Lake Windermere Swim

[Hal]

Its not really cycling but though you may be interested in why I have been skipping a few club runs this season.

After last seasons achilies tendonitis I switched to swimming this year. In a few weeks time I am hoping to swim the lenght of Lake Windermere (17km) in less than 6 hours, you can read all about it on the Virgin money link below.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HalBransby

More details to follow.

Hal

[Toks]

Wow, good luck Hal. I love to be able to swim 1k.

[kieran]

Hal, what times do you train at the serpentine?

[Hal]

The swimming club have access to the bouyed off area and another 100m length in front of the cafe from 6am till 9:30am for members. Its only £20 for annual membership. I normally start at about 7:30am for an hour or so a couple of mornings a week.

There is also the lido £4 a pop which is open from 10am to 6pm ish.

You just have to watch out for thw swans! and the weeds! but much more fun than the pool.

Without a wetsuit I get really cold after about 45 minutes and shiver all the way to work, but with a wet suit it is almost too warm (22 degrees)

H

[kieran]

Oh, next week the children are being looked after by their grandma so I can have a few early mornings. Not worth joining the club for only a week, so will probably swim at brockwell lido, which is open for lane swimming from 6:30am. We swam in the serpentine last year, very cold!

[Hal]

Well the serious training is now all complete, so just get down to some carbo loading ready for next week.

I have put some more photos up here but hard to take such good photos while swimming.

http://picasaweb.google.com/HalBransby/ ... rmereSwim#

Updated write up on the Charity donations site here.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HalBransby

Ta

Hal

[Andrew G]

Good luck Hal this is one hell of a challenge.

Rode the length of Britain last year, swimming the longest lake this year, I'd ask if you were planning to run C2C next year but have a feeling that you'll be otherwise engaged.

[Hal]

On Monday 16th I completed my swim of the length of Lake Windermere, it took 6 hours 40 minutes, a bit slower than anticipated, however I felt strong throughout and did not suffer too badly from the cold.

Lots of photos and more details on the links below.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HalBransby

http://picasaweb.google.com/HalBransby/ ... rmereSwim#

I think I prefer cycling its a bit quicker, although my 3 hour mini Fred Whitton on Friday was still quite a challenge in the pouring rain. Cliffe Hights, Hawkshead Hill, Wyrnrose pass, Langdale Pass, Consiton Hill, Hawkshead Hill, Cliffe Heights and back to the Windermere ferry.

Hmmmm running C2C.......

[Andrew G]

Congratulations Hal, a superb effort. I think you're absolutely barking mind you .

[kieran]

Well Done Hal, a great swim. How did the wet suit feel? Whilst on holiday I tried scuba diving, so had to wear a full wet suit and while swimming around in it 2 things came to mind; it was a great boyancy aid but having to lift your arms out of the water each stroke for the front crawl was much harder when wearing a wet suit, I guess the arms increased both weight and drag. Maybe your wet suit was thinner?

[Toks]

Awesome effort Hal! Cycling for 6-7 hours is one thing but 'swimming' is just unthinkable. What safety precautions are needed for this sort of undertaking. Obviously cramp or the dreaded 'bonk' has a much greater risk when swimming. I'm assuming you're achilles problem is healed now? And are we gonna get a switch to triathlons?

[Mulberry]

Well done Hal, excellent work and it must have been hard to keep going and battling the cold. I presume you weren't allowed to hold onto a support boat so any "rests" would have
been treading water. That is a real epic and worth all the training that you told me about when we met in Reigate a few weeks ago.

Did you see any crocs by the way?

Marcus