Return to Fell Foot - Two Way Windermere is Swum! (9 September 2019)
So this write up could start all the way back to the moment I got out of my Windermere One Way swim back in September 2017 when I said “I reckon I could do that again”, it could also cover the 465,000m which have been swum in training but I’ll keep it a bit more focused! You can always catch up on my Instagram @lakes_lidos_lanes or read the previous blog posts to follow the journey back to Fell Foot.
I entered my two weeks of taper time literally buried under a pile of tissues with a horrid head cold. I’d been on BBC Three Counties Radio for a chat about the swim on Bank Holiday Monday morning and then by 2pm I was flat out on the sofa! This stayed with me on and off throughout taper time, I managed a couple of swims but was either taking sore throat lozenges, cold and flu tablets or swigging cough medicine, this went on right up to the day before the swim – far from the best prep but it was what it was.
We arrived in the Lake District on the Saturday before the swim, I love the moment that you drive towards Windermere on the A591 and get your first glimpse of her. My husband, Charlie, was driving us so I could really take in the view and start to appreciate the enormity of what was to come.
We had a mooch around Windermere and decided to sit in the sunshine and have a cheeky small glass of wine and watch the world go by and run through the plan for the Monday because I didn’t want to think about it on the Sunday. Sunday came around and Charlie planned a day of doing things that mainly involved sat down distraction! First up we took a stroll around Bowness and he was taking a lot of interest in the boat hire options, I was sat mainly looking at how glorious the lake looked, sunny and flat and I started chatting with the lake gods hoping for the same conditions for the Monday. We then headed for the steam train at Lakeside & Haverthwaite and took the journey from Haverthwaite to Lakeside – a lovely way to spend some sitting down time and a good way of checking out Fell Foot, the start and finish of the swim.
A quick complimentary dip at the Macdonald Old England Hotel & Spa and I’m happy I can turn my arms over in the water and breath, the second point had been very much in question over the last two weeks! Back to our apartment and it was time to cook the chipolatas, spread peanut butter on sandwich thins, butter the fruit loaf and make up the shakes! Then it was time to sleep, well at least try, I was tired, I had been tired all of taper time from the cold, I wanted to sleep and the fact that I was actually woken by the 4.00am alarm suggests I must have at least been asleep at 3.59am.
Up, porridge, shower, pack the food bags, get the wetsuit half on and its time to drive to Fell Foot to meet Mel from Swim the Lakes. As we arrived Mel switched on the fairy lights on the kayak and we loaded up with food and drinks. I’m wearing my Garden House Hospice t-shirt on my head to keep my hair dry (I’m a hair dry under swim hat kind of mermaid) and we make our way to the entry point. Hat on, a hug and a kiss from Mr R and I step into the water at 06.05. It was good to be in the water and it felt ok at this point, I was excited to get started and looking forward to my return to this spot a good few hours later! As I swam through the boats, led by the fairy lights, I settled into a nice steady pace, this was certainly not a sprint and it was important not to head out too fast, I can hear my coach Mark telling me this on our last swim together.
The first 45 minutes flew by and as I spotted Mel’s paddles go up it was time to feed, straight in on the peanut butter sandwich thins washed down with some orange electrolyte drink, a quick chat about where we were, what was the next sighting point and it’s head down and off we go. This pattern continued and as we swam up the lake Charlie appeared firstly on a hotel jetty and we waved, I learnt later he was live streaming to my brother in Australia. When we stopped at Storrs Temple Charlie was there and told us that he had done the early morning interview with BBC Three Counties Radio and had got me a shout out on the Zoe Ball, Radio 2 Breakfast Show. This all spurred me on and made me inwardly smile. He shared messages from those he was in contact with, all of which helped with the head stuff.
As I swam on through the shallows, across Bowness, in front of the ferry, passed Belle Island and through the Lilies for a moment this felt never ending, and I took a moment to question why I couldn’t have just been happy to have completed one way back in 2017. I was reminded of the donations people had made, the causes I was supporting (Garden House Hospice & Above and Beyond Cancer Foundation), the training I had undertaken and the faith people had in me. As we continued in the vastness of water Mel directed me across towards Miller Ground, a little boat seemed to be making a beeline for us. I saw Mel smiling and realised that Charlie had hired a boat and joined us on the water. This lifted my waning spirits and refocused my attention. I know now that again he was streaming live to those who were watching from home and then Fiona was updating Facebook with progress. This really was a team effort.
Swimming towards Waterhead you start to tick off Miller Ground, White Cross Bay, Brockhole and Low Wood Bay before sighting on the rocks that keep the view of the YHA Ambleside at bay until the very last moment. Then there it was the beach at Waterhead, the end of one way or in fact as it was today the halfway point, the point that says time to turn around and go back. We stopped in the water for a few minutes, had some chatter with Charlie, a live link to my other brother in Canada, some hot Ribena and buttered fruit loaf, which a family of swans were also quite interested in! With many people looking on from the shoreline Mel soon encouraged me to start the return.
With music playing through my Finis Duo headphones and with the sun shining the return started well and we made good progress down the lake. Mel stops me at the buoy which marks the deepest part of the lake – at around 67m in depth I decide against trying to dive down and touch the bottom. We plough on, over and over my arms turn and with the music playing we continue to make good progress. With the Lilies in sight the sun is replaced by grey sky for awhile, and the temperature quickly starts to drop as we head towards Storrs Temple. Mel has told me that she has given Charlie our ETA and I am excited to see him. We swim on and are just about passed Storrs when he runs onto the jetty. I stop and tread water, wave and shout a message back at him. With that it’s time to keep moving and Charlie says he will see us at a jetty a bit further down. The evening sun reappears, spurring me on, we still have about 5 miles to go.
I had shortened the timing of my feeds from 45 minutes, it was good to have some contact with Mel so much as something to eat and drink. The only problem with this was that as the water seemed colder and colder every time I stopped it meant that I had to put my head back in and take that initial cold water on face feeling all over again.
We could see Charlie on a jetty and we head over, at that moment the music in my head stops and as Billy Ocean belts out “When the going gets tough” it seems like a very apt sign for what remains. With hot Ribena in hand he tells me about a woman who had heard the shout out on Zoe Ball and had been travelling up to the Lakes from Henley. Apparently they made a beeline to Waterhead to try and see me which in fact they managed to do as Charlie met her as we had set off on our return leg; how cool was that. It really lifted my spirits as did the messages of support and encouragement coming in via WhatsApp from family and friends.
With three miles still to go I realise I won’t see him until he is helping me out of the water. The sun is setting and Mel starts taking what I imagine to be very arty photos, I consider smiling and hoping she can get my good side! (Do you think you have a good side after 13 hours in the water). I know my pace has slowed, I know I am feeling the cold and now to join the fun are dusk time midges, lots of them, well there were a few less when apparently they decided that they wanted to end their lives as a protein feed for a 48 year old mad swimming lady.
And then it went dark and silent, all I could hear were my arms slapping the water and all I could see were the lights of the Lakeside Hotel and the fairy lights on the kayak and occasionally the blinding light from Mel’s head torch as she continued to ensure my safety in the water. Unbeknown to me at this time I had been accompanied on my journey by bats who were enjoying flying around this wetsuit clad human. We start to pass some boats, Fell Foot can’t be far I tell myself. I’ve been chanting family names for the last while, with each stroke, over and over reciting in my head “mum, dad, Matt, Sinead, Ewan, Drew, Nick, Sharon, Elizabeth, Abi, Me, Charlie, Natalie, Michael”. This made a welcome change from numbers and knowing that had my parents still been alive they would have been so proud helped me in what was quite literally the final dark moments.
As if from nowhere we can see a light and hear Charlie shouting encouragement, I’m nearly there but realise that sound travels quite far over water. I pick up my pace (well I think I do) because the end really is so close, I do want to actually have a little cry because I will do this but I don’t want those goggles to steam up now. I take the last few minutes to think about all the people who have got me here from Mark my coach, Karyn my PT, Clare my massage therapist, my super supportive family, my amazing encouraging friends, ever interested pool and lake swim buddies, Charlie for literally running up and down that lake all day and being there at the moments that really mattered and Mel for keeping me on track and safe all day and lifting my spirits when needed and pushing me on to the end.
And then I’m there, Charlie is guiding me to the exit point, I appear to not remember which way is left as I end this 34km/21mile swim. I sat in the water for a moment or two and started to peel off my wetsuit before I was cosseted into the warmth of my Dryrobe and back on dry land. All the thank yous I can muster to Mel and Charlie and it’s time to head back to the flat for a warm shower.
I can’t deny I was somewhat shivery for quite a while and having let people know I was “Done Alive Cold” I was soon tucked under the duvet cover willing my body to sleep. I slept, I lay awake, I rested and before I knew it Tuesday morning was upon us. I had to check in with myself that I had actually done it, but I had. I had swum Two Way Windermere; those 150ish training swims in pools and lakes had enabled me to achieve this.
Lying in bed I had a chat with Andy Bayliss on BBC Three Counties breakfast, then listened back to Charlie’s chat with him the day before and also the Radio 2 shout outs on Zoe Ball and Jo Whiley, scrolled through all the messages on social media and then spoke with Pete from Swim the Lakes. He was at that time paddling one-way Windermere supporting someone else’s great day in the water. He tells me that in parts that Lake was probably around 13-14° and certainly no more than about 16° in the warm spots, I wholeheartedly concur with him and say I was grateful to not have known this beforehand. A few more phone calls and then it was time to get up and get on, no aches, no pains, no injuries; the training has paid off.
Come join me over on Instagram to see what happens next and if you would like to support the causes I swam for and Charlie is running his first half marathon for then please follow this link. Thank you.
Liz x
Train Hard • Swim Consistently • Recover Well
