My confidence has been getting the better of me lately (it has a habit of doing that) and I have been worrying about whether I am ready to take on this challenge.

So I thought I would take the time to stop a minute and look back to where I started as this is probably the best way to appreciate just how far I have come.

I have (had) many fears and phobias about open water swimming but have never taken the time to write them all down until now.

So in no particular order, things that scare me about open water swimming:

• Fast currents (for obvious reasons)
• Cold water
• Dark water (because things may be hiding in there)
• Deep water (see dark water)
• Shallow water (because it’s too easy spot ‘things’ in there)
• Smelly water
• Small fish (there is a slim possibility that one could get lodged in your nostril)
• Big Fish (yes, Whales have been spotted in The Thames)
• Weeds (slimy, sinister looking tangly things)
• Floating branches
• Ducks
• Insects
• Otters (a few of the River Dart 10k folk like to mention the otters that accompany them)
• Jelly Fish (ok well unlikely to find them in the River Thames but you never know)
• Getting in the way of other swimmers
• Having to put on/wear/remove a wetsuit (wetsuits in general)
• Leaky Goggles
• Wrinkly fingers and toes
• Swallowing water (lake and river water tastes grim)
• Critters in general (snakes, rats, voles, canoeists 😉 )

So there you have it. A list of the reasons why swimming in open water scares me. Despite all of the above though I am plodding on and facing my fears.

What I have discovered though is that pretty much every open water swimmer you meet has (or once had) the same fears (well maybe not ALL of them at the same time).