We Did It - Channel Swim Complete!

The phone rang on Saturday afternoon at around 4pm. It was Frosty saying that he had just heard from Andy King (our boat pilot) to confirm that we were on for a swim on Sunday morning and to be at Dover harbour for 3am.

Right then, off home to pack, grab some dinner and try and catch a few hours sleep as we'd be leaving Marlow at midnight to get to Dover on time. After a few hours kip and double checking the kit we met at the Marlow Club for the big off. You could tell that we were all excited and a bit nervous and after a month of waiting for the date and nearly six months of training the big day had finally arrived.


We got to Dover on time, met Andy, got all our kit on the boat and set off from a cold and windy harbour at 3:30am to Samphire Hoe beach our starting point.

Joining us on the boat were: Jay, my wife; Lisa, Jezz's wife; Caroline, Frosty's girlfriend; Steve, from the Channel Swimming Association and the Skipper's first mate (are they still called that these days??) Gary.


We got to the beach at around 3:45am and got Frosty ready for his first stint in the pitch black darkness. Andy wanted three glow sticks, one on the head and two on the trunks so that the swimmer was visible to all. Our night swim experience came in good use and we sorted this all out with the minimum of fuss. Frosty then swam to shore via guidance from a torch from the boat and then upon hearing the foghorn started swimming towards us. The countdown had started. We were off. There were around four other boats joining us at this point and immediately the competitive juices started flowing as talk began of beating them across. Great stuff!!

I should mention at this point that we had set ourselves the task of hitting a time of sub 10 hours. This is a fantastic time for channel swimmers (including relay swims) and would mean that we would have to swim at around 4kms/hour for the duration whilst battling the cold, waves, jellyfish, tankers and whatever else The Channel could throw at us. Whilst this was a tough ask, we trained hard so that we could push at this speed all the way through. When we first set off we told Andy (Boat Skipper) and Steve (Channel Swimming Association) of our target and you could tell by their faces that they were thinking, yes whatever boys, let's just get you there and seemed doubtful that we would achieve our target.

Frosty soon came up to the boat and followed the advice of Steve "Just follow the boat" and we started heading out into the Channel. We had agreed to signal the swimmer in the water every 15 minutes so that they knew where they were in the hour and then five minute countdowns in the last 15 minutes.


One thing that we had not realised was that we would have to stick to our swimmer order throughout the swim and that each swimmer would have to complete an hour before handing over to the next. We thought that we could mix it up if one swimmer was suffering and do shorter stints which was not the case at all. We quickly realised that if one swimmer failed through cramp/seasickness etc then the whole relay team would fail. This put a bit more pressure on each of us as individuals as you obviously would not want to let down the team after all the work that had gone in.

Frosty produced a steady swim in the dark to get us going and next up was Heath the South African in the team. We readied Heath, the same as Frosty for the changeover. As soon as the hour was up Steve (Channel Swim Association) would tell the next swimmer to get in and then the new swimmer would tread water whilst the old swimmer would go to the back of the boat. As soon as old swimmer was out, new swimmer would be given the go ahead to get back on with it. Vitally important to do it this way in the dark due to the danger of losing someone.

The first changeover produced one of the most dramatic and comical moments of the entire swim. It was still pitch black when Heath jumped in and while Frosty was getting we think Heath went of a fraction early what with all the adrenaline in his system. We then watched in horror as Heath left the side of the boat (ignoring Steve's advice) and then started swimming in a big arc and heading back towards Dover! Andy started blaring the ships horn to get Heath's attention but there was no stopping him. We had to turn the boat around and get him and shepherd him back on course. It was quite scary how quickly he got away from the boat and you can see how people can become lost at sea. Talking to Heath after the swim he thought he was doing a great job as he had "pulled away" from the pilot boat whilst setting a new course backwards much to everyone's amusement.



Heath put in a solid leg and next up was me for the sunrise stint. I started getting ready about 15 minutes before, checking kit, then checking again etc. I got my glowsticks sorted, put a bit of vaseline on and was pretty much ready to go. Steve was giving us a countdown every few minutes so we knew how much time we would have before stripping down to our swimmers. For me the time had come to show off the worst pink speedos I could find (as promised) much to the horror of all aboard the boat.

I felt pretty nervous in the last few minutes and went quite quiet before I was due to get in. Check out the video...







It wasn't too nice waiting in the water for Heath to get out, I'd have rather just got cracking on and got warm but I didn't really want to make the same navigational error that a certain South African did so baded my time until I got given the all clear. Soon enough I was good to go and was finally swimming the Channel. The temperature felt good (around 17/18), definitely warmer than the river we had been training in and the water was so salty it was disgusting. One of my first thoughts was that I was feeling strong and that we had prepared really well for this as a team which felt great.


The first 15 minutes went pretty quickly as I received the signal (on a white board) and from here I really started to push the pace as I went through a mini session that I had devised in my head based on arm strokes. These sessions took me through to the last 15 minutes and consisted of periods where I would swim hard then at a steadier pace to catch my breath. When I went off swimming fast for my first set I think I took the skipper by surprise as I surged ahead of the boat and started to do a bit of a Heath manoeuvre. The skipper blew his horn, I turned back in and all was well.


As I swum on the sky became lighter and everytime I surged ahead of the boat I could see the sun rising slowly to my left which was an amazing sight and experience. I was soon on the last 15 then ten minutes and pushing as hard as I could at this stage ready to get out. It is a great feeling to be given the 5 minute and then 2 minute warning and see the next swimmer stripping off as you know that you are almost done. I could see Jezz coming to the side and as soon as he hopped in I raced to the back of the boat to get out so Jezz could start. I'd taking us to just outside the first shipping lane so it was Jezz's job to guide us through.


I was pretty cold so got dry as soon as possible and into warm dry clothes with a cup of soup to also warm me up from the inside. It took a good hour to get warm before I felt normal again but the sun was coming up and the air temp was also rising making it a lot more comfortable.


Jezz was swimming and the support crew came up with novelty ways to keep the swimmer amused (as it does get a bit boring) by devising dances at the side of the boat. I think the full repertoire was YMCA, Chicken Dance, Diver Dance, Walk Like an Egyptian and the Macarena. Only knows what Steve thought of all this and I did have a chuckle when I saw one of his notes in his log which went something along the lines of:


"9.30am Jezz swimming - 74 strokes per minute.
Air Temp 14 degrees. Sea Temp 18 degrees.
Girls giving Jezz Y.M.C.A dance."

Jezz put in a storming swim and we made good headway through the first lane. Fortunately there wasn't too much traffic and we made good progress along the lane. Each lane is 4 miles wide so a bit different to crossing the motorway!!
It was then back round again to Frosty who could now swim in daylight for the first time. It was obvious this time that everybody looked a lot more comfortable during their second stints and everybody seemed to be putting the hammer down and really pushing the pace.

After the first few hours I think there was some doubt about whether we were close to achieving our target but at around the half way mark, in between the shipping lanes, it was looking like we may just hit our goal of a sub 10 hour swim. Andy was saying that other boats were catching us as the banter started was flying between different skippers across the radios each vying to have the fastest team for that day. I'm pretty sure that they weren't catching and that this was Andy's way of geeing us up to swim faster. To be honest the fact that we were in with a shout of doing a sub 10 hour swim was enough for me. I was desperate to achieve this target and I didn't need any more pumping up by the time I got in for my second stint.

I pushed from a lot earlier on this second stint and did the following set:

50(strokes) hard 50 steady x 5

60 hard 40 steady x4

70 hard 30 steady x 3

80 hard 20 steady x 2

90 hard 10 steady x 2

100 hard 50 steady x 6

110 hard 50 steady

120 hard 50 steady

130 hard 50 steady

etc up to 200 hard then stuck here for the rest of the hour.

I was going pretty hard throughout and was thankful to receive my half hourly dance and then be counted down from 10 minutes. I didn't notice any ships during my stint, you really do have your head down and just go for it! I did seem to swim through a few patches of seaweed which was a little unnerving but was not going to slow me down!

I knew that this would probably be my final stint so pushed hard right to the end until Jezz jumped in next to me. Time to get out sharpish and let Jezz get on.

Jezz produced another fantastic swim and by this point the support from the side was pretty much constant for the swimmer as we were focused on our time now that we knew that we had a chance. France was now in sight and the trips into the skippers wheelhouse were becoming more frequent as we checked on the distance left to go. By now we had left all the other relay teams behind and no one was in sight any more. Both Andy and Steve seemed keen for us to hit our time and were encouraging us as far as possible to ensure that we didn't slack off at any stage.

Pete was next for his third swim and was pushed on by the support throughout his swim. Pete took us to the point where the beach was now in sight and the responsibility fell in Heath to bring us home within our goal.

We devised a special signal to give to Heath to tell that the Sub 10 swim was "on" and that we would give the signal when he needed to push like mad. At about 10 minutes out from land we all gave Heath the signal (arms crossed in an X fashion) and he put his head down and pushed for the rocks under the lighthouse at Cap Gris Nez.

Our boat could not go right into land with Heath so Gary (First Mate) took out the zodiac to guide Heath in. There was a bit of a worrying moment when Heath took a lungful of water from the Zodiac and stopped to gather himself before swimming to the rocks. It was a great sight to watch Heath climb aboard the rocks in France and stop the clock at 9 hours and 29 minutes. Check out the video of Heath finishing...

Heath came back to join the jubilant team in the boat and we cracked open a bottle of champagne and a few beers to celebrate our achievement. We cruised back went to find another team who were still battling away. We circled the swimmer and boat and gave them encouragement for the final phase before we went back to the white cliffs of Dover.

We had completed the Channel in under ten hours and finished in a time of 9 hours 29 minutes. To put this time into perspective there has only been one faster time than us since 2006!

We have since found out that if no one beats our time for 2009 we may be awarded a prize for the fastest channel crossing of the year which would be a great achievement by four blokes who hadn't really done open water swimming before.

It was quite sad in some respects finishing the swim as it really has been a great experience all round. I couldn't have picked three better guys to be part of a team with and would really like to thank them all for making it such a special achievement.

I'd also like to thank all our support crew (my wife Jay in particular), Andy King the captain and Gary first mate as well as Steve from the Channel Swimming Association. I should also say an additional thank you to all the people that have sponsored me, taken the time to read this blog with my ramblings and showed constant support. I'll post some more pictures and stories about the swim and there will no doubt be another big adventure to tell you all about in months to come.

Until then I'll leave you with one final shot with the pink speedos in all their glory...

Any further donations would be welcome here...

http://www.justgiving.com/Chris-Newell/

Good News - Sounds Like Saturday!!

Great news all, it looks like we will be ready for the big off on Saturday morning. As long as the weather holds we are now next in the queue.

It feels quite unreal and I am starting to get excited again.

We have to been down in Dover to start at around 4 in the morning so will be swimming in the dark to start with which will be ace. We have a pretty good tide and the BBC says that the wind will be 2mph which should make it a breeze (geddit??).

Hopefully the good weather will mean that it won't be too chilly.

I'm off now to go and buy some last minute food, pack etc (will I remember the pink trunks??) and shall be up early tomorrow for what will hopefully be a final training session in the river. I'll miss it but not the cold!!

Any more donations are gratefully received here...
http://www.justgiving.com/Chris-Newell/

Red Skies In The Morning...

Gorgeous morning today. Air Temp around 11 degrees so fairly chilly and water temp at the start was just above 16 degrees. It was also pretty dark this morning and quite cool to see the sun rise as you are swimming along with all the colours changing along the way.

At the dock today were myself, Heath and Jezz. We decided to do a fairly short swim 40-45 mins as it was pretty cold and we were not feeling particularly 'up for it' at about half six when we started stripping down to our swimmers.

Went up to Marlow weir and back down again. Was swimming at a pretty good pace this morning and sticking to my routine of warm up, 50 hard, 50 easy and increasing the hard strokes by ten every time through until I hit 100. Then I just kept it at 100 hard/50 easy until I hit the turn around point. Was a little ahead of Jezz and Heath by the time we got to the weir but not by more than 20 seconds so we are still pretty even as a group. At the weir, if you go near enough, you can stand up so that you waist is almost out of the water. When I stood up this morning my back spasmed, probably as a result of standing up yesterday for a couple of hours at the rugby, and I needed a minute or so before I was good to continue. I think a preventative massage is in order!!

Going back the back was fine and I swam at a rhythm of 100 hard/50 easy increasing the strokes by 10 until I hit 200 on the hard strokes.

Heath went off like a rocket but on my second set of hard strokes I managed to reel him in and get past. About halfway back I could feel Jezz on my shoulder, first on my right and then my left (this was either Jezz trying a dummy pass or a result of him swimming in zig-zag fashion) trying to get past. At this stage I was now doing fairly long hard stints and I was able to hold him off until the finish. I don't know how hard Jezz was pushing but I was going at a good pace and when Heath finished, who was trying to catch us, he definitely was breathing hard.

All in all, a good short sharp session - in more ways than one - and I feel a lot better for being back in the water. Last week I only did one session as have been suffering from a virus I think I picked up. Just had no energy so felt it best to listen to my body and stay out of the water. Feeling a lot stronger now, so should be good to do a full week of fitness work this week.

I got some fantastic shots on my phone and the old proverb that surrounds a red sky in the morning does not bode well for us. As I seem to recall it is "Red sky at night; shepherds delight, red sky in the morning; shepherds warning." Let's hope that the weather is good, some swimmers can get across at Dover and that it will be our turn shortly.

The latest news is that we are still waiting to go. The weather down in Dover according to our skipper is still not good as at Friday last week and there are still teams ahead of us in the pecking order. We are all frustrated at the constant waiting game and although we could be called any day to go our skipper is not positive about the weather forecast ahead. We have been thinking about contingency plans if we cannot go but I am keen to remain positive. The last date we can swim is 26 October so still a month to go! Until then, we shall be in the river training.

110% on the Donations / Update

Way to go! Hit 110% this week. Thanks for the support. May even hit £2,000 before we get to swim.

Weather still not good in the channel. The team is back together now and we have told our skipper that we are ready to go whenever there is a window so hopefully the fact that we are being flexible will help.

Sea temperature is hovering around 17/18 degrees and we swam in 16.5 degrees this morning so the temperature is still within our range.

Check out the donations...

http://www.justgiving.com/Chris-Newell/

2nd Aquathlon Result

Entered the 2nd aquathlon today (750m swim and then 5k run) and race prep didn't go quite to plan. The last one I did, I arrived around an hour early so thought that this time I could probably leave home a little later and get a few precious extra minutes in bed.

I probably left at the perfect time but what I didn;t bank on was Junction 5 of the M4 being shut so I had to go a lot further to get there adding about 15 mins to my journey. I arrived at 7:45am with registration shutting at 7:30 and the race starting at 8:00 this is not good preparation.

I convinced them to register me, hurriedly stripped off to get a number felt tipped on my arm and sped over to the transition area to bag a spot to put my towel out with shoes, socks and t-shirt for run. By this point everyone had been briefed and was getting into the lake for the swim. I quickly pulled on my wetsuit smeared some vaseline around my neck grabbed my hat and goggles and waded into the water. A lady next to me kept saying that it was freezing and was visibly shivering! It felt like a bath to me what with all the river swimming and the fact I was wearing a wettie so just smiled and told her to get in!

It felt so strange to be wearing a wetsuit again after swimming for so long without one. The water was warm and it was amazing how buoyant I was in the water which is a really odd sensation.

There was quite a sizeable field of around 50-60 competitors and we got away on time at 8. The first 50-100m was carnage as per normal with swimmers swimming on top of each other, fighting for the same bit of water. I headed off to the far right and found some clear water and felt a lot better without the distractions of swimmers all around me. Swim was ok although I didn't really get into it, perhaps as it was so short.

At the half way point you can roughly get your bearing on where you are and was in the top 10 which wasn't so bad. I finished the swim 3rd last time round so wasn't too chuffed although I was trying to save a bit of energy for my run this time.

Finished the swim in around 10th and ran over to my transition spot whilst trying to release the zip of my suit. I struggled with this for a little while but eventually got there and got the suit of smoothly.

There is an order that people do this in properly which is zip down, free chest, arms both out, roll suit down to ankles and then step out of each leg while standing on suit. This seems to work well and I was definitely quicker than last time. Hat and goggles are left on until the last minute and you must look kind of funny with all the running gear on with goggles and hat.

A fair few people don't bother with socks (for speed I guess) but I do and I find that balancing on one leg when you are knackered after the swim is quite a challenge. Nearly fell over but got socks on, slipped trainers on and finished transition with t-shirt in hand. Wrestled it on in under 60 seconds so all good.

Run went ok, just kept it nice and steady for three laps of the lake. Don't normally like running laps but at least you know exactly how far you have to go to the end. Overtook a few people on the run but also lost a few places as well so lost places here. Had to kick for the final 200m or so as I could feel someone catching me. Managed to hold them off so good finish.

Looking at the splits I was 30 seconds slower on the swim/transition and 35 seconds quicker on the run. I guess 5 seconds quicker overall is ok though would have liked a quicker swim! 15th overall.

Back in river on Tuesday, still waiting for our window to open for the channel swim - doesn't sound like it will be before the 24th.

Move Over Darling

Got down to 'our' jetty on Friday morning and to our surprise found a narrow boat parked up in our spot called 'Move Over Darling'. A few of the resident triathletes had got down there before us and we talking in extremely hushed tones so as not to wake the residents of said boat. Enter the channel boys and any talk of a lie in for the resident of the boat soon went out the window.

After a few minutes of commotion and talking suddenly there was movement from the boat. The hatch opened and a lady's head poked out to see what all the fuss was about. This was at precisely the point that Frosty was bending down and applying vaseline to his sides directly in front of the hatch/lady's head. What a way to wake up in the morning!!

After a few hellos and asking what on earth we were up to we stated that we'd be back in about an hour and put in a tea/coffee/bacon sarnie order. The hatch quickly closed and that was the end of the conversation.

Swim was good. Temperature at 17 degrees so still fairly cold.

Swam some similar stints to last time upstream towards the weir working 100 strokes hard and 50 steady. On the way back down I increased the 100 strokes by ten extra each set until I finished on around 200 on the final stretch. I'm finding this is a great way to break up the swim and is helping me swim a bit faster too.

Have entered another aquathlon over at liquid leisure on Sunday morning so that will be my next swim although I'll be wearing a wetsuit and it will be short at only 750m with 5k run after.

Close Call This Morning

Just myself and Heath this morning plus four triathletes in wetsuits. Water temperature up to 17.5 thanks to the sunshine yesterday. It is amazing how much difference that one degree makes as it makes that water that little bit more bearable.

We headed downstream towards Bourne End again today and were pretty much stroke for stroke on the way down.

On the way back I pushed fairly hard and ended up doing about 6 sets of 100 hard strokes with 50 at a steadier pace. After this I pretty much got into a decent rhythm and just kept grinding out the yards at a good speed. Felt fresh as did no exercise at all yesterday so must have had some energy to burn.

On the final leg there were loads of sculls in the water and a few four's as well. Usually there is nothing and today there were easily 15-20 boats. What gives??

I got a bit of a scare when I heard a loud shout across the river and upon stopping to look up saw a scull right in front of me heading right towards me. I had to take evasive action and duck out the way and the young lad in the scull quickly apologised as he realised he was on the wrong side of the river. A bit annoying but just shows how aware you have to be.

Went for a run at lunch as thinking about doing another aquathlon at the weekend as the lake is due to close shortly at liquid leisure and it would be nice to do another competition. I'll keep you posted if I enter tomorrow!

Breaking News...Sun Dance Works - People Swimming Channel

Just heard the news today that our skipper is taking people across the channel. Fantastic news. This means that as soon as Jezz gets back from holiday (13th/14th) we could be called up anytime to do the swim providing the weather holds.

Jezz is up to 64% now...

http://www.justgiving.com/Jeremy-Lovell-Davis/

Wouldn't it be great if he agreed to shave that 'J' in his chest!?!

Back in the river tomorrow morning. Can't wait.

It's F-F-Flippin' Freezing!

Back in the river on Sunday morning up at the Flowerpot in Henley and this morning back down in Marlow. Temperature down to about 16.5 now so it is getting even colder still.

Getting in on Sunday morning was not pleasant. I really felt the cold after submersing my head in the water. My sinuses starting hurting and my chest felt like it was about to explode. It took a minute or so to acclimatise and we just tried to keep moving to minimise the cold.

Aim was to go for a good hour and about 10 minutes before the end we stopped to regroup up by the lock upstream from the Flowerpot. After only stopping for a minute I could feel the cold getting to me and had to immediately start swimming again as I was already shivering. I couldn't even feel my legs and arms upon getting going again and pretty much sprinted to the end just so I could get out of the water. It took me a little while to warm up after the swim so am trying to keep the stops to a minimum now.

Heath and I also got bitten/affected by the swimmers itch on Sunday quite badly. No idea why some days are better and worse than others in this respect but it was a very fitful nights sleep yesterday. This is definitely something that I won't be missing about the river!!

This morning was a bit of a dull affair weather wise. Very cold in the water again and apart from the company of a number of swans there was little action. We did another solid hour and will be back in the water on Wednesday.

I'll be spending the time in between doing a sundance!

Thank God It's Friday

17 degrees this morning! It is getting colder. This is most probably due to the recent rains but a bit worrying as I expect the Channel is also getting colder as well.

Just myself and Heath this morning for a session accompanied by a gaggle of triathletes who now seem to be doing a regular Friday morning swim.

Getting a little bored of the usual swim up to the weir so we headed off downstream this morning to start with, past the boatyard and down towards Bourne End. It's quite a nice stretch down this way and the river starts to narrow a fair bit so you have to be on guard about boats/sculls as it would be quite easy to get into a bit of trouble.

We felt the cold as soon as we got in and the best way to deal with it is just to swim at a pretty hard pace so that you keep your body relatively warm. Heath set off first and I was trailing him trying to catch up all the way until after the island after the boatyard. I got to about level but could not get ahead of Heath.

After the island the river opens up and as we got there the sun was just coming up although it was still so low you could hardly feel the benefit. We stopped for a few seconds to take in the scenery and then turned round for the long slog back upstream. It had taken about 15 mins to get there and it took 35 mins to head back to the start which is a good indication of how strong the stream in the river actually is.

We swam pretty much together all the way up and I was trying to break away from Heath every so often. Heath was wise to this so upped his pace when I did and stuck to me like a limpet. Come the last 500 I really pushed to try and get away and despite my best efforts I couldn't shake Heath who doggedly stuck with me. The pace kept increasing and we cruised past some of the triathletes that were finishing their swim and pretty much ended up sprinting. Great stuff!

The fact that we were pushing so hard help keep the cold away despite the fact that we felt pretty numb after the swim.

Have attached some photos from this morning and a picture of the "castle house" I was talking about earlier.

Planning to do a swim on early Sunday morning but I think that this is dependent on how many beers I have at Twickenham on Saturday!

Marlow River Swim

Back down in Marlow this morning for a standard swim from the Rugby Club. I must admit it was difficult finding the motivation to get up this morning as when I peered through the bedroom curtains at 5:50am it was a dull grey drizzling morning. Not exactly inspiring.

Got down to the Marlow Club for the meet at 6:15am. Swimming this morning was me, Freddie (from our swimming club), Matt Baker, Heath, Pete and Charles (a work colleague who is keen to take up triathlons).

Took the water temperature - 17.5 degrees. Eagle eyed readers will note that that is 1.5 degrees cooler than normal and we could feel this dip as soon as we got in. With nothing to keep you warm apart from a pair of speedo's the cold hits you instantaneously and it takes a few minutes to acclimatise.

We swam upstream to the weir right by the Compleat Angler hotel and I pushed all the way from just before the Marlow Bypass bridge; more to keep warm than anything else. Matt led the way and I was trying to chase down Freddie who had a jump start on the rest of us but didn't manage to catch him.

We regrouped at the weir and then set off back down stream towards the boat yard. Again, I kept up a fairly decent pace which helped keep the cold at bay and after Matt swam through managed to open up a bit of a gap between the others. Swam hard to the boat yard and turned round ready for the final upstream stint back to the jetty. The house opposite the jetty is our landmark and I look out for this as I'm on the final leg willing it to come into view as soon as possible. The house looks like a castle and has mock ramparts to boot! I'll take a picture next time I'm down so you can see what I mean. As the "castle" was coming into view I introduced my lazy leg beat and only succeeded in getting cramp in both calves. Nice one! I wonder whether this was down to the colder water or the cross training weights session I did yesterday morning or the run I went on yesterday lunchtime. Probably a combination of everything. The cramp is a little bit of a worry as I do not particularly want to have to deal with this whilst battling waves in the channel so will have a look at some magnesium supplements to try and get this sorted.

Right before the end we ploughed through an eyrar of swans (yes - eyrar is the collective noun!!) which can potentially be quite dangerous as swans can be quite aggressive. Fortunately they gave us a wide berth and we were not attacked.

Swim time was about 54 minutes which is pretty good going. I normally do 55-57 so it was definitely a little faster. Nothing like a little bit of cold water to get you going in the morning.

After the swim we were joined in the water by Billy the dog a Kerry Blue Terrier (I think). Billy belongs to the ladies that I have mentioned previously and seemed pretty interested in all the commotion. Perhaps he could join us next time!!??

RNLI Donations for Jezz

Just wanted to give a shout out to my team mate Jezz who is raising money for the RNLI. Jezz is at 62% of his target.

Check out the below link.

I am trying to convince Jezz that, as he has one of the hairiest chests known to mankind, he should shave a big 'J' into it if he meets his target!! What do you all think??

http://www.justgiving.com/Jeremy-Lovell-Davis/

Piccies from Henley Bridge Swim

Group shot, action shot of me diving in and group shot at the Flower Pot.