Over the pandemic, I’ve been venturing into new hobbies, one of which being open water swimming. When the pools closed in March 2020, I was victim to vivid dreams about swimming in pools of my childhood. It was so frustrating not being able to swim, as I had been swimming 3 times a week up to that point and training for various Masters swimming events. After swimming an open water mile in late 2020 the Lake District, I decided to set myself a new open water goal for 2021.
The goal was another event organised by Chillswim and Epic Events : Coniston Water 5.25mile end to end open water swim. That’s right, over five miles of swimming continuously. This would be a fairly big thing for me, as when I started triathlon all those years ago, I actually disliked open water and got very nervous about swimming without a lane rope and a black line on the floor of the comfortably heated and sanitised pool. I’ve never swam more than a mile or so outdoors, and certainly never spent more than 90 minutes in open water.
At the time of entering, I had almost a year to prepare, I had a great wetsuit, vigour and something to look forward to. Fastforward to two weeks before the event, and I still hadn’t done an awful amount of open water training for this event – well I had done an awful amount of open water training, which amounted to a few hundred metres paddling heads up breaststroke up and down the Avon with my swim buddies. I had been swimming in the pool, and doing some open water jollies, but no heads-down tempo or distance training of any sort, because I had been busy playing Tag Rugby and running (another blog post about that to come later).
I know I am good at endurance events, and to test myself, the week before the race I went out on a ten mile run for ‘fun’, and to check my endurance… if I could run ten miles on a Sunday evening, surely I could swim five on a Saturday morning?
The day before the event, I took a steam boat trip on Coniston water, the mile marker buoys were already set out, and visualising five miles of straight water really put it into perspective how far I was actually going to swim. I felt nervous, but the water seemed to be fairly calm and no high winds or rain was predicted.
The organisation of the whole event was faultless, from registration the evening before, information in the race pack, maps, transport and safety procedures to ensure everyone who entered the water exited safely too. This was the 9th year of this event and they have perfected all aspects of organisation in my opinion.
I had entered a time of 30min/mile, and on Saturday morning at 10.30am I set off into the water! It didn’t feel cold, and the swimmers at the start gave each other plenty of room (unlike some triathlon events where you get swam on top of, elbowed, kneed and kicked by swimmers trying to get ahead). Everyone was individually timed using a chip, so there as no disadvantage to starting at the back of our wave of swimmers.
The scenery wasn’t really much to shout about if I’m honest. When my head was in the water, I saw murky greenish brown water, and bubbles from my hands breaking the surface. When I breathed to my left, I saw the surface of the water, a glimpse of safety kayaks and clouds, when I breathed to my right I saw trees. When I lifted my head to spot, instead of seeing the next mile marker yellow buoy, I saw a sea of bright pink and orange tow floats. It was difficult to spot the mile marker buoys, as a mile is a fair distance!
The first two miles went well for me, I got to the second mile marker in just under an hour, and worked on keeping my pace, using good technique and not kicking too much. I got cold feet after mile three, and cold hands after mile four, but this was nothing I couldn’t handle.
As the event went on, I only looked at my watch at each mile interval, and time passed by in a weird way, neither fast nor slow. I wondered what else I could have been doing with those minutes I was in the water for, various songs passed by in my head and I spent some time wondering how ironmen and women continue on their cycling and running after a long open water swim. Each wave of swimmers had a different coloured cap, and towards the end, I was catching up and overtaking swimmers with different coloured caps. In a field of around 750 competitors, there were swimmers there from all different ages, abilities, and those with different agendas. Some swam it to raise money for charities, some to be competitive, some just to finish and others who had swam it previously, or other swims in the Chillswim circuit of events which includes Ullswater and Windermere.
I finished in a respectable time of 2hrs 51 minutes, which I was pleased with, especially as the final 0.25 miles from the mile marker to the finish duck seemed relentless. No matter how many strokes I did, the duck never seemed to get any closer! Results here for those who wish to corroborate my time, and entry for 2022 here for those brave enough. A video of the event is linked below, with some great drone footage.
Glad to get out of the water, I received my medal at the finish line, a warm juice and a flapjack to eat while waiting for the shuttle bus back to the event HQ.
Would I enter again? Possibly not, as I could challenge myself to complete another event. I would recommend the swim for those who are looking for a personal challenge, and would highly recommend training beforehand. It is important to get used to swimming in cold water, wearing a wetsuit and mentally preparing to be in the water for such a long time.
Any recommendations for 2022 events for me to enter? I may or may not start training now…
My L(e)onely Planet 