Sunday 9 September 2012

Spectacular! (Monster swim 2012)

At 7am on Saturday 18th August, we left our lovely campsite at Cannich, in Glen Affric, Scotland and drove South to Loch Ness.  We drove around to Dores Beach, in convoy with my friends Sarah and Linz (plus all of our husbands and children!) where we parked up for what was, for me, the most highly anticipated swimming event of my life!

We had experienced a few days of loveliness, camping together in the wilds of Scotland (beautiful, sparsely populated, midge infested and utterly amazing), and our young families had a wonderful camping experience together.  We cycled, threw water bombs, toasted marshmallows, played Lego, shared midge spray, drank wine and laughed and laughed.  Now arriving at Loch Ness to swim with my lovely ladies was the pinnacle of our trip. 

The Loch Ness Fog
It was foggy as we arrived and we couldn't see the loch.  The children played in one of the loch's tributaries and we waited around as the other 400 swimmers arrived, swatting at midges.  At around 8:45am, the mist magically rolled off the loch and receded.  The sun shone through and revealed the most beautiful sight a swimmer might ever see.  The water was calm and blue and it mirrored the mountains that rose out of it perfectly.  The mountains shimmered purple from the heather and the sky was so blue, I couldn't possibly make it any bluer when I later came to edit my photos!

 This would be my fourth open water swimming event (or fifth time I have worn a wetsuit and swam in open water), and it was the first time I would be swimming without Dylan alongside me.  He would be supporting me from the shore, with our children and their new friends.  I was nervous.  I was plagued with fearful thoughts during my previous open water experiences, despite being a confident and able pool swimmer.  I can't pinpoint the reason for my fear.  I sometimes believe it to be the cold.  Or the wetsuit.  Or the lack of sides to kick off from.  Or the fear of seeing something I don't want to, under the water.  Or the lack of seeing NOTHING under the water.  I am not scared of drowning, I am confident in the water.  But open water swimming frightens me and I have always, until now, relied upon Dylan to get me to the end.  Despite this, I am pulled along with the excitement of such an event and had thought nothing about the fear so far, and felt only excitement when anticipating the swim. 

I acclimatised in the water, with Sar and Linz.  The water was 10.5 degrees.  After the Salford swim (16.5 degrees) it felt cold, but not unbearable.  I felt a huge bubble of happiness and excitement inside when we bobbed about in the shallows, looking up at the sky and the mountains and the huge expanse of water around us.

The start whistle blew, and we held back to the back of the pack, allowing the majority of swimmers to go before us.  Linz and Sar hadn't had the opportunity to train too often due to having demanding younger toddlers, and Sar had an injured arm.  They both offered me nothing but support and calmed me as we walked to the water.  We agreed to swim together and enjoy the view and drink in the whole balmy experience!  Just as we started, a rainbow appeared in the sky, against the mountain on the opposite side of the loch.  A cliche to end all cliches, perhaps, but it was a perfectly timed indication, that this was going to be an amazing swim!
The beautiful rainbow



As we started swimming, I felt so happy.  I felt none of the usual constricting fear grabbing me.  I was swimming, with Sar and Linz and I was grinning and LOVING it.  The sun shone down on us, often blinding us, but sending the most spectacular rays of light beneath the water and lighting up the murkiness.  We left the crowds on the shore and the swimmers thinned out. 

We sang silly songs as we swam and we laughed.  I realised I was managing without Dylan and I had started to pull ahead from Linz and Sar.  I think by this point Sar was experiencing discomfort due to her injury.  They both encouraged me to go on ahead, so I did.  I managed to swim some crawl, though it was hard to maintain for longer periods as it was hard to stay on course.  Unlike the course at Salford Quays, there were no 'sides' or walls to swim along.  It was just a huge expanse of water, and a whole load of sunshine in your eyes!  In the middle of the course there was a noticeable swell in the water and the kayaks of the safety crews bobbed up and down out of sight.  I realised I was alone, in the loch, swimming, in the sunshine, without worry, without my wetsuit constricting me, without feeling tired, without feeling the cold steal my breath.  There were a handful of swimmers within shouting distance, but it otherwise felt like a rather nice dream!  I couldn't help but grin and grin and grin to myself.


Me! 

As I reached the final course-marking buoy, I felt elated.  I saw Dylan and our children playing on the beach and they spotted me and waved.  I climbed out, my legs like jelly and could NOT stop smiling.  I couldn't get many words out for quite some time, but I managed to tell Dylan I was happy!  Sar and Linz swam in behind me and we hugged, both of them with tremendous grins on their faces too.  Biggest respect to Sar, who was in pain from her arm for the second half of the swim.  Equal respect to Linz who helped Sar through to the end. 

I got a huge hug from my eldest daughter as I came back to the beach.  The sun was still shining and we had done it!

We stripped off out wetsuits and plunged into the water in our swimsuits.  10.5 degrees was amazingly welcoming after a long, hot, wetsuit-ed swim!  (The only thing we were missing was a glass of fizz at that moment...)


Happy swimmers


We went for a pint at the pub at the beach.  We noticed the water had changed considerably since we had finished and there was now quite a lot of waves and white water choppiness, apparent.  I was relieved the calm waters had waited until we had finished out swim, before disappearing.  Not that a few waves would have stopped me!!

 My official time was 47 minutes.  This was slower than my previous swim at Salford, but given the opportunities there were to go off course and the slight swell, I was very pleased with my time.  Especially when I think of the amount of time I spent marvelling at the scenery!

It was a long way to travel to this event.  (400 miles, which took us 10 hours, with stops and four bored children, and one bout of travel sickness!)  The midges were truly unbelievable at the campsite.  These downsides can't take anything away from what was the most memorable trip and the best swim I have ever had. 

There is no doubt in my mind that I want to do this again in 2013. 











1 comment:

  1. Amazing Jo! Another WELL DONE to you, I can relate to all of those feelings with my own achievements. Never gets old :-) xx

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