The Blues

Lynne with blue lips

Lots of blue today. I don't mean Conservative party bunting, I mean blue lips, blue fingers, and blue toes.

Today was our Channel Swim Team's first session in Dover Harbour. I know it takes a while for a volume of water like the Channel to warm up, but it was cold, very cold. 10.6 degrees to be precise. So, colder than Brockwell Lido, and a good 5 degrees colder than we're hoping for when we swim the Channel in July. And this was a strictly no wetsuits session. (There was a guy on the beach offering to grease people with goose-fat. He was one of the organisers, honestly! Maybe this is something we'll try closer to the swim date.) 

Today was the first of potentially lots of harbour swims. We'll be doing as many harbour swims as possible. It's the best way to prepare. And boy, it was a bit of a wake-up call and an eye opener.

All technique went out of the window as I desperately tried to get my mouth out of the water to take a breath, and my hands and arms in the water to take a stroke. It was a bit choppy today, and the current and tide were frighteningly quick - on the return swim it felt like I was barely making progress.

Well done to everyone though - Alex, Andy, Debbie, Fiona, Lynne, Orlaith and me. We swam for 30 minutes and then tried to warm ourselves up for an hour on the windswept beach before getting in again.

It was so cold. Lynne's lips, fingers and toes were blue, Fiona couldn't stop shivering, and Debbie found it difficult just to speak.

Practice, practice, practice though. I'm sure it will get more bearable. Mind you, my next swim in the lido is going to feel fairly tame in comparison.