24 HOUR CHARITY OPEN WATER SWIM

24 HOUR CHARITY OPEN WATER SWIM

Its impossible to include pictures of everyone when writing a blog, however this swim would not have happened had it not been for all involved, so to thank one and all at the end of the blog those whose pictures i have not managed to include will be added to hopefully show recognition and gratitude to you all.

Fancy a bit of a challenge....a 24 hour swim...well not individually but as a group...i wonder if there are enough like minded (nutty) people who fancy joining in on a 24 hour swim. The idea...to have one swimmer in the water on the hour every hour, with no limit to the number who could join them in each hour and no limit to the number of times a person / people could swim. At the time starting at 6am on the Saturday and finishing at 6am on the Sunday seemed like a good idea!

Asking permission from the lake owner at Ellerton in Brompton on Swale and all of a sudden it was real, yes we could do it...but would i end up attempting to swim 24 hours on my own, i hoped not. Fear not, with days of advertising for swimmers and the numbers were starting to stack up, fantastic. Rather than dictate time slots for people they were allowed to pick their own, this worked well as individuals set their own goals, for some who where training for the channel a night swim was a priority, others wanted to hit key points during the day and night.

I suspected that no-one would want the 6am slot so put myself down for that one, but wonderfully Suzanne Charnock and Keith Midley arrived to join me, we all looked as tired as one and other, but managed to raise a smile for the camera prior to entering the water,  the lake which was eerily still and calm with not so much as a whisper of breath in the air, the night was barely clinging on as daylight pushed her way forward. The start of the day was imminent and so was our swim, 6am on the dot with Dorothy Mills camera in hand to record the start of the event, we entered the water....which shall we say....felt cool!!

Arriving in darkness and watching the light appear was amazing, the air changed around us as we stood around talking, in the changing rooms i was kicking myself for picking such and early start time....6am in the water, i mean really is that right!!! Apparently so (the next one will start and finish later in the day!) as we tentatively entered the water, however, there was something that felt a little bit naughty entering the waters prior to the allotted normal entry time, of being able to watch the sun come through the trees in the stillness, hearing the owls screech around up, not a sound other than us and the owls....even as we swam in the silence, the atmosphere to amazing to want to bomb round, we witnessed a heron close to the waters edge, the birds waking up and greeting us with musical serenades.

The sun peeking through the trees and casting red streaks across the flat calm water, the air temperature changing from...do able to being able to see your breath in front of your face and back again! What an amazing start of an amazing 24 hours and how wonderful to spend it with friends!

Unusually Sammy the male resident swan at Ellerton had allowed two males and a female to share his waters, the two males......being that time of year, it was a tad intimidating to be in familiar waters where amorous foul were determined to indulge in their passions regardless of us swimmers! Needless to say we gave them a wide berth!

That first hour passed so quickly and soon it was time to get out, Dorothy Mills suited up and ready to get in, Dorothy had set herself the challenge of swimming four times as strategic times, personally i feel the times she picked were amazing and allowed her to see the lake at its best! Dorothy, you could tell was having a blast in the water, and clearly she did not want to get out! The sun's red hue through the trees, changing sky and the general atmosphere of the lake was matched by her grin!

Geoff Armstrong in for the next slot, head down and pulling out the laps, no hesitation in his stroke, his hour flew by! Now would anyone else turn up, i had a list, people had said yes....but now it was time to turn to the car park and have a look!!!! Early morning divers getting in were quick to donate to the swim, with many mutterings of how nuts we were!

Andy and Emma Parrett arrived, complete with all the goodies they would require for the rest of their stay...including a bbq which once lit later that evening smelt Divine! Emma, unfortunately was feeling under the weather and despite taking the mickey it was clear that she was not feeling great (the pale face with its greenish hue!!!), but it was fantastic that she turned up when most would have retired to their beds!! Andy however would be swimming.....lots! They were staying the 24 hours so it would be a good opportunity for them to see the lake in all its forms. 

Through the day a variety of swimmers joined us which was amazing to see and be a part of Philip Lamb and Vanessa Daws to name a few. Vanessa came armed with some wonderful cakes which her amazing son practically shoved down our throats (very gratefully received though i can tell you), once he got bored with issuing cakes it was down to a feather hut to decorate his hat whilst mum swam....thanks to the abundance of wild life we managed to find just ones that he considered perfect and he looked a treat as i am sure you will agree!!

Julie MacKenzie kindly came over to swim with us, i am pleased with this picture of her, shes stunning and hopefully this shows her off to you all. Julie conquered a massive fear of night swimming and although filled with interpretation completed it marvellously, i hope she is as proud of herself as we all are of her. Its no mean feat swimming at night, but she did it!!!

As night turned to day the fatigue was kicking in for Dorothy Mills and myself, we had been up since 4am, and were desperately in need of getting some shut eye. Dorothy headed her to camper van to try to get some   much needed rest whilst i had made a promise to myself to try to get pictures of all swimmers entering and leaving the water and so the show must go on. Food eaten did nothing to raise the energy levels at all, i would have loved to settle down with a glass of the red stuff to watch the proceedings but it was not to happen!

The daylight was starting to fade, the sky turning some wonderful shades, what a lucky day weather wise, the wind picking up for about an hour the only change in conditions, and now dusk was approaching. All swimmers that were due to do the darkest hours had arrived, the evenings guidelines given.

Around this time we were actually being joined by swimmers in California, who had contacted me and asked if they could swim in their home town and donate to us.....wow how amazing....yes please, and so it was around this time they were gliding through the water, how amazing is that, that our swim had gone international! 

A rather wonderful and long term friend of mine Adrian Wintle had very kindly offered to be safety cover for us for the night swims (and turned up suitably early in the day to join just which was an added bonus), but as night drew in he readied his kayak in preparation for supporting the swimmers. For some the night swims were no different to those in the day, for others a terrifying prospect, and there were all of us who were grateful for the knowledge that there was a kind and caring and more than capable individual alongside them in the water! Every great event needs great support and i had by the boat load, in the form of the swimmers and also Adrian!

 Just as the light was turning our youngest swimmers turned up Beatrice and her brother Alexander Lineton. Beatrice not long having completed her first triathlon and doing amazingly well in it, a genuine star in the making! Shy of the water every time she gets in but impossible to get out once shes relaxed and enjoyed it, shes great fun to swim with! 

Now having given the evenings briefing it was time to set the stage so swimmers could see the jetty area, having purchased glow sticks, candles and lanterns it was now time to decorate the place. The glow sticks claimed a life span of 6 to 8 hours but me being me i thought i would put one to the test, and followed the instructions on how to active them did so with a green one at 1pm on the Friday, this same stick Dorothy and i used to light ourselves whilst brushing teeth....i found out to my cost that these glow sticks in the right conditions will continue to glow for 3 days.....note to self don't put them in the waste basket in the bedroom then awaken to wonder if aliens had landed!!!! 

Now as i said briefing given....one of the main points was that all swimmers WILL swim with a glow stick ....my heart leapt through my nostrils when a certain swimmer who shall remain nameless but whose photo will be here's, ear plugs in entered the water as we were cracking the stick to activate it, now plugs in and hats on clearly he could not hear a thing and rather worryingly disappeared rapidly into the darkness not responding to our calls! Ellerton can and most of the time does look completely calm but despite being a lake it does have a current which as you can appreciate in daylight can be seen across the water and its movement, at night however .....not a thing!!! So off went said swimmer with those of us on the jetty getting more and more frantic, Adrian to the rescue, he calmly manoeuvred his kayak into the water and set off, and very shortly although for us on the shore line it did not seem it, located said swimmer and brought him back to shore, i am not to sure who was more relieved us or him!!!! 

Now said swimmer and his friend Nathan Dalgarno were sharing their hour of swimming...Nathan got in glow stick firmly attached and set off for him swim accompanied by Adrian. 30 minutes later he returned stating that he really enjoyed his swim but that he was lost without his ear plugs. Looking at him you could see there was something not right....the following picture shows how being tired can affect your ability to function as he had swam with his goggles up side down!!!! This was followed by him hunting in his hat as he was convinced that's where he had put his ear plugs after his last swim....check the hair for the offending articles!!!! Amazing what being tired can do for you!

Fantastically the full moon came out to great us, picture this a group of adults acting like children at a fireworks display all of us wowing and uttering words of amazing etc!!

Midnight approached and two of our swimmers in training for their channel swim had wanted to do around the midnight time slot, Martin Tickle Holland and Steve Holliday (now know as Steve the frog Holliday!) were the next of our group to swim sans suit (Vanessa Daws being the first). I was desperate for some sleep at this point but a quick power nap would sort me out....that was ALL that i needed....so off i headed having seen the next swimmer into the water, i would rush to get my head down for 20 mins then be back and bouncing for the next few hours!!!!! Sleep however failed to come as i expected and i lay in the wonderful tent that Adrian had erected (did i tell you he was wonderful or what!) and slowly gave in to what can only be described as a light doze, rushing to the waters edge i was just in time to see Martin getting ready for his swim.

 Right this time I AM GOING TO GET MY POWER NAP!!!! By this time i was feeling totally wobbly through lack of sleep, Adrian i suspect was feeling the same having been in the kayak with out a break for a great number of hours non stop! All i needed was 20 mins......please, literally sliding into the tent i cant remember my head hitting the pillow before i heard 'pauline.....pauline.....pauline....'......you have got to be kidding me i thought (amongst other things!!!) it was Steve letting me know that he was due to get in the water in 5 mins. Feeling like a rat that had fallen in a beer vat, i struggled to tie my own shoe laces in the dark, dipping up the tent that so lovingly had held me for such a short period of time i dashed to the jetty.....where was the swimmer i asked those sat watching.....oh he was getting cold and got in to swim the reply....my response would have warmed him up i can tell you but i fully understood that standing there in your speedo's while i try to figure out which shoe to put on which foot must have seemed like an eternity but none the less i was gutted at not being able to get a picture of Steve as he entered the water, i wanted everyone to have a record of their swim. Martin seemed to find my responses funny!!! i think tiredness was kicking in with me big time at this point! The hour passed fast and despite me stating that i would not take Steve's picture when he came out ....i did!!!

You will ask why do i now call Steve...the frog...because apparently he did not know which tent i was in and went round them all loudly whispering my name until a manly voice at one tent informed him that the person in that tent was not ******* pauline!!!! and that he sounded like a demented frog calling out my name!!! Despite my words of shame towards Steve at waking me up, it would have been great to see him off into the water and i am glad that he came for the swim...shame he could not stay for the rest of the night!

After Steve came Dorothy again, accompanied by the swans which we could just about make out in the darkness Adrian by this time had not stood up for hours and it was doubtful that his legs would unbend out of the kayak, he was sick of eating chocolate bars to give him energy and a coffee managed to keep him going for a bit longer, he was determined to kayak us til the light started to arrive. Seriously what a hero!

And then it was my turn to get back in, god i hope the water was cold enough to wake me up! It was wonderful and ignoring my own briefing i decided that as i had organised the event i would swim at will and i did, it was amazing, the silhouette of the trees were now my sighting point, the moon casting an amazing sheen to the waters surface, the silence deafening! Adrian by my side to keep me right! I felt like i could have stayed in for hours let alone one! I completely enjoyed the experience and all to soon it was over!

A picture of what tired looks like!!!!

With the sun starting to peak through the trees Adrian headed off to his tent, i suspect the he was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and i can only imagine the relief of being able to straighten his legs!

The last swimmers finished and we were done WE HAD DONE IT!!!! How tired were we all......beyond tired....was it worth it.....YES The final few that did not have to rush off had our photo taken before we dismantled the candles, glow sticks, fairy light and night lights that had been brought, tided up the rubbish and said our goodbyes!

Could i have done it without the swimmers, no, they were amazing and i am eternally grateful for them all turning up and swimming, you were brilliant and i can not thank you enough, the man of the match however has to go and i am sure you will all agree to Adrian Wintle, whose untiring work enable so many to swim, his support and commitment despite being shattered and in pain goes beyond commendable! I hope you all enjoyed it, you certainly were incredible and i was honored to have your company and assistance to complete such a great task. THANK YOU ALL SOOOOOO MUCH!

So what do i say now......same again next year folks?????

List of swimmers:

Dorothy Mills,Suzanne Charnock, Geoff Armstrong, Shirley Emmerson, Kathryn Ayre, Keith Midgley, Alison Darley, Di Wilson, Andy Parrett, Emma Parrett, Martin Tickle Holland, Steve Holliday, Maybelle McKenzie, Philip Lamb, Nathan Dalgarno, Steve Holliday, Martin Tickle Holland, Tracie Jacobs, Eileen Webb, Barry Webb, Helen Duncan, Neil Danby, Tracey Myrtle, Paul Myrtle, Di Wilson, Mark Jones, Chris Drydale, Ian Grant, Alex Lineton, Beatrice Lineton, Martin Ord, A John W Mace (aka the vicar!)Lyn Andrews, Joyce Thompson, Vanessa Daws, Bernie Wilson, Carla Hanson Neil Weir and last but not least myself Pauline Squire

If i have missed your name out please let me know so i can add you xx

Those pics for those that may not have seen them can be found on http://www.flickr.com/photos/67693883@N07/