Great North Swim 2024
The Great North Swim is a fabulously friendly swim festival that takes place in Windermere during June each year. It is very popular but there is something for everyone from the first timer to the ultra competitor.
Having been lulled into an utterly false sense of security when we did this swim in 2023, I had no hesitation in entering for a mile on each of the Saturday and the Sunday this year. I was convinced I was well drilled and more than ready to put in a PB shift, aiming to compete against myself over the two races.
Kids in tow, off we went to a cabin on the shores of the lake which turned out to be palatial!
The 2023 swim was calm and clear with the only chop coming in from the left hand side as the Windermere ferry went past. The 2024 Saturday weather had other ideas and decided that ‘Shock and Awe’ was the order of the day as the noon start time approached.
It doesn’t usually matter if it’s raining when you’re swimming because you can’t get any more wet…….actually you can! You can stand on the start line looking at the wind whip the waves across the lake towards you while you can hear thunder in the distance and…..was that lightening?! Standing there while the man on the mic is ‘on the phone to the met office’ to get the ‘up to date’ forecast before they let you approach the start line is something of a challenge in self control, I don’t mind telling you!
Weirdly, at dead on noon the storm just disappeared and the sun came out…..but the wind stayed. We were allowed to start and commenced an incredibly difficult mile, swimming the first leg into the wind with the waves bashing you in the chops! Rounding the first turn, the waves were easier to handle coming at you from the left and, again naively and optimistically, I was hoping for a swoosh with the wind behind me on the turn for home – no such luck!
With the wind at my back, I just had to hack to the finish and I’ve never been so glad to get out of the water! I earned that T-shirt but my lasting memory will forever be Karen’s face as she came through the finish gate looking like she’s been mugged!
The conversation over dinner was more of a pep talk with us all trying to convince ourselves that the Sunday swim couldn’t be any worse. After a decent kip in our cabin, we woke on a drizzly morning to find that the wind had died down and there were actual gaps in the clouds.
The start line was bouncing and off we went with renewed enthusiasm and confidence. It was calm enough to actually swim the race, thank goodness, and we all put in proper times and finished with big grins this time.
The Great North is a fantastic festival including stalls selling food and swim stuff and I would highly recommend the experience!
