MAKING DAD PROUD - SUZANNE CHARNOCK

JUST DO IT

Two years ago swimming up and down the gym pool, I became bored swimming from one end to the other. I could swim distance, but had a yearning to do so without having to stop every 20metres.

I love swimming. Not a very sporty child, but I could swim doggy paddle initially (is this a stroke?), then breaststroke. Watching others and I eventually taught myself front crawl.

Chatting to a friend who’d just completed the Great North Swim 2009, she enthused recounting her experience of the event and people. That conversation brought about a desire to complete a mile in the Great North Swim 2010. Having never taken on a personal challenge since having children, I was excited and driven. It was not about speed, rather the challenge of taking swimming to another level, the freedom of swimming with no boundaries.

 

In 2008, sadly my lovely Dad, David, had died suddenly from a heart attack. The Great North Swim 2010 was an opportunity to raise money for the British Heart Foundation in his memory. Focusing on distance in the pool, I felt confident with my training, but it was solitary and not many people I knew shared my enjoyment of swimming. I struggled to find somewhere or someone to swim outdoors with. Still I thought “I’ll be okay. I’m strong enough to challenge the cold”. Then the text arrived to say the GNS 2010 was cancelled. I was so disappointed that my hard work had not come to fruition, and I would have to wait another year. In hindsight, I’m glad it was postponed, I think the cold water might have frightened me.

A New Years Eve party 2010, I chatted with a friend about the swim and the challenge, when suddenly she announced “I’ll do it with you”. I was thrilled that I would have somebody to share the experience with (although I did wonder if she would remember her promise the next morning!).

Early May 2011, I was on Facebook and typed a few words into the search engine and came across Great North Swim 2011 Training Group , and noticed lots of positive, friendly banter between members. It seemed too good to be true. Reading on, I discovered it was at Ellerton Lake, Scorton, 30 mins away. The feed linked me with a Pauline Squire at the helm, and in no time a date was arranged to meet.

I took my family with me as support! Feeling sick all the way there, questioning what I was doing, especially given the rain and temperature, I arrived and introduced myself to Pauline and the others. Heading for the changing rooms there was no turning back now. I squeezed into my new Orca wetsuit and headed to the jetty, my mind and stomach awash, but my heart knew I was capable. Pauline started speaking and took control, she talked in detail about what to expect, now to prepare for entering the water and what to expect if panic set in.

From that first dip, my mind started to open to future possibilities. Weekly meets at Ellerton began, experiencing cold temperatures and ice cream head, balanced with friendly banter and cake and coffee (or in my case Oxo!). I was ready for the Great North Swim.

I brought Emma (my New Year buddy) along for an outdoor swim, which she was thankful to have experienced before the big day. The cold had shocked her.

We walked down to the event with our family in tow, taking in the buzz built along the way. People returning from their swim with a medal, others were heading towards Lake Windermere. I met people from the group before and after, we laughed, giggled and wondered what we were all about to let ourselves in for.

Raising £325 for the British Heart Foundation, it suddenly overwhelmed me… it was 19^th June 2011, Fathers Day. I made my way into the water, and said “This one’s for you Dad”. I sang “Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo” from Cinderella during the swim, a song he would often sing out loud (from his Panto days). I was so proud, and knew he would keep me safe.

The start of many medal!

It was amazing how proud my family were of me that day, cheering me on, even a kiss and a well done from my teenage daughter! It was great for them to see me take on and complete a challenge. 

 

Since then I’ve swam 1500 at Carpenwray, and a mile at the Windermere Wild Swim and tomorrow it’s the Great Scottish Swim 2011.

A jubilant Suzanne

I love the people I’ve met, the places they’ve taken me and the opportunities ahead of me. I’ve learnt it’s not about the end result, but the journey you take! 2012 will be about swimming in the Lakes for me, and I can’t wait.

just a few of the group, Suzanne on the right!

Last word goes to me as normal, this is not merely a tale of open water swimming but the journey of how to get there. Its about honouring your parents memories and rejoicing in the love that gave you that can see you through a million challenges. Your dad was clearly looking over you Suzanne and maybe the cancellation of the initial event was meant to be after all to honour your dad on fathers day is amazing. We are so proud of you as he would have been, its been great to swim with you and your sense of humour, 2012....oh well now if i told you of the challenges and adventures ahead would you turn up again.....i suspect so. xx

BASHED BY BUTTERMERE

BASHED BY BUTTERMERE!

 I swear that when i went up to Buttermere in the Lake District and swam a fortnight ago, the sun was shining, the lake was mill pond flat hence the reason i came home and rushed to organise a social swim for one and all. Sunday the 11th of September, however, it was a totally different story, we swam in the tail end of hurricane Katia so as you can imagine the conditions could not have been more different. Stood around in the rain outside the Croft House Cafe, waiting to see if anyone would turn up i was really pleased when a gaggle of wetsuit clad persons came bowling down the road, geared up and ready to go!!! Yes it was game on!!! We hung around for a bit, before deciding it was actually better to have your wetsuit on rather than standing around in the rain which was doing its best to penetrate the area's i did not know i had on my body. Changing on a bench is another new one for me too, the puddles were so deep and large you could not do it at ground level. Lord only knows what the customers in the cafe next to us thought as they huddled over hot coffee watching Pat .....and me get changed in the storm. Clothes stored in the car, we decided to wait around a little bit longer for the stragglers and sure enough along came Kate Upshall Davis and Alison O'Brian. Get changed quickly i shouted and join us asap. It was superb to see so many people turn up on such a wet and windy day, some of whom had traveled quite a distance to get there.

The group, approximately 17-18 of us plodded up the road and headed towards the lakeside. Michael and Ann Harrison had turned up with their children, who had a less than pleased look at having to stand around in the rain. Unusually for social swims we had the offer of a safety kayaker in the form of Ian Mulvey and his partner Emma, and their dog who had organised a triathlon the previous day. Ian had arrived early to check the lake out for where he would need to be positioned in order to help out. Due to the weather he ran the risk of overturning so he requested that we swim over to the left hand side of the lake and swim up and back that way. I gave a very quick briefing to the group and we all got in the water. Buttermere is wonderful in that it is very shallow for quite a way then shelves off sharply into nicely deep water. What is not so pleasant is the stones, its mainly slate, which is particularly unkind to the bottom of your feet, it was actually easier to get in up to your knees then just go for it.

Now to say that the weather was NASTY was an understatement, wind howling down the length of the lake, rain that when it hit your face felt like a million pins and could be felt through your wetsuit.

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Dorothy getting pelted by the rain

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Some of the swell!

We were actually swimming through the tail end of hurricane Katia and it was going to be challenging. When i had set to organise the swim i had initially stated that the idea would be that we start to swim the length (and back) of the lakes, having tackled Grasmere on Kate's birthday this was the next one on the list. All of a sudden it did not seem like a good idea, i had invited these people, some of which had traveled a good few hours to get there and now it looked like we might not be able to even do one length.  We decided to see what it was like when we swam the width of the lake over to the left hand side as requested by Ian.  This proved to be difficult in itself, the waves pounding us from the right coupled with the shallowness of the water meant that progress was slow, but at least it gave us a chance to adjust goggles and wetsuits. Finally getting over to the left hand side, we all seemed to non verbally agree it was game on, we were going to go for the two lengths.

Looking around us we could see two other groups of swimmers starting to head out into the water, i knew one of those groups would be Dorothy,Ann,  Alison O'Brien, Sam Plum Pat Maycroft and Kate, the other group i could not quite make out who was in it. Our little group made the decision to swim on, there were enough in each of the other groups that they would be ok together.

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Boot the dog!!!

And off we went, because of the waves you still could not see the furthest point of the lake that we were meant to be swimming towards. Despite the fact that each wave seemed to punch you, we all managed to relax and get in a steady rhythm, stopping every now and then to make sure everyone was alright and to chose the next point of land to sight on. The men were evenly paced as were there women, it was comforting to know that they stopped for us to see we were ok but also reassuring to have them along as well. We even had Boot the dog along with us...his speed in the water put us to shame!!!

Sheet of rain heading towards us!!

The lake is one and a quarter miles long, which does not sound alot but when you are getting bashed by waves, hit by sheets of rain that in themselves made you stop swimming, wind and mist, it does seem like a lot longer, the temperature varied too, from 11 to 14 degrees. There was no choice but to keep on moving.At one point we stopped to see how we were all doing, it was at this point that i realised that Geoff was not with us...strange i thought for him to not be there but the last swim had made him feel ill with the swell and this was a swell and a half so i thought that might be it and carried on swimming....only days afterward did he let me know why he had not continued to swim with us. When i asked him why he had not joined us he said he did not know how far we were swimming..my reply well i don't know why not i put it on facebook...the look on his face said it all....for a start he does not have facebook (this i know!) and for seconds we are courting so you would have thought i would have let him know!!!! Thankfully he saw the funny side but is now seriously considering getting facebook so he knows what swims i have organised and all the details...oops For the record he is now considering himself a facebook widow!!! A one point i was in awe in the water as Martin Ord swam inbetween myself and Jill Briggs, the ease in which he glided through the water in such rough conditions made me feel like a novice!!!

Anyway i digress, on we swam until we reached a point sticking out on the land, this little peak of land offered a modicum of shelter from the battering we were receiving from the weather and the waves. There was no discussion  of getting out or turning back, where to next, the land sight was pointed out and after getting our breaths back in we went back to the deep. Now on land when you sight something it has the illusion of not looking that far, however, when you are in the water it can seem like a lifetime til you see shallow water again. Occasionally when i sighted i could see the headlights of cars as they rounded the corners, most slowed down, probably to wonder what on earth we were doing.  Then finally the water started to turn a slightly lighter colour, then stones and rocks came into view....these gradually got smaller in size until wow here we were in the shallows by the land. All of us looked drunk as we tried to stand up so sitting on the pebbles in the water became the preferred option, open water swimming has a habit of doing that to you but i have never figured out why, is it the lack of straight sides, no lines to follow, the fresh air, if you know i would love to find out! Debbie Taylor was the last to reach shore, smiling but cursing she informed us that her wetsuit was broke. To an open water swimmer that is tantamount to a disaster, turning round we could see the back of her wetsuit gaping open. She informed us that her suit had been filled with water while she was swimming, it must have been like trying to swim with a bag of mud on your back. We quickly ascertained that the zip of the suit had come undone and refastened it, she must have been freezing at this point, note to self, make sure all wetsuits are secured prior to swimming. A weaker swimmer would have struggled but Debbie soldiered on!

one way done, found shelter....it was not to last!!

   Martin Ord had his underwater camera with him, group picture he said...oh now we have a problem. Do you remember that feeling when you go to the dentist and he numbs your mouth for a filling and you can't tell what shape your mouth is making, well the cold from the water had given the same effect, i was not sure if i was smiling or not, i felt like i was making some sort of grimace type smile. Mentioning this to the group there was a chorus all round to the affirmative that they were the same. Huddling together we smiles/grimaced as Martin took the picture, only afterwards did i think to myself that we did not have a record of him doing the first lap, so i here by confirm that he did, and the second too!!!  

 
After a brief rest and before we got too cold it was time to head for the deep again and make our way back. The rain nor wind had not let up its almost murderous approach. In the little sheltered bit where we were huddled it looked calm but we knew that that would change rapidly once we got swimming. And sure enough it did, heading back to the point where we had previously stopped we could see the next group in the water following our path, Ian, Emma and the dog along side them for support. We had not been in the water 10 minutes when BANG, what on earth was that, in mid stroke turning my head to breath i found i could not move for the force of the rain pelting down on me, stopping to see what was going on i could see that we had all stopped, the rain had surrounded us completely and we could not see through it. nor it seemed could we physically move.  Looking up all i could see was the rain swirling round above our heads. What on earth was going on, we were all stuck, literally could not move in the water. Then as quickly as it came the rain released us from its grasp and carried on its path down the length of Buttermere. After quick shouts of what on earth was that we got on with the task at hand. Had we held still a little longer we would have seen the mini tornado as it was later described to me by Ian heading down the lake, he said that he could see it heading towards us and was transfixed but it, then all of a sudden he and Emma completely lost sight of us such was its heaviness, then suddenly we came briefly into view again before the tornado headed down the lake...and straight towards Ian who was sat in the water on his kayak with Emma and the dog. Ian stated that he has never paddled so hard to get out of the water as he knew that they would have been flipped off and lost the kayak to the other end of the lake. Scary when you think of it but at the time when we are all in the water it just felt like some massive force had stopped us going forward. 
 Swimming on you could tell that the wind had picked up, the idea of swimming to the furthest point that was sticking out became an impossibility as the wave pummeled and pushed us towards another area. There was nothing for it but to dig deep to make land! Landing not far short of our target are, we were all breathing pretty hard at this point, 'what on earth was that ' was the general formation of words as we grouped together oblivious as to what had just hit us. Trying to sight the point of land where we had entered took some doing, you could not see people, just a field of sheep. As long as they did not move to another field we would be ok!!! The men at this point showed their upper body physical strength as they plowed on ahead of us through the water, thank fully they did stop on a regular bases to see where we were. Our lack of upper body strength meant that our progress was slow going but we were able to maintain a steady pace.

the two wayers....!!

yep the weather was not good!!!

Dom with a big puddle!!!

The swim itself, undoubtedly difficult, was also so enjoyable. Its wonderful to turn up in the sunshine (a rarity in the uk) to a pan flat lake and get in to swim, its equally as wonderful to rise to the challenge of swimming in near impossible conditions. Loads of races had been cancelled that weekend due to the adverse weather conditions, but that did not stop us. The only difficulty we faced at this moment in time was finding the place where we had enter the water. Unbeknown to us a group of Japanese tourists had stopped, photographed and chatted with one of the other groups, it would have been interesting to get their perspective on what we were doing. 

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 In the cafe prior to swimming we had looks of disbelief and astonishment about what we were going to do. Comments of are you insane and you must be mad, flooded our way. But its what we love to do and rather than shying away from the condition we faced it head on, given that i had organised the swim i was in two minds what to do, cancell the swim and disappoint people, let everyone swim and disaster happen or let everyone swim and it be a success.

that rain hurt even in a wetsuit!

 Thankfully it was the later. Everyone entered the water and everyone left the water. Massive grins would soon give way to painful muscles and aches which for some would last several days. Pat had never though that she could or would be able to complete the distance (i had given people the option of doing as little or as much as they wanted), but because she has a group of people around her and the Ian on the kayak it was made possible for her, a real acheivement. Like i say it is not often if ever that you have a support boat with you on a social swim so it made it special that they were there and helping people reach new heights in open water swimming. Its now something i will consider for future swims where distance is involved as the level of reassurance it gave is borne out but the numbers of us that managed to complete the two lengths.

Once we got to the end of the lake it was time to turn right and make our way along the width of the lake again. Now you would think this would be the easy part but not this time. Muscles had tightend up, some of us had rub marks from the wetsuits, general tiredness had set in after all a swim that should have taken not much over an hour had lasted almost two. Dragging our neoprene clad bodies along the shoreline it was great to suddenly spot a bright orange coat in the distance, heading for that soon brought us back to where we had started. Dominic, Pete Kelly and Martin were already their looking as happy but tired. 

From the grins at the end I would say the swim was a success, acheivements had been made, some had to dash off as long journeys awaited them, for others we could langish in the cafe and warm up.

David wishing it was warmer!!!

 Some needed it more that others after swimming sans wetsuit, i can confirm that David Donaldson as now dashed out and bought one!!!
And for those of you unsure of what buttermere can look like, here are some taken by Dorothy Mills, Buttermere calmed!

Emails and facebook later confirmed that we had all had a fab day, muscles were beyond sore in some cases, some had achieved personal satisfaction of swimming further than they ever had, others they had met that challenge of swimming in extreme conditions. Would i organise another one.....oh yes, plans are afoot, after all why stop at one expance of water when there are so many in the lake district to choose from. I am so grateful for all those that turned up to swim and also those that accompained them to watch, i hope to see you at the next one..in calmer conditions!!!

Boot the Wonder Dog ensures the safety of Open Water Swimmers

As official Lake District Wonder Dog (ahem), I had a heavy day on the water this Sunday, the tail end of Hurricane Katia was just getting to grips with Buttermere as my new human open water swim buddies decided on a swim meet - up and down the lake – you can imagine the carnage!



Me and My Humans (I'm so proud of them)

From an experienced open water wonder dog's point of view, they all did great for humans, and not a drop of Labrador blood in any of them, aww bless..., I got them all safe back to shore – (phew – I do worry about my humans you know) and I got double biscuit bonus.

We've had a really fun season swimming in our lakes, tarns and rivers and it was great to meet new human swimmers, I hope to see them all again in the water during our future meets or in our Ambleside shop where they can be assured of a warm greeting and a brew (...bring dog biscuits).
Until then doggy paddle safe...


Rounding up my humans

See you on the water, Boot – Wonder Dog

P.s My humans sell stuff to keep you warm, if you haven't got fur , whilst open water swimming.
Click to see my mam and dads range of open water swimwear (and pay for my biscuits)
Follow Boots adventures by going to http://www.headtothehills.co.uk/boots-blog-diary-of-a-shop-dog.html

WILD IN WINDERMERE - 03 Sept 2011

THE TEAM GO WILD IN WINDERMERE!

Having tamed Nessie in Loch Ness the group were looking for another challenge, the itch to get back in the water and race again was getting too much. Some of us were wanting to stretch our water wings and try out a longer distance race. Research done, it was decided that we would do the Wild windermere swim on the 3rd of September, run by Davy Newell of Adventure Challenge Solutions. There were a variety of distances available, 500 metres, 1 mile or 2 miles. The date is an ominous one, the Great North Swim was meant to be on the same date last year but was canceled due to blue green algae....would it happen again with this race. I hoped not.

As normal messages were flying across facebook...who's going, how are we going to get there etc. I had an offer to stay over night on Friday with a friend (she knows who she is and that i am grateful. x) which i gratefully took up. Turning up with the normal pre-race preparation of a bottle of Shiraz...a good  night was had. Up early, bright eyed and bushy tailed i dared to open the curtains... and yes the sight that greeted me matched what i was hearing with my ears....rain and lots of it!!!

Dorothy Mills was racing first out of the group so she and i arrived early at the venue determined to get some pics of her swimming (the rest of the team still snuggled under their duvets no doubt!), dressed appropriately for the weather or so we thought, that rain would eventually get everywhere! We went to register, get numbers on our hands and pick up the essential goodie bag. Going down to the waters edge, we could see the swell and the current - not encouraging. Davy and his partner Chloe were there with their normal big grins and positive attitudes, hugs all round and Davy goes off to talk to the water patrol.

Next thing for me and Dorothy was to try to keep dry. Once in the wetsuits we don't have a care in the world the weather can do its worst but standing around in it....not funny!!!

Dorothy duly got her wetsuit on, undeterred by the weather and raring to go! Big grin on her face in anticipation of the impending swim, nothing fazes Dorothy although she does have a dislike of huge waves. The rest of the swimmers all kitted up walked towards the waters edge for the briefing. Davy gave his speech, the water temperature was apparently 16.5 degrees.. sounds warm but it certainly did not look it! Dororthy looked like she had been born to swim as she relaxed on her back giving us the thumbs up!

Those swimming the 500m got in for the warm up, then a quick swim to the starting post you could hear the gasps and calls of oh my god its freezing. Not what you want to hear when you have yet to get in the water. The site at Brokehole is perfect for those wanting to view as it has a huge jetty to watch from. So with all of us watching the siren sounded and off they went into the swell. Trying to keep the camera dry i managed to get some pictures of Dorothy. The weather that day was misty and dark so it was difficult to see the swimmers as they reached the furthest buoys but it was exciting watching them race back. Very quickly in she came to the finish line grinning from ear to ear, you could tell Dorothy had enjoyed the race! More pictures!! Arriving in time to congratulate Dorothy were the rest of the group, Liz Reed, Suzanne Charnock, Amanda Bell, Joanna Charlton, Marie Lovell, Shirley Emmerson and Kate Upshall Davis.

Dorothy post race grins!!!

Dorothy with the huge grin and left arm raised

maire....probably still talking!!!

The one milers were up next. Maries face when she realised i was there was a picture...marie has a habit of talking to one and all....while she is swimming. I have long since given up trying to stop her, my aim is to limit the amount of time she spends chatting though!!! 
 Davy went through his routine and off they went into the deep. The wind was picking up and just when you thought it could not rain any harder....yep some more of it came down from the heavens!!! By this point in time none of my clothing was dry, thankfully i had spare stuff in the car.

Like baked beans in a can!

Were they trying to think of ways to slow Debbie Taylor down!!!

For those of us doing the 2  miles we now needed food, so off we headed knowing we would have time whilst the others swam, food duly eaten we nipped down to see the 1 milers coming back in. They had survived the swell, it was good to see them really rising to the challenge of swimming in a different location with different conditions. Although Windermere is a huge lake it gets alot of boat traffic, with large ferries making regular journey's and as you can imagine swell they can create is at times like being on a roller coaster!!

Two milers ..not the male in the background!!!!

All too soon it was the turn of the 2 milers. Having carried our wetsuits to the changing area, they were wet; couple that with the fact that we were wet, then try to get the two to combine! Male and females getting changed together is not normally something i would enjoy but watching everyone struggle into their wetsuits would have been picture worthy, the tent where we changed was humid so as you can imagine there was a lot of huffing and puffing to get the rubber on. In any other area this could be seen as a fetish party but for us there was work to be done and we were there to do it! What is nice about the open water community is that you get to meet so many people, over the internet and then in person, so it was lovely to see Debbie Taylor and Sam Plum at the race.

Two milers briefed on safety, in we got and swam to the start line. 16.5 degrees of cold - ish water creeping into your wetsuit is not to be laughed at! But pretty soon we were away attacking the waves, trying to find our slot in the water to break away and swim solo. The lead canoist had said that there was a current to assist you to the first buoy....if there was i never found it! The first lap seemed to go by at a nice pace, with the occasional bumping by people who can not swim in a straight line!!! Mentally the brain had work to do as you sighted the start bouy again and knew lap 2 was approaching. The distance is not a problem when it comes to races, the pace can get to you though and you can quickly find yourself tiring, that being said if you can get a nice rythum going the pace just seems to come and you feel like you could go forever, there was a British Long distance race the same day and part of me did i wonder what it would be like to do that distance next year. But on we plowed, i would have loved to talk to those on the jetty who were standing the wind and getting soaked by the rain which had decided to let it's presence be known but no time (note to marie....i did NOT stop to talk to anyone!!!!)...i had to do the second lap!! Although i swim with the group regularly in a race its hard to know who is swimming next to you or who you are overtaking as you don't really have time to take it all in.  The final leg of the race seemed to last forever, you could see the jetty it just didn't seem to be getting any closer, the wind had picked up, which in turn made the waves bigger and that coupled with the swell meant you really had to work to get to the jetty.

Finally the last buoy arrived and i swam adjecent to the jetty, head down to the finish. Now this finish would be slightly different from others that i have had....the girls where on the jetty. They will tell you that at each and every race i will stand at the finish and bellow like a fishwife for them to 'get a move on', 'dig deep', 'get your head down', get your knees up' 'run' and other words of encouragement (?) this was their time to get their own back. Thankfully with ear plugs in i could not hear what they were saying i could have the volume of their voices so i knew they were there!! They did happily inform me that they had got their revenge and shouted left right and centre at me. Mindful of all the things i shout to them there was no way i could get upright and just stroll to the jetty....the bruises on the soles of my feet are testiment to the run i did at the finish...Windermere obviously has some sharp stones at its shoreline!

 Race done for me, time to see in the others in the group. And in they came, each one looking good and making a firm strong finish. No signs of exhaustion from any of us, just big grins and a chorus of wow that was fantastic.

 Back in the changing room's again dignity went out the window as we struggled out of wetsuits and back into wet clothing (similar experience to putting on a wet swimming costume!!!) It was here that i heard that 3 people had thrown up in the water...yuk, yuk, yuk, i know it happens in races but yuk....we swam through that!!!! Did the rain stop...not a hope, differing variations on the same thing but it carried on thoroughout the day and well into the evening. The next day Windermere was a wash with sunshine and the water nice and calm, still it makes for an interesting race and gets you used to swimming in different conditions. What to do next, well theres another of Davy's races at the same venue in a fortnight...oh and the last of the Great Swim series in Scotland....looking forward to both! Oh and now to start planning for winter training and what to do next year, it looks like distance is going to be the theme!!!!
Interestingly we had yet another bad weather race but the next morning it was sunshine and normality resumed as Dorothy proved with her camera, wouldn't it have been wonderful to race in that!!!!

Till the next time!!!!

THE HIDDEN WORLD - KATE UPSHALL DAVIS

THE HIDDEN WORLD

I was rubbish at all sports as a kid. I occasionally got dragged into making up the numbers in the netball team at primary school, because I went to a tiny village school with only fifty-two pupils. I have photos of me in the team strip, but no one ever explained the rules to me, for any team games.. or maybe they did but I didn’t pay attention as I didn’t see myself as a sporty person. That was OK though, because I was good at art, and maths and English. Sport and exercise just weren’t for me. No one in my family was very sporty, so that was fine.

In secondary school I managed to skive a whole term of PE by hiding in the library, covering my face with my long hair and burying my head in a book if a teacher came in looking for absconders. I still got a B grade though, probably because they couldn’t remember who I was! (Hope none of my teachers are reading this, they might want to take that B back!!). I remember always being the last to be picked for any team, but other people remember being that person as well, so it can’t have always been me. I managed to get out of sports day most years by walking around in my PE kit, but not signing up for anything. One year, I was 13 I think, I got forced into running the 1500m for my tutor group. That was torture for me, made worse by some lovely 13-year-old boy shouting out ‘You look funny when you run!’. That comment stuck with me..

But I’d always swam. I never really tried to improve or push myself, I just enjoyed it. There’s something about water that has always drawn me to it... I remember ferry rides across the Channel and the North Sea as a child when I would stare over the side at the water for ages, fascinated by it, especially in the dark. It was scary and inviting at the same time. Shortly after I started open water swimming this year I realised that almost all of the pictures and photos in my flat have water in them – sea, rivers, and lakes. I always swam in the sea when we went on holiday, though never went very far out. I swam in the pool on and off over the years, doing what I now know was a rather rubbish breaststroke. I could do a mile though! I swam lots when I was school teaching for a couple of years about ten years ago, as it was the only way I could get a clear head and feel relaxed..

In September 2007, when I was 31, I was working for Crisis, and because I worked on Sundays, it became my job to take a group of people to support our fundraising runners in the Great North Run. I was truly inspired that day. It was really quite emotional watching all those thousands of people pushing themselves to meet the challenge, whilst raising millions of pounds for charity. I noticed that there were lots of people who didn’t look like your average athlete. I made my mind up that I could do it, and I wanted to do it. I didn’t sign up straight away though, it took a second year of being in the support team to convince me I was ready.

I’d always hated running, I thought training was going to be painful, something I’d need to endure to achieve my goal. I joined a local running club in the February before the event, and was pleasantly surprised to find that there were other beginners there. Everyone was so helpful and encouraging. And I actually enjoyed it! I couldn’t believe I could actually enjoy running training. I completed the Great North Run, and loved every minute of it! Even when my hips were really aching in the last few miles. I did it again the following year. But then I needed a new challenge. I made my mind up I wanted to run the New York Marathon. The timing coincided with a very personal reason for wanting to do a fundraising event for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, so I took one of their places and committed to raising at least £1500. I remembered that comment when I was 13, ‘You look funny when you run!’, and I thought, well maybe I do, but now I’m 33 and I couldn’t care less! I was so pleased to have got myself fit and healthy, and I was focussed on my goal, it didn’t matter what anyone else thought. I recalled that comment a few times during my training, and during running the marathon. It helped me feel proud of what I was achieving. Another phrase that has stuck with me, it may be a bit sad but I’m a big Lost fan, is John Locke’s catchphrase ‘Don’t tell me what I can’t do!’.  Sometimes there is a fine line between my determination and stubbornness though (similar to Locke!).. my plan a few years ago to get over my fear of heights by taking trapeze lessons didn’t turn out quite so well!! I was really shy and under-confident as a child, so I think once I found my confidence I developed an attitude of ‘What have I got to lose? Let’s give it a go!’.

The training wasn’t all plain sailing though. A couple of days before I left for New York I set off for my final long training run. I was a bit distracted because I was hosting a fundraising quiz night that night, and I knew I still had lots to get ready, and this was my last opportunity for a long run so it had to be good. I trained in Low Fell, which, if you don’t know it, is full of big hills. It was great experience it turned out, as I flew up the inclines on the bridges in New York, whilst others decided to walk. I was less than a mile from my house, running down Bensham Bank, and I fell over my own feet, because I was distracted and not looking where I was going. It seemed to happen in slow motion... as I went down I had time to think ‘My iPod!’... ‘My teeth!!’... ‘Please don’t let me do any damage that means I have to pull out of the race!!’... I landed on my face. I got up, with blood pouring out of my chin and my hand, and purple knees with gravel stuck in them. A nice woman stopped her car and asked if I was alright. I declared I was fine.. and carried on my walk of shame back home. I patched myself up with spray-on plaster, and went back out and ran eighteen miles. I had to, it was my last long run!

So, the New York Marathon. It was the most amazing experience, I ran the whole 26.2 miles with a huge grin on my face, sometimes tears rolling down my cheeks. I was amazed with myself for completing something I would never have dreamed of a couple of years before, and I was over-the-moon that people had sponsored me £3000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust for doing it. I could say a lot more about it, but this is a swimming blog!

Because I’d participated in the Great North Run I got an email from the organisers about the Great North Swim. I watched the promotional video, and made my mind up that that was my next challenge. I’d always loved the Lake District, and swimming, so what could be better! I looked at images of Windermere and felt it would be amazing to swim it. I still have one of the photos as the wallpaper on my laptop, I couldn’t stop looking at it. I had no idea at this point that there were people swimming in lakes every weekend, and week day. I thought this was a one-off event. I actually signed up to do it in September 2010, but I deferred my place about a month before the event when realised I had run out of time to train for it properly because I was so busy training for the marathon. As we all know, it ended up being cancelled that year anyway. I’m so pleased I didn’t do it in 2010, because I would have been doing it in my rubbish breaststroke, and I would have been completely under-prepared. I might even have been one of those people who had a panic attack and got taken out.

So, 2011. The marathon was out of the way. I decided to concentrate on the Great North Swim. I’d already decided I wanted to do more swimming and less running this year. Partly because of a little worry about my ‘crunchy’ knees. I thought swimming might be better for my body in the long haul, and getting better at it would be a new challenge. I was also a bit apprehensive after my experience of sliding down Bensham Bank on my face. I decided I needed to take the training seriously, and do some swimming in a wetsuit, in a lake. I joined the GNS Facebook page. A discussion thread started on the page about swimming training in the North East. That was how I met Pauline. I’d already persuaded my old friends Marie, Tristan, Melissa and Alison to sign up for GNS as well, when I’d invited them to my GNS fundraising Facebook page.

Pauline gave us some great tips about wetsuits, and what other equipment we needed, and what to eat. She told us about a ‘start of season’ OSS social swim at Ellerton in early April, and Marie and I agreed to go. I have to say I wondered what I was getting into, meeting up with strangers from the internet to go to somewhere I’d never been before, dressed in rubber! The water was 9C that day. Marie got in for a short swim, but I wasn’t able to as I’d just had my arm tattooed. I probably should have waited a bit longer for it to heal really, but I was raring to go and got in on the second visit to Ellerton. Pauline showed us how to put water on the back of our necks to prepare our bodies for the shock of the cold, and taught us how to breathe through the ‘gasping’ reaction, and to watch out for numb feet and hands and our core temperature dropping, and about having lots of hats! I remember being so pleased that I hadn’t tried to do the swim the previous year, as I wouldn’t have known anything about avoiding hyperventilation or hypothermia. I also would probably have tried to swim in my wakeboarding wetsuit, which would have been really hard work.

One of my memories from that first day is how friendly and helpful everyone was. Over the season I’ve gone on to meet lots of new people ‘off the internet’ in strange places, but I’ve never regretted it as everyone’s been lovely, and I’ve had some great swimming experiences. Open water swimmers seem to be a special breed of people, everyone helps each other out and looks after each other. And we have to, as it can be a dangerous sport if you don’t know what you’re doing. I think people are helpful because other swimmers have helped them along the way. We get a bit competitive at event time, but everyone is so supportive of each other.  I think there might also be something about spending your weekends right in the middle of the elements of nature that makes you appreciate the important things in life.

So, I completed the Great North Swim. I didn’t get a fantastic time, but I was very happy because I’d swam the whole thing in front crawl, having only learned it a month before! I don’t remember if I ever learnt front crawl as a child. I certainly couldn’t remember it. I’d been listening to all the tips Pauline was giving others about how to alter your stroke in open water, I’d been taking it in, but I couldn’t get my head around it. Alison agreed to meet me at the pool to teach me, but when she saw my breaststroke we both realised she needed to help me sort that out first! In one session I massively improved my breaststroke with Alison’s help. I spent the next couple of weeks studying videos of front crawl on Youtube. And then Pauline told me I was going to spend the whole weekend only swimming crawl. I was quite worried, I thought I’d never manage it. But I did. Somehow all the tips I’d heard, and what I’d seen in the videos, just clicked, and I spent the weekend swimming crawl. I was over-the-moon. It was a different story when I tried it out in the pool a couple of days later though, and realised I had to work to stop myself sinking because the wetsuit had been keeping me up! Over the following months I’ve had lots of good advice from various fellow swimmers, and a Triathlon coach, on how to improve my stroke. It’s much better now, but I’m still working on it. Everyone I’ve swam with over the months has helped me in some way. I hope I’ve been of help to others too.

The GNS was just the start. My original plan was to train to do that event, and I hadn’t thought past that. But I’ve enjoyed it so much that I’ve kept it going and have no plans to stop. I’ve discovered there’s a huge network of open water swimmers, and that wherever I am I can post a message on Facebook and find like-minded people who want to meet up for a swim. I’ve also discovered that you can exercise and then drink coffee and eat homemade cake afterwards, and strangers can chat as if they’ve known each other for years! I’ve been told that if you’re in Alcoholics Anonymous you can go anywhere in the world, find a local group and have instant friends. It’s like that with open water swimming, only without the alcohol problem.. well, maybe!

 I’ve been to so many fantastic locations this season. My first race was supposed to be a mile at Coniston, but wild weather lead to that one being cancelled. You can swim in any weather, but gale force winds make the water quite hard work to say the least! After some close encounters with lots of sardines and an unidentified fish whilst swimming in the Altantic in Portugal, I decided to try and deal with my fear of fish in what turned out to be my first race at Capernwray. Capernwray is amazing, the water is so clear you can see all of the huge well-fed fish, you can even see divers stood at the bottom of the lake. I completed the 1000m. I discovered that I’m fine swimming with fish when I can see where they are, it’s when they appear suddenly out of murky water that they give me a fright!

Next after Capernwray was the Ullswater Epic 1 mile. I can’t say I really enjoyed that one. It was my first experience of a deep water start. We swam out to the first buoy, and I felt OK, I was where I wanted to be, at the back. But then they explained the course... I was swimming to the right, not straight ahead... I was at the front!! Arghh! I panicked and pushed through people to get to the back, shouting ‘I’m slow! Please get in front!’. When the race started, there were arms everywhere, I felt like I was going to be pulled under. I never really got my breathing right after that, and my goggles filled with water. I just wanted to get out... maybe that’s why I swam 12 minutes faster than the GNS? My personal best! I don’t look happy in my finisher’s photo though!

I had a great swim in Grasmere for my birthday weekend. We swam the width then the length. The weather was great, and the water was lovely. I was so pleased some of my new swimmy friends were able to join me, along with old friends.

The next race was Loch Ness, the first ever Monster Swim. We went up there en masse, in the Monster Bus! Staying in tiny rooms each crammed with three sets of bunkbeds, was an experience. We knew the Loch was going to be cold. It was only 9.5C! But surprisingly none of us were really bothered by the cold. Perhaps we’d built it up in our minds so much, that the reality wasn’t so bad. We’d trained for the cold, but some of the others clearly hadn’t. We saw one person decide to go home after the acclimatisation session. It was choppy though. I wasn’t prepared for that.. when I got out into the middle of the water I felt like I was in the middle of an ocean. You couldn’t see the huge inflatable buoys over the waves and swell. Luckily Verity went in first and was able to tell us what to sight on. I had another one of my irrational panics, and couldn’t bring myself to put my face in the water. That meant my stroke was terrible, and I was so slow, even slower when I got stuck in a rip tide! But I made it to the far buoy. I was so pleased, it was the easy stretch next, swimming back to shore. And I’d decided I was ready to put my face in when I got back towards the shore, I had my game plan in my head, I felt confident. But then the Red Cross volunteers in their boat congratulated me for getting to the far buoy, and said I would have to get out because I’d been in the water too long! I complied, thinking they must be making everyone get out who’d been as slow as me, though that later turned out not to be the case. I climbed onto the boat. They kept asking me if I was OK, and giving me strange looks. They must have assumed that anyone in that temperature for that length of time must have the onset of hypothermia. The average person probably would have, but I’d been training for this. ‘Yes I’m absolutely fine!’. I was. I knew the signs of hypothermia, and I had none of them. No numb feet and hands, no shaking, I hadn’t started talking nonsense, well no more than usual anyway. They’d asked us all at the far buoy to shout out our name and hat number, to check we were OK. I passed with flying colours! (That was a good way to tell who’d had too much to drink during the celebratory drinks in the bar later that night). So I was a bit miffed at being pulled out of the water, but I have to say, riding back to the shore on a speed boat was quite good fun! I contemplated finishing all my races that way..

After another successful race with the fish at Capernwray, this time the 1500m, my next challenge was a sea swim. I decided after Loch Ness that I wanted to build my confidence in swell and waves. So a group of us went to Seaburn. I’d swam in the sea lots of times before, but only ever gone a few meters out and swam parallel to the beach. This time I was with experienced sea swimmers, and we swam out what seemed a really long way to me, to the first buoy. At first I still had my fears of whether I was going to be able to breathe without swallowing water, whether I was going to be strong enough to battle the waves. But once I realised that I could breathe, and I was strong enough, I started to enjoy the ride, and had a blast! It was exhilarating! We swam from buoy to buoy, then back to the shore.

A few days later, another first.. my first river swim. A group of us met at Kirkham Priory to swim in the River Derwent. A fantastic location. It was cold, 13C, but lovely.  Swimming between the trees, sun shining. As it was a narrow straight river, I thought I’ll get my head down and swim and I can’t go far wrong. However, after smacking my head on a fair few tree branches, I thought I should probably start looking up a bit more often. I don’t think I’d really taken that point on board though, when you consider what happened next... We’d swam about a mile and a half upstream, decided that was far enough, and turned round for the easier stretch, swimming back with the current. There I was, head down, swimming away, still not looking up often enough... then smack! I’d hit something at full force, it was solid, covered in fur.. and part of it was slimey. What was it?? I looked up, as I tried to swim backwards against the current to get away from it. There was an animal on an outstretched branch. It was the size of a sheep, but it was short haired and a ginger colour.. well, the bottom half was blue with mould. A pig perhaps? I ruled out human, too hairy. I couldn’t see its face, only its back. I was frantically trying to swim away from it. It probably only took seconds, but it felt like ages. I got away, but I was a bit freaked out. I caught up with David... this time looking up every few seconds! I told him ‘I had a bit of an incident’. He said, ‘Oh you didn’t swim into that deer did you?’. Of course, only me! That was definitely the worst experience I’ve had whilst swimming, but it’s not put me off. It didn’t spoil what was otherwise a fantastic swim. I figure, what’s the chances of that happening again?? And I think I’ve learnt my lesson now to watch where I’m going!

So what’s next? Lots more events, and new locations. I’m back in Windermere this weekend to do a 2-mile event this time, and in November I’m back at Capernwray for ‘A dip in the dark’, a 500m race in the dark, with glo sticks, fireworks and a BBQ. Can’t wait! Next year I want improve on my one mile PB (personal best), finish the Loch Ness Monster Swim under my own steam instead of on a speed boat (!), work towards the 10K Dart next September, and then hopefully in a couple of years a 6-man Channel Relay (I made the mistake of reading three books, so far, about Channel swimming, and I’m hooked!). I also want to keep swimming through the winter, as I’ll be so sad if I have to stop when the season ends. I may have to cover every inch of my body in neoprene and only stay in for a few minutes, but I’m not giving up! I’ve already agreed to attend Shirley’s birthday swim.. in January!

I can’t quite believe this has all happened in just five months, I’m so glad I said yes to the email about GNS and discovered this hidden world.

The last word is always mine - as you can see Kate's entry into open water swimming has been eventful, she has a wonderful proactive attitude of lets do, shes trust us to teach her front crawl and to let us 'encourage' her to enter races! Through her work of helping others you can see that she is embarking on a personal journey of discovery as well although  i am sure she would rather forget the dead dear!!! Her first year has seen amazing progress in the world of open water swimming and i hope that she will continue next year and for many years to come, the are many more rivers, lakes and sea's to swim. One of Kate's dreams is to swim the channel andi have no doubt to that she will get there...what can i say Kate apart from GO LEFT!!!