It was an organised training evening for those who wanted to practise open water swimming in the safety of an organised group.
I travelled the 30 minutes to Brockhole, Windermere with a friend from the tri club and felt extremely apprehensive despite it not being my first time! In actual fact I don't think I felt any calmer at all than I did on Saturday!
Once we got there we registered and got our swimming band before wrestling into our wetsuits! For safety everyone got a band before they entered the water and had to return the band and be signed out on exiting the lake to ensure everyone who goes in comes back out!
There was a large group of swimmers and for the majority this was their first open water swim of the season so everyone was feeling slightly nervous!
We had a safety briefing before being allowed into the lake.
When it was time to go I decided to hang back and let the more confident swimmers go first before getting myself acclimatised to the water temperature.
After doing a complete 200 metre circuit I had a short rest before setting off again. I did a total of 4 circuits which is 800 metres which is half a mile! I definitely need more practise with sighting as without a black line to follow I don't swim in a very straight line!
The session passed without incident and I got out the water after 35 minutes or so before I got too cold and whilst I was feeling positive!
Up until now I have borrowed a wetsuit but I am feeling so positive after this session that I will actually enjoy OW swimming that I have ordered my own wetsuit!
I will be swimming the channel before you know it!
Despite only swimming 800 metres which is a lot less than I do in the pool my arms and shoulders are really aching and stiff today and I feel absolutely exhausted! It is incredible how much OW swimming takes it out of you compared with pool swimming!
I think I need to get to the gym to strengthen my arms and shoulders!
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