BOOM - PART 1

BOOM - THE TEAM DO THE MONSTER SWIM IN LOCH NESS, SCOTLAND

The group go to Scotland....the plan...find the Loch Ness monster and bring her home! Having trained together, raced together laughed and cried together it was time to take the next step and go for a weekend away....together....but around the partying and laughter we had to incorporate a swim!!! Searching the internet i soon found the perfect one...Monster swim in Loch Ness, Scotland. Unbeknown to me, Lisa Foreman had spotted the same event. It didn't take long to persuade the rest of the group to go....i had involved the vital words...swim, party and alcohol. Surprisingly nobody mentions the compulsory cake that we always have after a swim....food it seems was not really on the list of priorities!

Ann Middleton kindly took it upon herself to organise the transport and Lisa sorted the accommodation...monies exchanged hands. Swim booked all we had to do was pack and load up. So on a miserably grey and rainy Friday morning Lisa, Verity Joyce and myself got up at stupid o'clock and made our way to Ann's house. Gordon, Ann's husband quickly offered refreshments and after a visit to the ladies off we went! Two hours later we pulled into Southwaite services to pick up Marie Lovell, her husband Tony and children Tris and Bill. Kate Upshall Davis and her friend Nigel Judson also boarded...this man had never met us...i hope Kate had warned him!!

And so the epic journey started...vocabulary was exchanged and as normal tons of laughter! Leaving England and travelling north brought about a change of scenery. Rich, luscious shades of green assaulted our eyes, landscapes that mankind could never hope to replicate made even grown adults coo in wonder. If  you have never visited Scotland i would highly recommend it. The rain followed us through most of the journey. We took the scenic route as they say in England which extended our journey by approximately 3 hours on our estimated 7 hours. Aside from the odd pang of hunger it was not an issue. Marie, Kate and Nigel by some point on reaching Scottish soil resorted to 'finding' Loch Ness. As you can imagine Scotland's vast landscape is home to many areas of water (all of which were mill pond calm - not even a ripple to disturb the glass like surface) Now Loch Ness is a vast expanse of water a fact known by our trio of visual explorers.....but ANY expanse of water was met with 'is that it...it must be'! But then the bus would turn another corner and another Loch would appear. Out would come the mobile phones, GPS on while they sourced the name of the latest vision in front of them. Left to their own devices this 'game; would have kept them amused for hours!!!

We arrived at the hotel around 8.30pm, it was time to priorites...do we get race ready or do we eat and socialise.....almost telepathically we decided on the latter. Rooms found, luggage dumped, the hunt for food was on. Mike Richardson was in the dining area trying to keep a low profile...he had joined us on a dare and later may regret accepting. The local inn stopped serving food at 8.30, warned to give the takeaway a wide berth, several of the group trailed off to find a co-op (little but frequent stores around the country), with a list of requests. Others opted for pizza or jacket potatoes as you can imagine accompanied by a few pints of the local brew.

Off to bed at midnight we attempted to creep into our room. Three strange females were already in the land of oblivion. Now for those of you accustomed to hostel accommodation you will know the difficulties in locating your luggage, opening it....who would have thought a zip could sound so loud at midnight in the dark! Then trying to find nightwear, toothbrush and toothpaste...all of which in your absence have rearranged themselves in your bag. And then there's the inevitable plastic bag filled with goodies. I can inform you there is NO quiet way to move a plastic bag in a dark room. Toothbrush in hand we then had to tackle 'the door'!!! Now doors during the day the tend to be quiet affairs...but at night they come into their own, hinges squeaking and groaning no matter how quickly or slowly you try to open and close them. Toiletries completed we renegotiated our way to our beds and settled down to get that much needed pre-race rest! Easier said than done with the unusual house noises, bed creaking...oh and the combined snoring of the two unknown females in the bunk bed opposite! People 'attempting' to creep up wooden fights of stairs....grrrrrr!

Next morning breakfast was a relatively quiet affair. Mike had joined us for the race and tried to distance himself from conversations about pre-race prep. Mike is an ex army rugby player with an impressive build to match but what he has in size he equally has in humour combined with a pleasant gentleness that he tries hard to veil using a combination of quick wit and growls. Mikes night of blissful sleep had been so disturbed he resorted to sleeping on the communal sofa!

Quick checks on 'got everything' and it was all aboard the monster bus as it had been named and off to find Loch Ness, its sheer size should have made it easy to spot. One detour later and we were parking in a field. Lugging an assortment of bags we headed off to registration. Soft Scottish accents greeted our nervous faces. The loch is infamous for NOT being warm so the main questions abounding was its temperature, the response came back as a balmy 9.5 degrees. I could feel my innards shrinking, clamoring for that warm spot hidden somewhere in my body!! Numbers written on the backs of hands, wave times given and goody bags in hand we regrouped to compare notes.

Verity was up first, the 9.30 wave. This could not have been more perfect in my view although probably not in Verity's. Verity is profoundly deaf so for safety reason is given a different coloured hat, but this makes it easier for the rest of us to track her progress. Not only that she is a strong and  more than competent, highly experienced swimmer who would be able to report back accurately her view of the swim and also her observations, i.e areas to use to spot etc.

Befitting the organisers had sort a bag piper to play us into the water. Acclimatisation was compulsory due to the water temperature - in they went the majority of them gasping s the water entered their wetsuits. A few hardcore or should i say acclimatised folks opted for the non-wetsuit option having met the criteria the previous evening with an 800 metre qualifying swim. The horn sounded and off they went, it was great being able to watch Verity swim as all our previous encounters had been in the water together. She quickly found her place in the field and powered ahead leaving lesser mortals in her wake.

The lake which has apparently been like a mill pond for months had decided to change form. Was this Nessie expressing her displeasure of sharing her beautiful black waters. I think it was more likely to be the wind which with every minute was picking up its intensity...but the former sounds more dramatic. Already 'white horses' as we call them were forming on the tops of waves.

Verity's had meant we were able to see her for most of the race, her stroke strong and determined throughout. Medal collected and official photo taken she headed towards us, eyes sparkling with pure enjoyment of fighting the water. A rush of words and she imparted valuable information, ' you can't see the buoys', from where we stood they were huge and luminous yellow triangle. The size of the waves had made sighting impossible. Landmarks high on the surrounding mountains were disclosed and  with a check to make sure she was ok off she went to get changed.

Next up, Mike and Ann. Ann joined our group 12 weeks ago, only ever having done breaststroke, now she was to tackle the lake using front crawl. Mike a very fit man had also only taken up open water swimming this season and this was to be his second race and one born out of rising to a challenge from me. Nerves showed clearly on both faces, however, to quote Ann...its do able! A freezing cold hand slapped in the middle of my swim suited back by Mike told me that the water was COLD!! Whilst the organisers fussed round the swimmers huddled round shivering but again the piper picked up his pipes and off they went into the cold blackness. The waves were picking up even more, spectators starting to zip up coats despite the glorious sunshine, the wind had a chill to it. As quick as a flash both came back grinning from ear to ear!

Lisa, Kate and myself were next up. Lisa is the faster swimming here, so i knew that i would be able to chase her, possibly catch her but not overtake her. Being wary of the cold and letting mental snags inhibit my thoughts, i usually put myself in the front of the pack but worries over getting in other swimmers way if the cold got to me, meant that i placed myself further near the back of the pack. Piped into the water  i was surprised to find myself quickly out of the throng and getting into a rhythm, the waves plus a swell of 5 feet in places meant it felt like i was in a roller coaster ride! Verity was right the buoys were almost impossible to see, only if you were on top of a wave did you get a glimpse and even then it was difficult to then see if you were heading in the right direction. Water so black you could not even see your hand in front of you, it was a soon becoming a battle of water and body, mentally i was as determined as the others to finish. Surprisingly the temperature did not factor in at all, there was another war to be won, Nessie was doing her best to get us out! Three quarters of the way towards the first buoy i had the sensation of working hard but not moving, my legs and arms were pummeling away but it seemed as if i had stopped making progress and if anything it seemed like the buoy was moving further away. Dropping my legs slightly and stopping kicking to give me a feel for the water i realised that some sort of tide, current or rip tide effect was occurring. Literally using every ounce of strength i pushed through this stretch of water forcing it to release it clamp like grip on my body and sped to the buoy which was spinning like a coin on a table top. Once round two people in a boat, clip boards in hand started shouting at me...'number?' 91 i shouted back, 'name' Pauline Squire' i screamed over the waves, not easy with water forcing itself in your mouth and up your nose. They were checking for signs of hypothermia...but it had broken the rhythm of my swim, not impressed i pushed on. Wave now battering me from behind, it was more like body surfing, not a buoy in sight. Thank god for Verity who had told us where to sight, so battling a current that wanted me to go left i pushed hard to the right only realising where the buoy was when i almost hit it. A sharp right and look for the finish flags....had they shrunk???? 

Waves now crashing in from the right and breathing hard to the left i fought my way along the shore line, it felt as if i was in a washing machine and going nowhere slowly. Suddenly i could see rocks underneath me and was at the finish. What a hoot, getting out my first comments were, 'God that was fantastic can i do it again!!!'

Marie Lovell bless had the worst of the wind to contend with. All other races after hers were cancelled. Marie with her can do attitude and self proclaimed 'one swim one pace one style of swimming got in with no hesitation. Off she went into the dark. By now waves made it difficult to spot her and knowing Marie's pace i dived off to get changed...in the changing room soon realised my schoolboy error...having got dressed that morning i put my swim costume on under my clothes....and forgot to pack underwear...exclaiming this i was soon joined by roughly 6 woman to had done the same!!!!! What are we like!

Changed i headed back to watch Marie, but where was she, walking along the shore line we eventually found her, swimming along...and chatting to the canoeist! Obviously not in any difficultly despite the pounding waves, and maintaining her pace, her sunny voice and gentle laugh reached us. In true team spirit we bellowed at her to get a move on, clapping her and cheered but no Marie refused to alter her pace or interrupt her conversation and on she went to the finish. Getting out of the water in the same way she had enter with a huge grin on her face. 

What about Kate i hear you ask, yes she was in the same wave as me, but unfortunately ended up getting taken from the water. She had been making progress, un-perturbed by the waters or swell, game plan in her head. Kate made it to the furthest buoy, given her name and number and been congratulated by the people in the boat who then informed her that she had to get out of the water. Querying this she was told it was because she had been in the water an hour. Apparently we had been informed this would happen at the start of the race but i can confirm with the wind blowing straight on us, ear plugs in and silicone hats on you could not hear a thing. Kate was not suffering from hypothermia  nor showing signs of going into it, nor was she in difficulty or showing signs of distress, a fact proved in that she could talk freely in the water. She was making progress and in my mind and also in hers she would have completed the race. However a lack of canoeists meant that the next wave could not start until she was back to shore. Kate accepted her fate and clambered on the boat even stating that she loved the boat ride back to land. In chats afterward Kate informed me that the one hour policy was to protect swimmers from the cold but not one swimmer came out and complained about cold, all talk was about the swell and waves. For those non-wet suited swimmers i can understand this but wetsuits offer an enormous amount of buoyancy and warmth so it is felt that this time span should have been extended for the wetsuiters. Its a case we will raise with the organisers. Kate is disappointed at not finishing but determined to try again next year and we will all be there to support her. Good on you Kate!!!!

We took on Loch Ness, the monster did her best to protest but undeterred we entered the battle, fought hard and won!!! What an adventure and such an exciting race. Working hard against the swell and waves meant that none of us felt the cold. Resting for a short while out of the wind and in the glorious Scottish sunshine surrounded by some of the best that Scotland can offer was brilliant. Meeting up with other facebookers was superb. It was great to meet Maureen Londra, Chris Wilson and Lorna, Shirley Emerson and many others (sorry if i have not named you!!!) Putting faces to names, new friendship started, stories shared but we will meet again. It was a superb event and felt great to participate in the first ever one!!! Walking back to the monster bus other plans were being made, the evening entertainment (Boom part 2....coming soon!!!) but also plans to return next year! Nessie hasn't beaten us....We will be back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

pics from the day taken by the monster people, more to follow from us, i am the one in the 3.8 orca in a yellow hat!!! click to view
 and some taken by me...more to come!!!
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