I have always been a keen swimmer, learning to swim almost before I could walk, but over the years I have gone through phases of doing lots of swimming then doing none at all.
In January 2008 my boyfriend decided that, at 32 years-of-age, it was time he learnt to swim, but as his lessons were at 7.50am on a Saturday, it made me get up early to watch. After the first term I learnt that there was also an adult fitness swimming class at the same time, so joined. I was quite surprised to find that my strokes have become very sloppy over the years but enjoyed improving and becoming more efficient.
It was around May or June that I first heard about the Great North Swim. Although I knew I could swim the one mile distance comfortably doing breast stroke, I was a little hesitant about doing it in the lake.
However, I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to raise some money for charity and also lose some much needed weight and so I signed up. The same afternoon I also joined the local gym. This was a big step for me as I am a total gymophobe. However, this was the cheapest way to swim often.
Using my gym membership I then also joined the fitness swim class on a Monday evening, with the same teacher as on a Saturday but a totally different league of swimmers.
For the first month or so I couldn’t keep up with the drills but my fitness and stamina started to improve with time. I also did a distance swim at least once, usually twice a week and eventually worked up to swimming 2000m to ensure that I was more than capable of doing the mile in the lake.
As time passed I began to get more and more nervous about the idea of the swim. My friends and colleagues were not so supportive and used it as an ideal chance to wind me up. I began worrying about the fact that there are effectively no sides or bottom to the lake, despite the fact I think nothing of windsurfing halfway across Coniston and jumping in!
"I believe I achieved the aims of the Great North Swim – for an average person to train for and take part in a massive event and swim the same race as some of the world’s best swimmers."
I had a nightmare where somebody swam over the top of me and drowned me. There were also concerns about picking up an infectious disease from the water, leading to me learning to swim with my head out of the water.
I had a new wetsuit made for me to swim in: it is the only one the company has ever made with purple shoulders, so totally unique.
My first chance to test it was at the training session with TriCentral at Salford Quays. My boyfriend drove me to the Quays; I took one look at the water and burst into tears. However, I learnt loads during the theory session and took a deep breath and got into the water, set off out from the wall and realised that it was OK and put everything into practise.
In a moment of madness I entered the swimming leg of a local triathlon. The swim was only 350m but was done under race conditions in a small and very muddy fishing lake.
I was really pleased with myself when I got out of the water as nobody had even got close to swimming over the top of me and I had been so focussed on getting to the finish point with a good time that I forgot about my other worries. I am definitely pleased that I took the opportunity.
In the run up to the Great North Swim I was getting more and more worried. I had a daily check of the weather and water conditions at Low Wood on their website and was also relieved to see that they undertake regular water quality samples that always come back satisfactory.
The morning of the swim was nerve wracking. We only live about an hour away from Windermere so drove up with my mum and boyfriend, me clutching a sick bowl.
We used the park and sail facility and I learnt that despite being a local lad my boyfriend had never been on a Windermere lake cruise before! As we were early I had a wander round and spoke to various people on the stalls.
The atmosphere was brilliant, with so many people looking forward to their swim or to supporting their friends and family. We found a great place to stand near to the finishing line so that I could see other people finish their swim with huge smiles on their faces. I even had my photograph taken with Mark Foster!
Unfortunately, my leg of the race wasn’t until the afternoon and the nerves took such a hold I stood there with tears running down my face.
However, the feel of the water reminded me of how much effort I had put into training and I was ready to go. We were slightly delayed by the elite race that had gone before us, and I am ashamed to say that at this point I almost chickened out of the swim. However, the shame of having to admit to being so daft kept me in the starting area. The claxon went and we were off.
I stood back at the beginning to allow the faster swimmers to pass me, this was my tactic to prevent being swum over, and took my time.
I completed most of the Swim in breast stroke but with a bit of back crawl to stretch out my shoulders. I even managed to put my head in the water a few times. The Swim feels a long way in the lake as you do not have any markers or pool ends to negotiate but the people on the safety boats were great, encouraging the swimmers to keep going.
The second half didn’t seem so long because I realised that I had forgotten all my fears the moment I had entered the water and the Swim was actually quite relaxing. How often do you get to swim in such beautiful surroundings?
Climbing out of the water on to the jetty was difficult as my feet had gone numb with cold but the assistants helped me out and encouraged me a bit more. Unbeknown to me, this was filmed by one of the many cameras about on the day and put on to the big screen.
My mum saw me and jumped over to the finishing line with her camera. Somehow I managed to run to the very last point where my time chip would stop recording. I completed the swim in 53 minutes and 18 seconds.
I am very proud of myself for doing the Swim and feel a little silly that all my worries really were for nothing as the event is well organised. When the swim was shown on television I watched and could not believe what the 2,200 of us had done that day – it really put it into perspective. In fact, one of my friends rang me to say she had watched it and thinks I am mad but very brave and she was very impressed.
Unfortunately, the scales say that I have not really lost any weight but my body has changed shape. I have toned up and now have real ‘swimmer’s shoulders’. I have continued with my swimming classes and have been doing some of the gym classes to help my fitness as this will improve my stamina, particularly in front crawl.
My aim for 2009 is to complete the Great North Swim in a faster time and to be able to do some more front crawl, with my face in the water, to assist my time. I have also just bought a waterproof mp3 player that fits on to my goggles to help me with my long distance training.
I believe that I have achieved the aims of the Great North Swim – for an average person to train for and take part in a massive event and swim the same race as some of the world’s best swimmers.
Now that is some achievement!