A new Year and A New Wonderful challenge

A New Year, A new challenge.

As 2014 fast approaches, we have to start looking forward to what it has in store for us. Earlier on this year I applied to the ballot for the 2014 - 27th Self-Transcendence Marathon swim. which takes place on 10th August 2014 . This Swim takes place in Lake Zurich. It is a 26.4Km fresh water swim along most

of the Length of Lake Zurich.Starting in the picturesque town of Rapperswil to Zurich. This swim is one that I have wanted to do for a while but, because it is a ballot and you have to be selected, it has taken me two years to get selected.  I am very happy to say that, On 15TH December 2013, I received the much anticipated email that I had been hoping to receive. So, at 7am on the 10th August, 46 Individual swimmers, 21 of us will be dressed only in our budgie smugglers, while the rest will be taking the slightly more wimpish approach of rubberising themselves. There will also be a number of Relay teams that will take the plunge into the frigid waters of the Glacial fed Lake Zurich. It is a very international affair with swimmers from all over the world. This year I will be the only one that hails from the African continent.

I am estatic at the opportunity to be doing this Swim. It is Switzerlands largest open water swim and no doubt will be organised with the typical Swiss attention to detail. I have met quite a few fellow swimmers that have done this swim and they all say that it is a great swim. They also say that it is not a swim to be underestimated.

So, it seems I have my work cut out for me. I have already gotten off to a decent start in that I went to the pool a couple of days ago and I did a 3km set that was purely designed to benchmark my capabilities. This was done as I have been out of the pool for about 3-4 weeks and needed to get an idea of my fitness and my speed. Since the latter part of the summer, I have not done any meaningful training, don't get me wrong, I have been keeping up my swimming, but a mixture of an absolutely torrid year on the home front and mixed in with a complete breakdown of focus, my training has been a bit erratic!! - to put it in words that are deemed not to be too offensive.

I Am glad to see a new year on the horizon and, I am very sad to admit this, but, I will not be too sad to see the back of 2013. So, let sleeping dogs lie! It is now time to focus on the future - and boy am I grateful for this Swim and something to get my focus back.This last year I have used my swimming not only as a means to keep fit and train for what I was hoping would be a Double Windermere, I have also used it as a place of solitude for me to go and clear my mind and put my life into perspective.

Sadly, there are not too many lakes around that are open at this time of the year so I will be focusing on my technique and my speed in the pool. On that front I will be enlisting the help of some very good open water Swimmers who may be able to help me and push me a bit. I will also be trying, again, for about the 5th season, to try and get some improvement in my speed. It is one thing that I have had issues with this for a while. Maybe this year will be the year that I can change that.

Other planned swims for 2014

I will be entering this year with the anticipation to be fit enough to be able to do about 15km buy the time the summer arrives then I can concentrate on the open water swims more than the pool training. I will be doing some of the same swims that I did last year and maybe a few others along the way.

I will be looking to focus on the bigger lake and river swims - 10 - 15km swims rather than then shorter - 3-5kms swims. The ones that spring to mind so far are

1 - Jubilee river swim                       10km                   8th June

2 - Henley Bridge to Bridge             14.1km                TBC          Funds permitting

3 - Eton 10 km                                  10km                   26th may

4 - Hampton court                             3.65km                20th July

Above are the swims that I will do with other swims that I will be looking at in the near future. 

Another Swm that I would like to do this year and I have been giving it some SERIOUS consideration is a Loch Lomond Swim. The reason It is only under consideration is that it is 14 days after my Zurich Swim and there are amny aspects that affect this decision. 

Will  I have have recovered enough to do a 21 mile swim?

Will I be able to get that much leave in the same month?

Will I have the finances available to do both of them?

All things being equal, I think the Finances is the biggest issue as The other two I think I might be able to swing in my favour. I will, in the New Year be looking for Sponsors again and I do hope to procure sponsorship at least for the entry fees. The rest I will have to take on anyway.

All that remains is for me to Wish you all a Merry Xmas and an fantabulous festive season, I look forward to meeting up with some of you in the lakes or oceans - I, as always will be the one with the bright Orange Budgie Smugglers

As per usual, I finish with a quote that is very meaningful to me.

Actions prove who someon is,

Words prove who they want to be. 

  

A fitting End to the season

Hythe to Folkstone swim

Well the end of the Season is drawing closer and I have been a bit out of it for the last couple of weeks with not a hell of a lot of swimming going on. 

A couple of weeks ago, A friend of mine contacted me on facebook with an idea to do a swim in the ocean Down at Hythe, Kent. The plan was to swim from Hythe to Folkstone. Nothing special about this swim, just a few mates getting together to go for a swim in the ocean. I did not respond in a timely fashion, as is usual for me, I generally leave things to the last minute. As the time approached, on the weekend that he had proposed, I found myself in a very odd situation. I had nothing planned for that day. The weather was looking to be good, I hadn't really done any notable swimming in the previous 3 weeks. I then responded and asked some more details. The deal was this, Get down to Hythe, Jump in the ocean and swim to Folkstone. 

The Plan was to jump into the Ocean, at these rocks that you see in the above photo, then swim to the furthest land point that you can see in the distance. I enquired about the distance and I was told that it was about 10Km. Having done nothing bigger than a 3 km swim for at least two months, and harbouring the remnants of a head cold that I was struggling to shake, I was a bit apprehensive at the distance but thought, Oh well, what is the worst that can go wrong? - Apart from the obvious, sinking, drowning, getting washed out to sea and ending up in France of all places. There were a few other minor grievances.

Well the weather did not disappoint - surprisingly for British Summer time. I phoned Greg about 2 days before and he had managed to procure the services of two kayakers as support and his parents to watch us along the shore. The tide would be with us. I asked about the anticipated time and he mentioned about 2 - 3 hours. I did the sums in my head - yes, without any aid of electronic devices. - with a 2 mph tide and us swimming at about 3 mph, that was a bit excessive but it looked to be a good swim. he mentioned that there would be about 4 - 6 of us doing it.

So I left London on an awesome Autumns day and headed down to Hythe for 10.30. it was not difficult to find the group. There were not the expected 4 - 6 swimmers but 11 swimmers had arrived and their following parties, plus the two able bodied kayakers. We all got changed into our kit, me in my inconspicuous budgie smugglers plus 3 other like clad participants and the rest all donned their black condoms and we were now ready

After a few photos, we were in the water and off. The first thing that was apparent was how warm it was. We had gauged it at about 16 degrees Celsius - I find the oceans are generally about a season behind with regard to temperatures. It is such a large body of water that it does not react to changes in outside temperatures like lakes do, staying a lot warmer for a lot longer into the winter months. There was also the horrid taste of the salt water. Something I do not think I will ever get used too. no matter how many times I swim in the ocean and how much of it I swallow - or not, I still hate the taste of it.

We were off, I was getting into my rhythm pretty quickly. As I was not swimming with triathletes, there would be very little catching these guys and girls up as they were all predominantly swimmers, and pretty quick ones at that. I got into a group of about 4 of us and we trundled down the coastline at a leisurely pace, which seemed blistering - thanks to the tide that was with us. Every now and again stopping to take in the sites and to also gauge how fast the tide was running. Put it this way, if you had just lay on your back in the water you probably would have got to Folkstone in about 3- 4 hours. The water was calm with very few waves, That big ball of light in the sky was threatening to peak itself out from behind the clouds. It was a great swim, no real racing, done at a leisurely pace with enough time to stop and chat with the other swimmers.looking at some of the photos of the swim, I can sort of understand why I do not swim with a wetsuit. If I did, my body would be so high out the water that my legs would be kicking thin air. As salt makes you more buoyant, this was also apparent in the sea.

 I think the hardest job for the day went to the kayakers who had to keep tabs on all of us. 

It all seems pretty simple when organising something like this. 2 kayakers, one at the front, one at the back and things will be good. Won't it???  Well in theory, yes. In practise, it is difficult when some swimmers like to remain fairly close to the shore and others head way out into the ocean, about a km form shore - in theory to get the faster tides. I think the Kayakers got more of a workout than the swimmers trying to keep tabs on us and check that we were all fed, watered, photos taken, alive!!. They did a superb job on all of the above. As we were all relatively accomplished swimmers, we all made a point of sticking with one or two other swimmers so that we were not totally alone.

We past some of the Knolls that were sticking out into the ocean and it did get a bit wavy and choppy out there and I was then reminded that ocean swimming is a very unique skill, completely different from swimming in lakes and rivers where there is very little chop or wave swell. The Waves and the swell can play havoc with your stroke as it rolls you over a bit so you are not centred in the water and, if you are not able to adjust your stroke to compensate, you can end up with a pretty diabolical stoke- not that my stroke can get much worse.

After about 1 hour and 28 minutes I arrived at the prescribed landing point. it was a great swim and the final mapped distance was just shy of 7km. I was expecting to be a lot more broken than I was. I came out feeling very good, bar some minor chaffing under my arms and shoulders being a bit still, all was good. I was pretty pleased with myself that I am still able, on very little training to float my way through 7 km of swimming. It was the one thing that I was a bit apprehensive about when I had arrived down in Hythe.

We all then gathered on the shore and quaffed down some hot chocolate, kindly supplied by the organising committees parents and entourage. Greg then came and did a bit of swimming with his camera and took some photos of us whilst we were out at sea. I think it is a fairly new toy for Greg - a nice Gopro Hero3. Takes some stunning photos and I cannot wait to get my hands on one in the future.

Greg adnd I at the Finish. Thanks Buddy.

My Channelversary

One of the other highlights for me in recent weeks was my Channelversary - for those not in the know, that is an English Channel Anniversary. on the 28th Of September 2008, at 10am in the morning, I stood in trepidation on the shores of Samphire Hoe, with some of the best friends a person could ever want, staring out over the English Channel about to embark on what has turned out to be a highlight in my life. 11 hrs and 45 minutes later, on the 29th of September, in pitch darkness, I set foot on French shores at the base of the Cap Griz Nez lighthouse.

last weekend was the  5th anniversary of this day. I have always meant to get across to France to see where I landed during the hours of daylight. I thought it only fitting that I follow through on this desire on the exact day that I landed 5 years ago.

So, on 29th September 2013 I booked myself and my car onto a Ferry for this pilgrimage. I left London at 6am to get the ferry and then took a drive down, along the French Coast to Cap Griz Nez. I then stood on the shores of France and looked back over the Channel. 5 years after Swimming here, and now standing there looking back over the Channel, I think it has finally sunk in, what I managed to achieve all those years ago was actually a fairly astounding feat. For so many years, it had never occurred to me at how much of an undertaking it was. I had always just looked at it as just another fairly long swim. With the help of those Friends of mine, and the trip to France and seeing it all in the daylight, feeling of nostalgia set in and a realisation that the English channel is one of the biggest swims in the world and the one that nearly all other marathon swims are pitted against. (Cuba to Florida notwithstanding) It must be that for a reason.

I sat for a couple of Hours just starring over the water re-living all the feelings and emotions that I had experienced all those years ago. After 5 years of not doing a lot of swimming, venturing out into other endurance fields and enjoying them, I had this overwhelming feeling flood over me that marathon swimming is my passion and I love it and want to do so much more of it. Nothing comes close to the feeling of pitting yourself against nature  with little more than a pair of  budgie smugglers, a cap and succeeding! It is a very humbling, very lonely sport that you could never do without an army of supporters who are watching out for you the whole time. Without my amazing friends and family I would never be where I am today.

So, as the season Draws to an end for another year, I find myself looking to future challenges and they will involve a bit of water - in fact a fair amount of it. I now need to start looking at the options available to me in 2014 and start getting my mind focused again and get my training back on track..

the swims that I have singled out to try and get into next year are

Zurich Swim

Double Windermere

Loch Lomond

Further Field there is

Rottnest swim

Catalina Channel

1 or 2 of the swims above are what I will try and register for in the season to come, plus a few smaller 10km and smaller swims. I also want to try my had at a bit of ice swimming but we will have to see how the winter progresses

Lastly, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my Sponsors, Colins It for standing by me this year, through all the turmoil. A massive Thanks to my supporters, Family and Friends who have taken the time out of their busy lives to come down and watch me at some of my swims this year and who often believe in me when I find it hard to find belief in who I am.

So although I did not manage to get a big swim in this year, it has been a good year - at least from a swimming perspective. I look forward to getting some big swims in in the years to come. I need to find my swims  then focus on them and getting sponsorship.
I will still be swimming in the pools and also probably in the Lidos. if there are other nutters out there that will be swimming in lakes and Rivers, or the sea over the winter, I would love to join you if I possibly can.

A saying to finish

"You can't save time. You can only spend it, 

but you can spend it wisely or foolishly."

Benjamin Hoff

Vachery Swim

Nice Swim In Vachery.

Today saw me travelling down to Vachery estate in Cranleigh to take part in a 3km Sprint race. Wake up at stupid o'clock and head off. After arriving, I got changed at the car and then headed to the registration tent and the orange budgie smugglers were immediately recognised by swimmers that I had competed against in the Marlow, and previous swims.After registering we went down to the lake to have a look at what lay ahead of us

Mist rising off the Lake, 10 degrees outside and a glorious day. Audra, you would have loved this swim. Well, there is always a next time to dip your feet into open water swimming. The field for the 3km was fairly small in Sprint swim terms with 50 of us gathering around for the briefing. I met up with Paul McCullock and Roland Townson. 2 Friends of mine that train with me and we listened to the Briefing before heading down to the lakes edge.

As all the rubberised people leapt into the lake I sat on the edge and met up with 2 other Non wetsuit swimmers. We waited till the absolute last minute before getting into the tropical waters of Vachery pond. The water was a fair bit warmer than the outside temperature. it was also quite shallow. Hence the No Diving sign, unless you want to become a bottom feeder off the delectable mud on the bottom of the lake. Whilst chatting to the non wetsuits and asking them what their prescribed times might be. I soon realised I was in for a bit of a lesson on how to swim a sprint. Little did I know how much of a lesson.

The time finally came, we ventured into the water an headed out to join the other swimmers that had been wallowing in their wetsuits, waiting for the start. Very soon the start siren went and we were off. SPRINT DISTANCES ARE GRUELLING AT THE START. the swimmers stormed off  like the proverbial pod of hippos and this hippos was left seriously wanting- for just a little bit of speed try as I may, I was found lacking - yes, my speed is RUBBISH.
We got to the first bouy and there was a group that had gone ahead of me, I did not know how many but it seemed like the whole pod had disappeared into the mist ahead of me. well at this point I just decided to swim my own race and hope that they would bomb out later but I did not really hold a lot of hope as sprints are not long enough for people to get tired.

There were patches of the lake that were really shallow and the oxygen weed came right up to the surface. I have swum amongst loads of this type of weed and albeit being mildly irksome, it is all weak enough to just keep your stroke going and it would break off. However, there was a more unfamiliar, sinister problem lurking below the waters surface, LILIES. these tend to float on the surface and anchor themselves to the bottom with, what I was to learn, are fairly tough root systems. These got caught around my legs, Arms and attached themselves to the timing chip and I was a bit worried that it was going to rip it off my leg. If anyone had a camera, I am sure I would have looked a right site with lily pads and oxygen weed draped over my head and draped around my shoulders.

We got to the top boy and I was desperately trying to figure out where I was but it was a futile attempt as I was unable to count the Green hats round the boy. I was with a Female swimmer who was doing particularly well and matching my stroke with a few just on my feet. After rounding the top set of boys we started the 700 odd metres of the back straight and this is where I managed to build a slim lead over the lady and the people tailing me. I thought I was pulling away from them. At this point I was wrong. After fighting my way to the front of this group and having the odd battle with lilies and weed, the former completely messing up my stoke, we made it to the bottom boys where I rounded the mark about 20m down on the group in front of me and about 5 m ahead of the group behind me.

For the next 1.5km, I stayed where I was in the pack with the group ahead of me pulling away a bit further and the group behind me staying about 5 - 10m behind me.There was no overtaking, either by me or of me. After the many skirmishes with lilies and weeds and getting too close to islands along the way we finally rounded the top bouys for the last time. we now had about 700m left of the race and I figured , even with a mammoth sprint finish, there was little chance of me catching the people ahead of me . I knew there was another non-wetsuit in that group but they were too far to reel them in. I suspected that they first non wetsuit was way ahead of me.

I got into my pace again and tried to just keep it going. Sneakily, the group behind me were directly behind me so I could not see where they were. With about 400m to go, I saw one of them making a move. It was the lady that I had passed at about the 800m point of the race.I tried to keep ahead of them but all attempts to shake them off were met with obstinacy on their part and the lady crept up until she was side by side with me, on the outside. I then found a bit of speed, lengthened and slowed my arms stoke and started using those lumps of meat that are commonly know as legs and manged to keep with them. We then came to the last bouy. Luckily I was on the inside so this lady had to take the longer route around the buoy. Now it was a sprint to the finish platform, about 100m ahead of us. As they had had to take the outside line I had the edge and managed to hold them off Until I virtually swam onto the finish jetty, now all that remained was a run/ stumble up the bridge and down the other side to where the timing mats were there to welcome the end of the race. I must admit, doing a sprint swim finish followed immediately by a sprint run/stumble finish is very weird. Then it was all over. Another 3km sprint race done. I then learnt that I had finished 10th out of the 50 strong field. people gathered around to congratulate me and my efforts.

I then went off to the timing tent to get learn my time and also see how much of a lesson I had been dealt on how to swim in a sprint. OUCH!!. my time 50 min 38 seconds. The winning time was 35 min 21secs. A phenomenally fast swim. I know why I stick to marathon swimming, with all the training in the world I doubt I could ever get to that level.

All in all it was a good day and there was lots of events going on through the day with the Triathlons being very well attended.

What remains of the year.

The summer has been great, the open water has been tropical and, sadly, as is with life, The seasons must change. 3 days ago saw Britain being plunged into Autumn. one day the maximum temperature was 29 decrees Celsius, the next it was 18 degrees. It seems Autumn is here , lets hop that we get  a bit more summer. As the seasons change so will the water temperature so I am sure the temperature of the lakes and the rivers will be sure to follow the trend of the seasons. I definitely have one, maybe two more swims left of the season. Next weekend will see me at my training lake for a 4.5km swim and probably a 1km training swim before hand. I do hope that Shepperton Open water lake Will be well supported as it is a great little lake with a very active following..

Thank you all for following me along this journey and it will soon bee continuing into winter training and then take up the reins of marathon swimming in 2014

My quotes for this week are as follows and have come courtesy of  Lewis Pugh. A truly inspirational man that recently came into my life unexpectedly and left a lasting impression.

If you don't talk about your dream, 

you are depriving others of the opportunity 

to help you achieve it.

 

Second chances are hard to come by, 

so don't waste the first ones.

Baby swims can be fun, Can't they?

Can small swims be Fun?

As the season progresses and the bigger swims are becoming harder and harder to find, I have switched my focus a bit to coaching a few people who are taking an interest in Open water swimming. Got to get them to lose the black condoms, otherwise get a sprint one that offers a lot less buoyancy. Watching Audra swim, with her legs spending a lot of time flailing in the air is hilarious but pretty useless as a form of propulsion.. I think she enjoyed it as she 

                              1 - Did not drown. 

                              2 - No monsters from the depths came up to eat her.

                              3 - She actually swims in a straight line.  

                              4 - She is actually thinking about coming back!! 

Paul, who has been a training partner of mine for most of the season is already a fairly accomplished swimmer but has asked me to train with him through the winter to work on his speed and it will also help me make the transition from Hippo to Dolphin.

It is always nice to see someone taking up a different sport and enjoying it. All That I can do to promote this is a good thing. I might need the references in the future!

So What have I been up to?

Today was a 3 km race that I had entered. It was in the lovely town of Marlow and was between the two bridges. Marlow is a bit of  a trek from where I live and they do love have obscene start times in this sport. My wave of the all male 3km swimmers was at 8.35am. Registration is 7am. This meant that I had to leave the house at 6am - ON A SUNDAY!! Luckily I do not worry too much about lie ins. In this sport, starts are usually pretty early. So my alarm went off at 5.30am, I woke to the sound of rain outside. I was a bit confused and was thinking, Who the hell set my alarm for 5.30am? I was about to roll over and go back to sleep, when the fog started to lift from my Champagne impaired mind - Champagne and Canapes the evening before is not a particularly good idea, even if I did not drink too much and left at a reasonable time

Well I diligently got out of bed, thinking, why do I do this to myself?   The early morning swims, not the champagne and canapes. The fight of the sofa vs the pool springs to mind. I force fed myself some fruit salad and some cereal - my stomach was not awake- or happy for that matter. I left at 6 and was on my way for the hour trek across to Marlow. I travelled through rain most of the way. Visions of my channel training came flooding back, sitting in the car until the absolute last moment before running down the beach into the water.

By the time I parked, the rain had subsided a bit to render it nearly ineffective at getting me wet.  At least I would not suffer from bad hair. I went and registered for the event and was about to go into the holding area for swimmers when I realised that it was a bit cold out there and there was no way of warming up - unless I jumped into the Thames and swam around for the next hour. The water temperature at that time of the day is a fair bit warmer than the outside air. I headed back to the car to keep warm as I had about an hour till the start. It had also started to rain again.

The Start then got closer so I went to the start and waited until we were called for our briefing. I thought I would be the only nutter out there without  a black condom on but was pleasantly surprised to see that the "Balmy Budgie smuggler brigade" is growing, long may it continue. there was a thought of splitting us up as there were about 180 of us but in the end all the males set off together. We entered into the water and I did a bit of swimming up and down to try and get the old bones and muscles moving.

As per usual, I started at the back and on the edge of the group, not being very fast at starts, I tend to always start like this to avoid getting my face kicked in and losing my goggles. I generally get into a rhythm very quickly which is no good for mass starts but serves me pretty well as the race progresses. This means I generally start to overtake people after about 300m. Staying on the side I do not end up swimming over people. 

There was a break away group that stormed off and then I settled into the middle of second group of swimmers and there were a couple of non wet suited swimmers amongst this. We rounded the first set of buoys and I then started to make my way through this group and finally made my way to the front of it after about 800m. Here I paired up with a wet suited swimmer and we matched each other stroke for stroke for most the race, when I tried to get the upper hand he followed, when he tried to make a break, I followed him and we toyed with each other like this, pulling each other along until we were catching the group in front. As I was taking the inside lane we had a few reprimands from the kayakers trying to keep us from swimming directly into the ladies 3k swimmers who had started later than us.

Me and this swimmer matched each other all the way until the final turn around the buoys where I was on the inside so he had to go a bit wider than me, after negotiating these buoys I came out leading him with him tapping on my feet. At this point I upped my pace a bit and we had now caught the tail enders of the leading group. This is where I thank my lucky stars for my endurance. for the last 4 -500m I just kept edging my pace up and overhauling a few more of the lead group with toe tapper keeping on my heels together we managed to overhaul about three more people and I managed to take it home and lead through the finish line.

the results are are follows

the one thing that that results page does not show is that I was first in the men's non wetsuit category but second in the overall Non wetsuit category, being beaten by a female swimmer. Must be my impeccable manners, always letting the ladies go first - I really have to get over that!!

All in all not the best time I have done for that sort of distance but considering I have not really trained properly for about 3 weeks, I think it was a fair result.

So in answer to the question at the beginning of this Blog, Small Swims can be fun. I am so used to training and swimming on my own and at my own pace, to have someone push me along the way is pretty cool. I must admit, that for future big swims it is unlikely that I will have someone to do big swims with me but someone to push you is very comforting at times. I still struggle with the Starts as I am NOT a fast swimmer so struggle to get up with the big boys. Hopefully this winter I will get to do some LONG OVERDUE  work on my speed, rather than my endurance. Speed has always been my weak point.

I still prefer my marathon swims and I will always focus on them above the small swims but it is nice to have a bit of a change along the way.

This is the first swim that I have ever done where I just went on my own, not one supporter and I must admit I felt a bit out of sorts not having my friends around. But i cannot ask anyone to join me at 8.30am on a Sunday, in the rain just to watch 500 silly swimmers float around the thames.

So where to Now? 

Another month or so of the season and there are a few small swims that I will be taking on, to add to the Poole one and maybe one in oxford, I may do a 3km swim at the Vachery 3km. This is not one that I have done before and one of my training partners is asking me if I can do it with him to help pace him - I honestly do not think I need to as he is a faster than me but we do swim at a similar pace and I think my endurance bodes well for a faster finish that he can pace with.

Well that is about all for the moment People, sorry I do not have anything more worthwhile to write about but keep the faith,

My saying for this week is:-

Action trumps inaction every time. 

So, as long as you are moving, 

know that you are moving forward.

 

Inspirational speakers live inspirationally

Not only do Inspirational Speakers

Speak Inspirationally they also 

live it!

Today I have the very pleasurable surprise to end a pretty hectic day. Let me explain. For a while now I have been following Lewis Pugh and his adventures. A truly Inspirational who came to my attention for his pioneering swim in the Arctic circle. He has also achieved many other ground breaking and utterly awe inspiring goals in his life. One of his latest goals was to assist Dr Otto Thaning in becoming the oldest person to swim the English Channel at the Age of 72. Just another swim to add to his already impressive Open water career.

I have been commenting on many of Lewis's Facebook posts over the last couple of months. Oddly I did not really follow him at all until sometime ago, Facebook decided that it was a good idea for me to start following him, and his posts started apearing in my newsfeed. I had Known about Lewis and listened to some of his talks in the past.

Well, Last weekend they were in Dover for Dr Otto to undertake this record breaking swim. I knew of this and causally mentioned to Lewis that I would pop down for the afternoon and HOPEFULLY meet up with him, if he was not too busy. He has also just written a book that I was hoping to get my hands on. As he only mentioned that they had become available on the Internet in the UK, the day before, there was not enough time for me to purchase one before I went down to Dover.

So Saturday arrived and I went for a swim at Shepperton with a Audra, A newbie to Open water swimming and was wanting to try it out in a safe environment. I then headed down to Dover to meet up with the Channel Swimming Crew and have a bit of a catch up with them. I asked them where I could find Lewis and Otto? They mentioned to me that he was staying in the Best Western on the Harbour promenade. So in the afternoon I headed over there. I was just going to ask at reception as to the whereabouts of these guys. Luckily I did not have to as they were having a coffee with a group of People. I Waltzed up and introduced myself and Lewis very politely told me he was busy and would come and see me later. My response to him was "honestly, only if you have the time" I disappeared into the foyer and ordered a beer and read the paper whilst I waited.

About 40 minutes later I saw Lewis and Otto Leave and then come back. Later, I saw Otto leave. it was then that Lewis came over and sat down with me and told me the sad news that Otto was thinking about pulling out of this Record breaking attempt and He was gutted and had been trying to convince him, with the help of other high level Channel swimming advocates. They had been waiting in Dover for 6 days with very little change in the weather and I thing Ottos just cracked under the stress of it all. Lewis and I chatted about this briefly but he was more interested in the Goals that I had in mind. Sadly we did not spend too much time together then or later.I did ask for a book but he was very apologetic saying that he had been a a book signing in the morning and had gotten rid of them all. Not really an issue for me.I was going to get one anyway.

I left Dover late in the evening after dinner and came home without giving it much thought.

Today, I got a facebook message from Lewis asking me to contact him urgently on email. Luckily, I did happen upon this request, not spending much time on facebook and all!! Very shortly after that I got a response from him asking for my telephone number.as he wanted to talk to me. I sent him my telephone number and I immediately got a call from Lewis.

The conversation went along the lines of he was very upset in the way we had left things on Saturday and that he had been under a lot of pressure with things that were happening on Saturday. I honestly was not too bothered and expressed this to him in no uncertain terms and that he did not need to apologise to me. I had just popped down on the off chance that I might get to meet up with him. I was not bothered either way, just the fact that he had acknowledged that I was there and came to meet me was enough.

He then asked if I still wanted a signed copy of his book. My response was "You Bet!" He then asked, "Do I ever go into London?" He would leave one for me at his hotel - as he was soon heading to Singapore, later in the evening - that I could pick up when I was next in London.

Fortuitously, I was actually in London and currently waiting for a Train at Victoria Station. I mentioned this to him. His first response was, "Can you get up to Marble Arch"

I Said, "I am on my way."

He then texted me the address of his hotel and told me he would be there for the next 45 minutes until he would be heading to the airport.

I arrived at his hotel and he was down in a flash with a couple of books for me. We sat down and chatted for a while about Dr Otto's Swim and other adventures whilst he signed a book for me and gave me a synopsis of what it was about.

He was then off again to another place in the world.

This really blew my mind and getting to know him, albeit briefly, it became more and more apparent what a fantastic Guy he is. I am just a guy that thinks he is Very inspirational but to go out of his way the way he did, just to give me a signed copy of his book and not accept any money for it, to take the time to meet up with me, A truly amazing way to the end of what was a pretty hectic day.

Thank you Lewis, I look forward to our next meeting.

So where am I in my life?

Well, just plodding along at the moment to be honest. Not really doing anything right now, I have a 3km Swim coming up this weekend in Marlow if anyone wants to come and watch. I then have 2 more swims before the end of the season But Next year I am desperate to get back into my Marathon swimming again. I also have a few other long term Goals that I hope to be able to bring to fruition. My goal setting ability seems to have been restored since my chance meeting with Mr Pugh, lets just hope that I can actually go ahead and do some of them?

What was meant to be my big swim sweekend

This was to be my big weekend

As I sit here at home on the eve of what was meant to be my big swim for this year, I am a bit sad that I will not be in Windermere tomorrow night. Something I had been looking forward too and working towards for the last 7 months. It also has other ramifications in relation to other swims I was planning next year. Both the MIMS (round Manhattan Island Marathon swim) and the Lake Zurich swim are ballots and to put yourself in a better position to be selected, you have to have done some pretty major swims the season before. All I have managed to do is 3 piddly 10km swims and a smattering of smaller swims. The longest swim that I have done this year, in training is 15km. I can only wait and see if I make the cut for Zurich at least, for next year. If all else fails I will do a double Windermere next year.

So what have I been up to?

Not a lot really. After the issues I have experienced over the last 4 weeks, mentally I have had a lot of turmoil going on in my head. The decision to cancel my Windermere swim was a  bit draining to say the least, but it was made and there is nothing I can do about that now. I had been booked onto some other swims, a 10 Km and a 3km swim so I went and did them anyway, on not a lot of training. I surprised myself, I managed to do the 10km in a fairly respectable time. I think the attitude that I had done very little training and the fact that I was not mentally prepared for it all helped. I approached it with the attitude of, I am just going to do it for fun. It seemed to work.I enjoyed it (albeit the last 1.5km) where I just wanted to get out. All in all a good swim for someone without a wetsuit.

Since then I have been getting back into my training, nothing big, 5km is the maximum I have done in my training and to be honest, I have loved it. My last training session, 3.7km was fabulous, water temperature about 22 degrees Celsius and I felt great, my last lap was faster than all the other laps. My attitude, that I have nothing to train for is fine right now but, knowing myself well enough, I think I will be losing focus very soon. For me, training without a goal can become very tedious. I have been looking for a few more swims to do before the end of the season and have come up with a few small ones to do. Between 3km and 5km. I have not been able to find anything bigger that I can afford over the next 2 - 3 months.

I have targeted a 3km swim in the Thames on the 25th of this month, near Marlow, Marlow Swim and then a 5 km at Queenford lakes for the  Queenford half on the 15th of next month (September) and finally a 3km in Poole on the 28th of September .So my training continues and I will have to adjust my training to take in the fact that the swims that I am planning on doing are A LOT shorter than what I am used to. My training that has gone before will not be wasted, my endurance will at least be there, so I am not too worried about that side of things. I just need to try and get a bit of speed happening in my swimming. I have not focused on that very much recently and there is a big difference in swimming 3km and 35 km. I have mainly - till now been concentrating on getting ready for 35km.That dream has gone for this year so I will focus on smaller.

Although this does not really fit well with who I am, I normally make up my mind and am then very impatient to get it done. I came across a very interesting article about a mutual acquaintance's English Channel swim. Her name is Sally Goble. From starting to swim at the age of 30 it took her about 5 years to get to a point where she succeeded in swimming to France, her story is pretty inspirational and a far cry from my approach. I respect her immensely for that approach, I think my impatience would not let me go that route. Sally Goble Channel swim 

Whichever way you look at it, She got there and her account is a very good account of how a lot of marathon swimmers start out.

This week I also came across another account of marathon swimming, this time about the current English Channel world record holder Trent Grimsey. Not only did he break the world record by 2 minutes an 50 seconds,in September 2012, it was the first time that he had swum the Channel. An amazing guy who dreams bigger than I do and goes out and gets it. his approach was the more conventional way, booking three years in advance of his swim then focusing entirely on this goal.It is a  phenomenal swim. Here is a video of his efforts World Record English Channel swim

Both of the above accounts are very inspirational and by two people with totally different attitudes towards marathon swimming. They both have two things in common. 1 - They both are part of the very unique club of Channel swimmers. 2 - They are both passionate about, and have fallen in love with the sport of marathon swimming. I can vouch for the addictiveness of it as well

So that is the rest of the season laid out for me, Just need to put in some proper training so I do not look like a complete novice when I swim in these events.

If anyone can make it to watch, that will be great, I always love having the support and believe me, this year I would never have been able to get to where I am without the support of my amazing Friends and Family. Without you I would never have got this far.

On that note I will End with a quote

"Stop competing with others and

 start competing with your yourself."

Back to my Wallowing ways.

Wallowing Ways return.

It has now been 10 days since my horrible news and just over a week since I took the very hard decision to defer my double Windermere swim. I am slowly getting used to the fact that I will not be undertaking this swim this year. I must admit, after the original heart wrenching thoughts and final decision - which kept me awake for a few nights, I am getting back into the lakes and also taking on a few small swims.

10 days after my last 9km swim I ventured back to the lakes again, only to realise that I had lost my goggles and my cap. Not a problem. Being the ultra efficient, forward planning, individual that I am.   WHOA boy, did I just say that about myself?? Ignore it all!! Must have got too much sun in the recent heatwave that mud island is experiencing. Quite surprised we are not under hose pipe bans and water rationing - we have had more than 3 days without rain.

Anyway, I digress. fortunately for me- nothing to do with any form of planning, or forethought, I have a spare pair of goggles in the glove compartment of my car. Well I dug them out only to discover that they were broken. Is life conspiring against me NOT to swim? Undeterred, I decided, as it was a lake and not a chlorine infested pool, I would go swim without goggles. Luckily, the Lake where I swim operates a lost property box and then mentioned to me that they had my good old faithful goggles, not that you can miss them being Bright orange. So Saturday, armed with my old faithfuls and kitted all in Orange, I jumped into the tepid (21 Degree Celsius water) I was in heaven. My friend Paul joined me and we did 4 laps and 5 laps for him. It was great to be back in the water again but after 3km I was not really feeling it so I decided to call it a day. not before we annoyed a fair amount of triathletes and tried drowning another Friend of mine. As I was due to do a 10km the following day I thought 3km was not a bad effort and, it was probably a good thing to get out whilst I was still enjoying myself. Without any big goals to aim for I was enjoying my swimming much more and it was great. My times were not bad, the weather was good and the company I was with pushed me a fair amount.

Spent the rest of the day relaxing and then met up with friends on Saturday evening. Sunday morning I was up with the birds to get ready for my 10Km at Lakeside. Oddly, as I was not really bothered anymore about my swims and how fast I could do them - or even IF I COULD DO THEM AT ALL.My attitude had changed. This was now for fun. A good night had, I was rested and ready. I arrived at Lakeside and met up with my Old Channel swimming buddy Greg Wood and his brother as they were up from the coast to do the swim. the grudge match forgotten.

 I had a sole groupie pop down to watch me, as it was in the industrial wasteland (east side) of town, I didn't really expect anyone to come and watch me. Thanks Auds for popping down, it was great to see you there. I tried to convince Greg and his brother to lose the rubber and we could race but they declined so, being one of three Non wet suited swimmers, I decided this was for fun and nothing else.We had a briefing and were instructed on what to do, 12.8 laps of a 780m loop. The lake looked stunning and Iwas quite impressed with both,the surroundings and the lake. The one thing that was a bit worrying was, - I have to count 12.8 laps??? I struggle to count 3 laps usually, how the heck and I going to manage to count 12.8?? We all headed to the start and whilst people gingerly lowered their rubberised bodies into the 23 Degree water I decided it more pertinent to take a leap of faith.

LITERALLY!! I dived in and headed to the start which was about 50m away from where we entered the water. at about 8.05am we were off. Surprisingly it was a small group of 10Km swimmers - 18 in total. there was also a 750m, 3.8km and 5km swim happening on the day.I eased into my pace with the faster guys disappearing into the distance. I was with a group of about 4 swimmers that I was tussling with. After the 2nd lap I was leading them and The one guy kept on my feet, drafting me for the next 5 laps. I only managed to lose him and the other 2 swimmers when they decided it was a good idea to take a pit stop and refuel. I was on the no fuel strategy. I kept plodding on and left them behind for a while. It was a big mental challenge trying to keep counting I used to pass the timing mat then for the next 12-14 minutes I would be mentally telling myself what lap I was on about every 3 seconds and even then I would become confused. Fortunately, above the mat they had a big digital clock so I was able to go on my timings as well,  I knew how long it takes me to do 780m. There were many times when I was questioning myself. I would tell my self "Lap 6, Lap 6, Lap 6......." and my brain would chime in "Are you sure?? it could be lap 5. Maybe it could be lap 7. Ca you be certain it is lap 6?"  Oh the joys

On about the 10th lap, the super swimmers started to come past me. One of them being this idiot who thought it might be a good idea to try and pull my trunks off, I felt this hand sliding up my leg and was about to kick the living daylights out of him until I saw it was Greg who was lapping me, a big grin on his face. Cheeky bugger. My lack of wetsuit also gave the compere something different to talk about, when commentating on a bunch of rubberised humans, it can become a bit boring but I do think he needs his eyes tested. apparently my swimming trunks are Peach coloured.

On lap 10  - Maybe lap 11, could be lap 9!! - the demons emerged with a vengeance and all they wanted me to do was to pack in this swimming malarkey and for the next 30 odd minutes I had this epic battle going on in my head. GIVE UP or FINISH. My laps were now slowing to 13 minutes probably due to the fact that when I was coming up to a buoy, I would switch into breaststroke for about 50m while I rounded it then switched back into front crawl. I had to be a bit careful doing this. As I was a non wetsuit swimmer, every time I did this there would be some kayaker racing towards me to haul me out of the lake. It was the ruling that non wetsuit swimmers who get into difficulties would be pulled out the water and not allowed to get back in. I would let them race up to me and at the last minute I would switch back into crawl and carry on. At least I was giving them some exercise.

I finished eventually in 2 hrs 43 minutes. about 13 minutes off the pace I know I can do for a swim of this distance but I had finished and, for me, that was all that mattered. I came 7th overall and was first non wetsuit to finish. I had a fair few people ask why I do not swim in a wetsuit as I would be very quick if I did. Main reason on a day like this is, if I had donned one, I would come out par boiled. But seriously, I love swimming without one and do not think I will be embracing the feel of rubber against my skin anytime soon.

All in all a great day, not nearly as fast as previous 10 kms that I have done earlier this season but I am in a different place now mentally, a place I have never been, a place that scares me a little. The most important thing, it is a place where I am learning about who I am and that is a good place to be in anyones eyes. As long as I keep growing as a person then life will be good - I hope.

Tonight I will be back in the lakes for a bit of a wallow and also just to keep my muscles moving. I also need to book some more swims as I have none planned now so will be looking at what other 5 - 10Km swims remain of the season to book onto.

As usual I will end with a quote

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable,

 but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.

 George Bernard Shaw 

PLEASE DO NOT FORGAT MY FUNDRAISING FOR CHARITY. i MAY NOT BE DOING A BIG SWIM BUT WILL BE DOING A FAIR AMOUNT OF SMALLER ONES

Zimhippo charity page