Last weekend was our first meet up with The Henley Swim team, Becky & Juliet who have been championing us from the very start of this challenge. We also got some great coaching from Ian & Emma Keys at Queenford Lakes in Oxfordshire.

It was great to finally meet (most) of the girls, poor Jill had to pull out the night before, get well soon! We arrived at 8am to be handed an amazing goodie bag from the sponsors; a ‘This Girl Can’ Dry Robe, a Zone 3 Wetsuit, Zoggs Thermal (who knew!) Swimming costume, a Swim Secure Tow Float, a Swim Hat , and a smart Selkie bag to keep it all in.

It was like Christmas opening up all our goodies and trying them on for size, knowing that now we had the best possible kit to complete this challenge.

The wetsuit fitting….ah yes, trying to get a wetsuit on in the best of times is ‘such fun’ but a swimming wetsuit….that’s tricky! There is a knack to it, I invested in one last winter as I cannot swim skins, nowhere near as good or as technical as the Zone3 ones, but I have had some experience of the required Wetsuit Dance! The trick I’ve found is you need to turn the wetsuit inside-out and start right down at the ankles, only pulling the inside of the wetsuit to prevent damage. A few size changes later we were ready to get in the water

Our coaches were Ian & Emma, who took us through some of the safety aspects of the lake and cold water. I have lived by the sea for the past few decades and have also been involved in search & rescue flying in my previous career. So, even if it’s inland water it’s still water and carries risks so it is important to garner the local knowledge.

We were swimming in a cordoned off area with the coaches on paddle boards. I admit to thinking that because the water was a balmy 15 degrees, it would be fine. How wrong I was, it took me quite a while to acclimatise to the water temperature, and made me realise that when we were flying over water in the military we would not wear our dry-suits when the water temperature reached 15 degrees. I was always so keen to not wear it as soon as the temperature was ‘warm enough’ but actually I would have really struggled had the worst happened and I ditched into the sea.

Emma & Ian were great, offering up advice & tips where required and general encouragement at the beginning when I was slow to get going! I spoke to Emma about my ‘floaty legs’ and learnt that actually it was ok they were sometimes just there for the ride. Apparently, there’s not much propulsion that comes from the legs and it’s more about balancing the body, great!

Emma then paddled next to me to have a good look at my technique. On my course with Help For Heroes I had been taught the Total Immersion technique, and it felt I had learnt to swim all over again. Much less effort required, but quite technical, and it turns out I am rotating a little too much in the hips, so something to work on technique wise.

We did 3 laps of the area, at which point I knew it was time for me to get out. Yes, I could have continued fitness-wise, but I struggle with the cold and knew my warning signs that I was getting cold.

Time to warm up in the Dry Robe….Amazing! It wasn’t so much about the instant warmth more the sustained insulation whilst getting changed. Once changed we all grabbed a cup of tea and had a lovely chat at the cafe. An opportunity to get to know each other a little more and buoyed by the success of the day, ready to hit the training again for the big event in a few months.

(All photos above shamelessly borrowed from the official photos as I forgot to take any!)