Loch Ryan

Sunday 14th September
We had a wonderful break in Cornwall where very little swimming took place due somewhat to oppressive life guarding techniques, but also because I enjoyed walking and jogging on the cliff paths for a change.
It has been difficult to get going after the holiday, especially as work has been tricky on my return. My pal who lost his foot is doing really well and will be back at work next week which is a testimony to his courage and attitude. Unfortunately there are other problems now which means a few extra responsibilities which is stimulating but busy. So I struggled back to the pool last week and found sessions with the Stingrays very difficult.
However I worked through my usual doubts and connected with Harry again. He is away for a few days and encouraged me to try Loch Ryan in his absence. After some tooing and froing I contacted my buddy Scott who has a boat at Loch Ryan and after looking at conditions and tides we decided to swim from the Stranraer Marina to the boat slip at Kirkcolm. I wasn't sure at all as I had felt so unfit in the pool.
Ian decided to swim a short way with me, so we set off at 8.15am. We had the lovely Dawn on board who volunteered to be the lifeguard for the day, so our Risk Assessment was complete
I managed just under 4 miles in just over 2 hours. Scott was awesome and I trusted him implicitly. I loved the swim and I felt really strong. In fact, I have just spoken to Scott and I think we should have swum back again. I think I am up to it and we'll see if we can fit that in. The temperature was fine and I did not feel at all shivery. I wore my aqua skin because of the treat of jelly fish and guess what....yup, they sting through it. I only have one small sting though so I think it protects me a bit.
I'm thinking of my channel swimmer pals who I have been visiting on blogs, and it has been the worst season for 28 years. Maggie was defeated by appalling conditions and some never even got to start! Also the Windermere BLDSA event was aborted after only 20 minutes or so for the first time ever. I was hoping Maggie was going to join me yesterday but she couldn't make it. We will swim together in the next couple of weeks. The channel is awesome but we are surrounded by the most wonderful Scottish and Irish seas and yesterday I was reminded about how awesome it is to be out there in the beautiful ocean. There are adventures to be had! It was also the Great North Swim yesterday and it sounds like a magnificant event. Our great nephew Ryan Bishop swam it, and came first in his age group and 15th overall. He is only 15! Watch this one, he's good! Also Maggie told me that a woman from Dundee swam the Irish channel on Friday. Lookout guys, it's all happening.
Plans now are to have a meeting for fundraising soon, and at least two more sea swims if we can before we are defeated by cold.......

Sorry friends I have been locked out of my blog for complicated reasons so here is what I have been up to. Photos will be added when I get back from a short break in Cornwall. I have lots of exciting plans to share with you soon..........

June 23rd 2008
Following my victory with the YeAbbas in Dundee I felt quite inspired and at first I got straight back into the pool. However life at home was very busy with weddings and community events so things went a bit hay wire after that........ It was easy to think that the swim had been a bit of a fluke and I started thinking to myself that it was tidal assisted so very difficult to measure my time and my ability in the water. Harry and I found it difficult to find time to get to the ocean, but one Friday when the weather was perfect I was able to escape and we had the moat wonderful swim at Sandhead heading towards Stairhaven for about an hour and a half. Harry H also managed to get there and it was funny seeing the boys having such a great time in the kayak while I puffed and spluttered along beside them. Thanks to Yonni and Marnie and Pauline and her Mum who came to cheer me on but soon got bored as I disappeared into the distance. When I landed....nobody in sight as they had retired to the pub. Oh well the thought was there.
Work was also busy as a dear colleague became seriously ill quite suddenly and had his foot amputated mid calf. Pressure and worry for my pal caused things to be challenging. I certainly haven’t been bored and I like challenge, and also the extra hours meant that at times I could escape for a quick dip!

July 7th 2008
We managed to get to Port Logan one Wednesday after work, and when I left Stranraer the weather was sunny and still. By the time I got to Port Logan, Ian was in the water and Harry and his grandson Nadav were in the Kayak. By the time I changed, the wind was howling and the rain had started. It was cold as I waded into the water to catch up with them. Ian had been in the water for at least half an hour and was feeling the cold. We set off towards to fish larder building across the bay and I saw a couple of jelly fish. After one round I had been in about 40 minutes and Ian got out. Harry also said he was cold but that Nadav was willing to do another circuit with me. As I swam round waiting for Nadav, I felt a slight sting on my arm. In preparation for Coniston Seniors I was only wearing my swim suit and hat and goggles. I seemed to be coping with the extreme cold, but the sting made me feel that we should give up for the day.
Three days later the stings came out fully and my left arm was stung badly. I also had been stung on my feet. I met with Harry and we discussed the jelly fish and realised that this is a major hazard. A fisherman I know said that the Jelly fish were really bad at this time of year. Harry and I began to discuss the possibility that I may do the swim in June 09 which is 3 months earlier than planned. This means I will have to get in the ocean in April to become acclimatised.
Harry and I went to Sandhead a few days later and I was taking no chances. I wore my aqua skin and tarbies on my feet. I must have swum through 60 jelly fish that day. They got my wrists but I coped and we had a long swim.

Sunday July 20th
The swim at Coniston Lake on July 19th had taken a lot of planning. Our friends Claire and Jacqui were coming up from Berkshire on their way to stay with us for a week. Also Ruth had come from Sheffield for the weekend. EB and I had booked into the Black Bull which was famous for its beer which with hindsight may not have been wise....
We arrived on Friday night and Saturday was spent walking around Coniston and checking out the lake. We spoke to the guy who was in charge of boats and he seemed a bit stressed by the whole thing. He confidently told us that the boat called ‘Pat’ was the easiest rowing boat to manoeuvre. He seemed to think that all the rowing boats were being towed to the start which was the other end of the lake in a private water park. It all seemed a bit confusing to us, and we also had fallen out of touch with our boatman Jim. We realised that Jim was probably not coming and so EB and Jacqui were the boat crew whether they liked it or not! It was great to see Ruth who said she was there to spread her wide knowledge of swimming technique having been practicing the Alexander technique on her living room floor....thanks mate, I couldn’t have done it without you.
Saturday morning brought a moment of magic as I forced down a heart attack breakfast while feeling the stirrings of serious nerves. I remembered a little ditty from Jonah -Man Jazz (Michael Hurd 1966) about a boatman. It starts ....’I need a boat man, that’ll carry me away, and how I hope, man she’s sailing today’ Ruth put in some impressive harmony, and Claire contributed percussion with her famous squishy hand technique. We thought it was magic, but the breakfast room seemed to empty quite quickly.
We gathered at the Bluebird Cafe and there were over 40 swimmers. The atmosphere was quite tense and I saw some very nervous looking people, especially EB and Jacqui. We gathered at 9.30am for all the briefing information and they emphasised that the water was cold today. Probably temperatures which I am used to but I have never swum these distances so this was going to be very challenging for me, and possibly beyond my reach.
We then drove to the start and stood on a rocky outcrop for what seemed like ages. The first thing we saw was ‘Pat’ being emptied of water as she seemed to have a hole......Finally the 15 minute warning went off and suddenly EB and Jacqui rushed off for a pee!! That minute it was announced that boats should be in the water!
When we set off there was a flurry of activity as everyone sorted themselves out. The water felt ok to me and eventually EB and Jacqui caught up with me. They were smiling broadly to the point where I thought they must be having a ball! The reality was that they couldn’t steer the boat at all due to a faulty oar, and she was seriously leaking. I thought I was winning as their faces and thumbs up were so enthusiastic.
The reality of the swim was very challenging and probably the most difficult things I have ever done. The water seemed heavy and dead compared to the ocean. There was the odd weed and rock, but it was dark and murky all the time. I couldn’t see anyone or anything most of the time, but soon I fixated in a couple of swimmers and I thought if I could keep up with them that would be good. I stopped a couple of times for a drink but this did not go at all well. The bottle didn’t have a good top and I had trouble getting any liquid at all and also I started getting cramp while treading water. It seemed to me that I was gradually over taking a couple of people but I was very unsure of where I was going and what would happen at the end. I wasn’t convinced that I would know when I got there! Sounds silly I know.
I reached the end after just over 3 hours and I had experienced a great deal of pain in my back and my shoulders. I felt very cold and I had been aware of cold about half way. I met a tall man when I landed who I remembered from the start and he was so warm and friendly and said I had swum a good race. This turned out to be Des Griffiths and there is more about him later. I also saw another man who made positive noises and he told me this was his 65th Coniston. I told him it was my first and he said I did well to finish. 6 swimmers did not complete due to the challenging conditions. He said the wind and weather made it a difficult year. Claire was there looking worried with my biggest fan, Dudley the border terrier and of course Ruth who greeted me with a very welcome flask of hot tea.
I was very concerned to see a man called John who I had bonded with at the beginning being taken into an ambulance. It turned out that he had completed the race but had suffered terribly from the cold and collapsed at the end. He recovered well and we had some contact afterwards which reassured me that he had made a full recovery.
I came in 26th and if you follow the link to the BLDSA website you can see the results on the swim reports link. This race was the Coniston Seniors
We went home almost immediately as we had a long drive and my core temperature rose hugely once we ate a curry on the way. It tasted great.

Sunday August 4th
Funnily enough I felt very unsure of my capabilities following the Coniston Seniors race. I didn’t think I had done very well and I felt tired and that I had been pushed to my limit. It seemed like quite a costly and gruelling effort for all concerned and there was doubt in the camp as to the wisdom of repeating the exercise. I was due to swim in the Coniston Senior event on Aug 3rd and I had very mixed feelings about entering.
However on Wed 23rd July I had a day off and Jacqui and I decided to take her Kayak out with Harry. It was beautiful weather and we headed off to Sandhead. I was definitely taking no chances and Jacqui and Claire had bought me some superb swimming gloves. So this time I had my aqua suit, ankle boots and gloves so the little blighters had no chance of getting me this time. Ironically I only saw 4 jelly fish this time!!
Harry and Nadav were in his Kayak and Jacqui in hers and Harry said we would swim out towards a yellow satellite buoy. It was the most beautiful occasion and a huge seal came to join us. It took about an hour and a half to get to the buoy which is huge.
On the way back the tide turned and it became challenging to get back in. I was beginning to feel the effects of the cold and I was feeling tired. The beach just did not seem to getting any closer and suddenly my vision was totally obscured by what I took to be a large jelly fish. I yelled and tensed which caused my left leg to go into major cramp. Jacqui said that one moment she was enjoying the peace of being out in the ocean and listening to the soporific sploosh sploosh of the oars and my arms, when suddenly all hell broke loose! I was yelling ‘DO SOMETHING HARRY!!’ as I had never experienced pain like it. I hung on to the front of the kayak as Harry and Nadav paddled me ashore as quickly as possible. It took longer than I expected and I had a severe attack of the shivers. Probably my first real crisis and lessons learnt. Thanks to Marlene for persuading the local shop to open up so I could have emergency mars bars!

Aug 3rd
So, I entered the veterans Coniston on Aug 3rd and met up with some old friends. Des Griffiths was there with his partner Sharon and they greeted me like long lost friends. I really loved their enthusiasm and passion for swimming. They thought I had done really well at the Senior Coniston race as many gave up and struggled with the conditions.
Jim came up trumps this time and we made a fantastic team. Jim and Nicola welcomed me into their home and I enjoyed meeting their beautiful 3 month old son Jake.
I finished the race 3rd in the womens race and 7th overall out of about 26 swimmers (see website) Jim and I may have been blown slightly off course but we worked really well together and Jim was astonished to witness one of my famous tantrums 20 minutes into the race. ' Jim I'm last' ' No you're not' 'I know I am and I can't do it' With Jims encouragement and bemusement I carried on and thank goodness I did. My demons are really strong at times and I just can't fathom it at all. Harry and Marlene came too and we had a great weekend. Harry tried to emphasised that we were not in it to win it. This was a training swim........ok? But I think I have realised that I may be quite good at this, especially when I realised that I had beaten Sally the winner of the race at the Coniston seniors 2 weeks before....fancy that?!

JUNE 22nd 2008

June 22nd 2008
Does this look like a river to you? No it doesn't to me either. However, this is the river Tay, and the starting point for the Woodhaven Swim organised by the YAABA swimming club in Dundee, which took place yesterday June 21st. The swim is 4.5 miles across the Tay under the bridge from Broughty Ferry to Woodhaven, and I was one of the 6 intrepid swimmers who had entered.

I drove from Stranraer and gave myself a ridiculously early start and stopped regularly for nervous loo visits and refreshments.

Once I got to Dundee I realised that I had no idea where the YAABA clubhouse was situated. So I walked into the lifeboat station and asked them. Once I found the right place I met Joyce who is the convener although her title is officially chief ancient.
The swimmers were friendly and delightfully mad, and I got a sense that everyone was out to have a good time and test their abilities. Once we got changed and stood on the dock the sun had gone and the wind was getting stronger, there was talk of strong currents, jelly fish and that this was a very challenging race. I wondered with growing anxiety if this was why there were only 6 of us. At this point I can only describe my feelings as utter terror. I was convinced that if the cold didn't defeat me, the distance would, and I couldn't imagine finishing in one piece. We were frozen as we descended the steep metal ladder in to the water. No place for wimps, we just had to throw ourselves in. I was pleasantly surprised that the water was considerably warmer than the Irish sea. I had managed a 30 minute swim at Lady Bay on Wednesday night with my lovely family watching from the beach in the pouring rain. It was breathtakingly freezing and I'm sure that had helped me to acclimatise.

Boosted by the temperature, I started swimming with my boat crew right beside me. I was impressed with the YAABA outfit who take safety seriously, and I felt completely at ease so I could concentrate totally on the swim. I got into my stride almost straight away.
Swimming under the Tay bridge was one of the highlights of my life. It was so beautiful and I wanted to stop. Alan the boatman and Graham the lifesaver were shouting at me to keep going as I was ahead of the others. I had overtaken one swimmer but I had no sense of where I was or where I was going. I allowed myself to believe I that I may be doing quite well. The final 1/2 mile was the most challenging and I could feel my pace dropping. There was a strong current pulling us, and I could see the young channel swimmer just ahead of me. I reached the end and I had come in third, 4 minutes behind the leader. However the swimmer just ahead of me had not registered, so I was officially 2nd. At the end
I was a little rubber legged and I staggered up to the clubhouse feeling dazed. Alan and Graham told me they thought I had achieved a remarkable swim and that I had picked up quite a pace at one point.

So, second place in a time of 1hr 20 mins and 57 seconds, not bad for my first experience of cold water long distance swimming, and I think to be so close to two very experienced channel swimmers is great. I have reached 48 and 3/4 and I have won my first ever medal!! Actually I think I got one in 1974 for diving in the Middlesex springboard championships. Quite a long wait really!

Ailsa Craig and some nerves

Hello Friends

I have had a busy week and I have managed some long swims in the pool. Unfortunately for various complicated reasons I have not made it to the sea this week. I am nervous because I am swimming in a race next week and it is the longest swim I have ever done in cold water. I am also driving up to Dundee on my own and I am worried about the long drive in top of a strenuous swim. I am not worried about my fitness but my enemy will be the cold. I am gaining inspiration from reading the journeys of the channel swimmers Mark and Maggie who have battled so hard to swim the channel in August. Harry has also had some words of wisdom for me and has told me that I must remember this is a training swim for me, not a race and I need to make sure I enjoy it.

Today I went to see Ailsa Craig and I felt very small. Just looking at her was awesome but overall I just can't wait and I am determined to complete my challenge.

June 8th 2008

Hello Friends

As suspected I have a difficult month but seem to be settling now. We were away with family for 10 days and had an amazing time. We saw my auntie off with style in the form of a big party which was a celebration of her life.

Finally I got back in the water last Sunday with my friend Ian who is training for a triathlon.

It was a stunning beautiful morning at Sandhead as you can see, and Harry accompanied us on his canoe. Ian had to go in after about 40 minutes to honour other commitments, but I was pleased to be able to carry on and did an hour and a half with no shivering at all. I loved it so much and felt strong. Having said that I had a small tantrum minutes into the swim as I am slow and I was worried I was holding Ian up. I'm not used to swimming with people and I always feel inadequate....well actually I said I felt like a fat middle aged twat who was setting her sights too far. They soon put me right, and Harry said I may be a fat middle aged twat but I was perfectly capable of swimming the task in hand. I also had equipment problems and Ian ended up lending me his goggles bless him, so I managed. I think its a mixture of everything..........

However, I learned an important lesson that day. I knew I had a cold starting and I ignored it. By Sunday night I had a temperature and a heavy raging head cold. This turned into time off work and no swimming although I managed to row. A salutory lesson, as I still have a cough and therefore we had to cancel what was to be an amazing swim today. I will be back in the pool, but I feel quite down about everything and full of doubt. The lesson is that I should not have swum in the ocean last Sunday. Part of me sill thinks its best to swim through these things, and I would have become unwell anyway, but Harry said I am risk of damaging my health in the long term if I am not careful, and Harry should know.

On a cheery note though, we raised something in the range of £600 at the Elvis tribute night. It was great fun, and thanks to Suzanne for stepping in to save the day to organise it all. The committee are gradually re forming and there are plans afoot, so watch this space.

Many thanks to all involved including Bar 12 and Elvis of course

Suzanne in the pink wig, and myself (also in a wig!) getting into the spirit

And finally, EB and I would like to announce the arrival of our first egg. We got 12 chickens on Wednesday and on Saturday 7th June at 3pm our first egg arrived. We are very excited and I know, I know....we need to get out more

May 11th 2008

Its been a terrible week. We are reeling from the news that my Auntie Val was killed in a car crash last Tuesday. It is even more unbelievable as her husband died a year ago from injuries he received when he was hit by a car. We will be heading to England soon for the funeral which is involving many complicated plans and a great deal of travelling. I come from a large and close family and we are all keeping in touch and trying to count our blessings.

On Wednesday I bravely (actually not at all bravely) underwent a necessary but traumatic procedure in day surgery which has taken me longer to recover from than I had thought it would.

Harry and I had managed a productive session in the pool on Monday night and I am pleased to report that I was back in the water yesterday for a long gentle swim which felt fantastic.
So friends, onward and upward, and an uncertain couple of weeks lie ahead.

May 6th Shrinking and Growing

Harry and I at Sandhead Sept 2007


At last I have interesting things to report. I had my first dip in the ocean on Sunday which was the worst weather of the whole weekend. Harry and Iwere determined to brave the elements and feel the reality of the cold that I am up against and which I have to get used to. My brave buddies across the country got in weeks ago but I know they have to as they are competing this month in the champions of champions in Ireland. I think that is right and I'm sure they'll correct me if I'm wrong. I also swam with the stingrays last night and Harry put me through my paces. He told me the reality of the training schedule this summer and I need to get into the cold water twice a week. I am hoping to buddy up with a couple of local
swimmers and we will be swimming from Stairhaven to
Sandhead sometime in August. Swimming friends are welcome to join me on these training swim and events.

I have also joined the British Long Distance Swimming Association and I am entering some of their events this summer. I will post dates and times for all events and swims on this blog in due course.

Things feel really different and the pressure is mounting, and as you can see there have been a couple of changes since last year.

Now spot the difference!



A little rougher (the sea I mean!), a little leaner, a little colder!
I feel I am growing as a swimmer and becoming fitter and shrinking in size at the same time

Harry and I at Sandhead May 6th 2008

Wondering whether to get in ! May 6th 2008

Oh alright then!!