Making Dreams Come True With a Splash

A while ago I posted an intel all about my latest stupid event for charity.

In a moment of madness I'd signed up for the Great East Swim to raise money for Make A Wish. Not only that but I (for some reason) decided it would only be a challenge if I opted for the furthest distance - 2 miles.

But this wasn't just any old swim - oh no, where would the challenge be in that? This was an outdoor swim in my local reservoir!

I had plenty of time to train, although a shoulder injury 3 weeks prior to the event caused a few problems. But I only got the opportunity to train in a swimming pool. And believe me, swimming up and down 128 times (the equivalent of 2 miles) trying to dodge some very slow moving swimmers (despite being in the fast lane)is not great training for open water swimming.

So the big day arrived. It was cold, overcast and I'd never swum in a wet suit or open water before.

After saying farewell to my husband and son (the eldest stayed at home to revise - but I think he was embarrassed to be seen out with his mother in a wet suit) I made my way to the changing area and slipped into my wet suit. No, make that poured myself into it, 'slipped' makes it sound as though it was easy.

Once that first hurdle was out the way I made my way down to the start line.

Lined up with all the other mad men and women, we were forced to look even more ridiculous by joining in with a 'warm up' class (it was just an excuse for people to laugh at us)before the countdown began.

I should point at here that I was in the first 'wave'. Over the day there were various groups swimming 2 miles, 1 mile and half a mile. I'd been placed in the first 2 mile group that set off at 8am!

Anyway, the countdown began - 3...2...1 - at the front there was a mad dash for the water (mainly by tiathelete types) so I hung back until things had calmed down a bit.

As I entered the reservoir the water was surprisingly warm although very murky. So murky in fact you couldn't see the person in front of you until they kicked you in the face!

The field began to stretch out as we neared the first half mile marker. I'd managed to get in a bit of a rhythm but had to keep stopping my crawl stroke to check whether I was still on course or not.

As my head dipped in and out of the water I was sure I spotted several dark shapes below me - either very large fish or we have a Suffolk equivalent of the Loch Ness Monster! Of course, it could have been my imagination.

The 2 mile course is basically 2 laps of the mile course, so the water shallowed as we came round to start another lap. One thing I hadn't bargained on was the amount of weed in the shallow water. It was quite a shock to put my face in the water and suddenly be surrounded by long, thin strands of weed.

But ploughing on, I continued my rather wet journey back out into the depths of the reservoir before turning back to shore on the final leg.

I could hear the crowd cheering as I got closer and made my way to the finishing line. Two life guards were stood by the edge of the water grinning. As the water shallowed, I got to my feet and staggered across the line. The daft thing was that I didn't feel tired at all and yet my legs were like rubber and I felt as though I'd been knocking back glasses of white wine all morning (if only).

My darling husband merrily took photos as I staggered about but I didn't care, I'd finished - in a time of 1 hour 18 minutes. Not too bad for an old girl who'd never swum in open water before, or in a wet suit.

So that's my insanity over for another year. I shall have to get my thinking cap on for next year's challenge - any ideas?

Sally Ormond is an international freelance copywriter. She has been writing commercially since 2007 with her company Briar Copywriting.

http://sallyormond.qondio.com/