Swimmers Blog
Simon
Simon, an IT infrastructure engineer, lives in Reading and, as well as attempting three Great Swims, is getting married this year. While admitting that he’s not keen on running, he says he is something of a swimming beginner with a poor technique as well as other challenges to overcome – though he has managed to swim 40 lengths in the past. He plans on swimming once a week to start with but is prepared to “up it if things don’t improve”. Here’s his blog:
I’m really enjoying taking part in the British Gas Great Swim Series.
After taking part in the Great East and Great London swims I signed up to the Great Salford Swim, the new one on 26 September. I am rather getting into the whole open water swimming thing and really enjoyed the London swim a lot.
It was a great feeling to finally become an open water swimmer after the East swim.
We had an absolute mess of transportation errors getting to Alton Water and arrived at almost exactly 1pm – the time my wave was supposed to be in the water. But the swims had been put back by half an hour because of the high winds.
One quick stop off with Lawrence from the Tri Store confirmed that the water was warm enough for the wetsuit to not be compulsory. He had one for me but was very understanding when I said I’d just do it in some really bright boardies and a green Barnardo’s T-shirt.
I hung right back to allow the really keen good swimmers to get in and be all enthusiastic and so I hit the water at a gentle stroll, immediately regretting the lack of wetsuit. Once I was in and going though, I was plenty warm enough and comfortable so started with a steady breast stroke to keep at the back of the pack or at the lead of the stragglers (depending on how you want to look at it). The first stage was into a head wind so that was pretty hard going and I was wondering if there was any chance I would complete it. The second stage was a little better because by then I had found a squaddie to chat to.
I kept up with him and chatted until a little after the halfway when he started to pull away as I was finding it hard going. Once I rounded the marker for the third and final leg I had a little rest doing some backstroke but I was never more than about ten yards from a canoe safety person and glad they were keeping an eye on me.
I later found out that the course was shortened because of the weather and so only completed 1100 meters, although a cunning bit of maths suggested that if I had done the full mile at the same pace I would have completed it in about 58 minutes, which is just under my hour target.
I was quite intimidated by the sight of the full mile course at the Great London Swim but a little more organised because Lawrence at the Tri Store had an XXL wetsuit ready for me (wetsuits are compulsory). With the wetsuit on and the sun shining I was pretty much soaking wet in sweat as we waited for the off. Powerade helped a lot here but we were glad to hit the water and Charlotte powered off doing crawl while I took a more leisurely pace doing breast stroke. My first impression was how much harder it was swimming with the resistance of the wetsuit and how I had to adopt a different position because my lower back area was floating; I was glad of the wetsuit later though because the buoyancy made it easier to float and rest.
The weather was stunning and I had a chat to a lovely lady doing the swim for Macmillan and several bits of banter with the canoe safety people, who were really great at encouraging people while they kept their eyes on us to make sure we were OK.
When I reached the halfway point I got a time check and was told that I was just under the half hour point; this pleased me immensely as I figured I could keep the pace up and beat the hour. Once we turned the corner it actually felt like we were on the home straight and with the sun shining I picked up the pace a little and finished in around 55 minutes. A great feeling!
Ruth
Ruth is a speech and language therapist currently living in Portsmouth. She is using her Great Swim preparation to improve her general fitness. She is an intermediate swimmer with some past experience and is intending to swim at least twice a week, boosting her fitness with training at home. Here is Ruth’s blog:
During a week off work back in May I looked up my local pool here in Portsmouth, The Mountbatten Centre, which has a lovely 50m pool divided into two parts during the day. It was very easy to swim in and it was lovely and warm. I swam 64 lengths (a mile) in a rather pleasing 45 minutes.
After that I didn’t swim for a full month but once I did get back into the water I again managed to swim the full mile, this time in 46 minutes – hoorah! The first two lengths were a bit slow but the rest were at a good pace.
I then started a completely new fitness regime, planning to swim twice a week in the evenings in the 50m pool. It’s so much easier to swim a mile in 50m chunks. Once you’ve done 10 lengths, you’re a third done. I have also bought a cross trainer and on my non-swimming nights I shall do at least 20 minutes on that. I’ve also started the 200 sit-ups plan where I have to do a set number of sit-ups three times a week and gradually build up the number I can do without stopping. I’m up to 10 so have some way to go!
Training went well through June and I managed a 2km swim (40 lengths) in an hour – and it didn’t feel too hard, which suggests that hopefully the new regime is working and I am actually getting fitter!
It was great to cheer on Simon and Charlotte at the London Swim and enjoy the atmosphere – can’t wait for my own swim at Windermere in September.
Big Dave
Big Dave lives in Gloucester is a digital media officer at the Meningitis Trust and has an illustrious career of charity fund-raising behind him – though none of it has involved swimming. In fact, Big Dave describes himself as more of a runner – he’s tackled the Bupa Great North Run as well as the Chicago Marathon – and admits to being a swimming novice with a poor technique, which he is trying to improve with the help of swimming lessons. Here’s Big Dave’s blog:
I didn't manage to fit in a great deal of swimming in May as I was busy with other things, such as the helping organize the Five Valleys Walk for the Meningitis Trust, where I work. I also started running on Mondays again, which caused a few aches and pains. I've felt really good getting back into training and it was great to get back into the water.
Alas, I made a false economy replacing my lost goggles though - I bought cheap ones. These were no use - if they kept the water out, they put pressure on my eyeballs, which distorted my already poor vision, and hurt. If they fit comfortably on my face, they let the water in - and I am not man enough to swim without goggles. My eyes really sting. I've decided to get some prescription goggles.
By June I was doing 20 lengths comfortably, though with some breaks, and increased my Capoeira training as I was getting graded in June(an Afro-Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, music and dance). I also invested in a monthly swim pass for my local pool with the aim of doing an average of two swims a week (or even four to six shorter ones).
All this capoeira training (I got my grading, and went up to a half white, half orange belt) has really boosted my fitness, which is helping the swimming. It was a great pity about Charlotte's travel problems getting to the Great East Swim but it was good to see Simon complete the first swim, and then even better when they both completed the Great London Swim.
By early July, with the new prescription goggles, I was swimming (with breaks) half a mile and intend to push up to three-quarters of a mile.
I've been enjoying swimming, and like it even more now. All I need to do is increase my stamina, so these breaks can become a thing of the past.
And sort out a wetsuit.
I love intensive training, and am looking forward a swimming-mad few weeks as I prepare for the British Gas Great Scottish Swim!
Charlotte
Charlotte is a Community Fundraiser for Barnardo’s in the North West. She is an experienced swimmer and trains several times each week with Manchester Triathlon Club and also swims alone (doing between 64 and 100 25m lengths each time), though she admits to using Great Swim to improve her overall fitness. Here’s her blog:
Certain developments at the moment have led me to make an extra effort with my exercise regime. Most noteable amongst them are the fact that I’ve put on a couple of pounds due to too many nights on the town, and the fact that I have a new man to impress now. So, I travelled to my usual Monday night training session by bike rather than in the car.
Our usual coach was away so we had the opportunity to try something new with the replacement, who was a hard driver to say the least. At the beginning of the session he wrote out the entire night’s set plan, so you could see exactly what was coming! This seemed a little disheartening at first, but it was actually a huge bonus as we started to move through the set and mentally cross things off.
The session was really all about stamina training, of which I am sorely in need, and saw us doing several 300m sets at varying speeds and effort levels interspersed with Individual Medley other recovery swims.
The IM meant doing a length of butterfly, a long-standing bone of contention as no one really knows how to do it. Every now and then you get a little bit of a pointer or two, but by the time you’ve floundered up the lane, dragging your arms across the surface and heaving your body out of the water like a beached-whale struggling for air, you generally finish the length in crawl to hide your face which is only slightly redder from embarrassment than it is from lack of oxygen.
However, last night something changed. The new coach gave us more than a brief pointer and went so far as to actually explain the legs to us. Lo and indeed behold, I managed my first ever full length of fly, managing to get my upper body and arms completely out of the water. I actually did feel like I was flying! Not simply once did I demonstrate this amazing feat, but THREE TIMES! Oh the pride.
The session was hard but that’s the idea. I came out feeling like I’d had a real workout and made some progress - and then I had to cycle back home. All in all, a very successful session.
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