, I extolled the warmth that was now travelling round my wetsuit. Surprisingly enough the biggest protest came from Tristan...that’s disgusting he announced! But my peeing seemed to bring on a mass urination with protests coming from those that couldn’t. For those that managed it the look on their faces said it all – WARMTH!!! However temporary it was welcome.
Shall we swim I said, we’ll go to the first buoy and then beyond. Having seen the new items tied to the boat at the bottom I described what they would see. Put your faces in if you wish I told them....another valuable lesson is now being learnt; make sure your goggles fit! At this time of the year the lake is crystal clear, the boat standing out proudly in the water to be viewed. For those not yet ready to put their faces in they watched as the tadpoles entering into a starfish position went face down in the water to have a look down and marvel at the view. Within nano seconds of their faces returning to the cold of the air they had ‘brain freeze’ another problem for open water swimmers to contend with. Putting my own face in the water, opening my mouth, the gums instantly protesting, I could appreciate how they were feeling, but also it allowed me to see the fit of the goggles, you tend to go through lots of them in a season in open water swimming. In a pool if your goggles fail you, you can touch the side; put your feet on the bottom to sort yourself out, that luxury is not afforded to us!!!
With confidence growing the group swam towards the second buoy, a good chance for me to look at their swimming style both above and below the water. Kate Upshall Davis, later nicknamed bob had an unusual style of breaststroke....the girl needs to do frontcrawl , passed through my head. She would later achieve this and be renamed Dory. At the second buoy the chatter turned to questions, how do I do this and that, I answered all as fully as I could. Hands up and let me look at your feet I instructed....were they clawing, was their still blood circulating in the feet, this ritual I would repeat often until they were to become aware of their own bodies reaction to the cold. All checked, I told them to view the surroundings. The trees gently moving in the breeze, the ducks swimming at a distance in protest of being joined by us, the horses running loose on the side of the lake. “ Look up and breath in”.... sky and fresh air. Isn’t it wonderful they said. They were relaxed enough not to notice how far they had drifted from the second buoy – another lesson to learn, even though the water was calm it had a small current and you could drift quite abit. With that mind we headed back to the jetty...family and friends had gathered camera’s in hand to record the moment. It felt quite special to induct these people into the water and whilst they were not yet confidence of the distance they would be required to swim I had plans forming in my head of how we would get them there.
Diving for the showers they learnt yet another lesson, regardless of how much they protest and shiver...I won’t get out until I am warm! As they struggled out of their wetsuits chattering of how great the water was and what they wanted to do next time I knew they were all hooked. They had been in the water only 40 minutes but in that time thoughts of pool swimming had already started to disappear from their heads..the water had called them, embraced them and they had enjoyed it.
Once dressed, the coffee and cake came out, Dominic producing a rather fine cake as produced by his wife....a woman we had yet to meet and thank. All refuelled it was time to leave the lake. Same time next weekend I asked a chorus of ‘Yes’ when up, I’ll post it on the web then. They departed grinning but still shivering slightly, the cold forgotten in the anticipation of the next time!
