The December swim - Waldegrave Pool, Somerset

As I was nearing the end of my swim challenge, I decided to up the ante a little and agreed to do the last swim of this challenge without a wetsuit on. I swiftly and easily passed the £500 target. In a moment of madness, I told everyone that if I got to £750, I would do the last swim naked, wearing a pink afro and with holly leaves painted on my bottom. My friends clearly like to make me suffer, and again I sailed past the target.

On a cold, dark, Boxing Day morning, we jumped in the car at 7:45am while most people would have been sleeping off the excesses of Christmas Day, and headed up onto the Mendips to Waldegrave Pool. It felt right to be completing this challenge a year to the day when the seed of the idea for it was planted. We watched the sun rise pink over the hills, and I felt a certain sense of trepidation and excitement. More trepidation as the temperature monitor on the car refused to rise above 2 degrees.

We arrived at the swim spot, and it was totally beautiful. The water was so flat calm it looked like a sheet of glass. Cold? I don't know the exact temperature. But there was a thin layer of ice on the edge. We picked an easy spot to get in, but I was glad that it was quiet, as any car driving past could have had a great view! I waited for one car to go past, and then went for it. I had to get straight in, I knew that. Any hesitation and I would bottle it for sure. So, I got straight in and dunked up to my neck. The cold was shocking, like lots of tiny knives going into my skin. I managed about half a minute in, and then had to get out. As I stood there with my dressing gown wrapped round and the cold making my skin tingle, I felt a bit of a fraud at the short amount of time I had been in the water for. So, I dropped the robe again, and went back for a second dip! It was a little easier this time, I even managed a bit of a swim. When I got out, I nipped at my celebratory post swim dram of whisky, and felt totally exhilarated. I have a confession... I didn't paint the holly leaves on my bottom, as I found out I didn't have any green face paint. Will you forgive me?!

I have had such an amazing time completing this challenge, its cemented my love of open water swimming and I have found some really beautiful new places to swim. I can't wait for 2015 to find more lovely places to swim, although I am looking forward to getting my wetsuit back on. Above anything else, I am totally overwhelmed at the generosity of friends and some complete strangers who gave up their hard earned cash to sponsor me. As it stands at the time of writing this blog entry, I have reached £1005 in sponsorship. This is so amazing, I couldn't be happier. A HUGE thank you goes to my man who has supported me throughout, driven me to all the swims and looked after the kids as I have swum. I love the fact that my two year old now says "Look! Mummy swimming pool!" whenever we drive past a river, lake or the sea. I hope they inherit my love of open water swimming, and what a brilliant year its been.

The Lake, Trench Lane, Winterbourne, Bristol - The November swim

Today I was full of cold. And coughing. And generally quite ill. So its fair to say I wasn't exactly thrilled about the prospect of a open water swim at the end of November. My Mother said I was mad to do it. But fail the challenge? Never!

We phoned ahead to the Bristol Triathlon Centre, essentially a massive lake that had been dug out many years ago by the owner Mike (otherwise known as 'Mad Mike) As we arrived and the sense of trepidation grew slightly, our friends Sam and Mark arrived with their lovely 2 year old twin boys to cheer me on, and all sense of fear went out the window The lake was deserted, we were met by Mike, and it turns out he had come down to open up specially for me. Eccentric, extremely Bristolian, far too interested in the fact that I was possibly going to have to do my last swim naked if I exceeded my target, I liked 74 year old Mike immediately.

As the children looked on, I waded on it to the 7 degree water as quickly as I could. And it was wonderful! Cold, clean, easy swimming. Despite my cold, I managed a 20 minute swim. But its safe to say, I was glad that Mike and all the kids started feeding the fish on the way out rather than I was getting in or I might have lost my nerve They were WHOPPERS!

River Usk, Monmouthshire - The October swim

Without a doubt, my least favourite swim! Hormonal, miserable, not in the mood, I set off to throw myself in a freezing Welsh river. Those delightful summer swims seemed a long time ago. We arrived at the spot where I was meant to go in, only to be surrounded by fishermen. And I bottled it.

Sulking in the car, my challenge had seemingly hit the skids. This was the last weekend I had free, and it was seemingly impossible. Thankfully, David saved the day. Telling me he was driving home, he was actually taking a longer route home along the river for another spot to get in. And luckily he found one. It was a tricky scramble in, too strong a current for a proper swim, and a miserable cold struggle back into my clothes afterwards. But a reminder that this WAS a challenge. And challenges are not meant to be easy. A bacon sandwich healed a bit of the pain afterwards, but I felt ill for the rest of the day.

I wasn't demoralised completely as I had done it, but was left worrying whether the November swim would be even harder...

Llyn Dinas, Snowdonia - The September swim

If I had to be pushed for a favourite swim so far, this would probably be it. Firstly, it took place on my birthday. Secondly, I was surrounded by friends. And thirdly? The setting was spectacular. Absolutely, totally and utterly beautiful. I will let the pictures here speak for themselves...

Not Quite a UK county. Lake Ainsworth, Lennox Heads, New South Wales, Australia - The August Swim

In August, we were lucky enough to be invited to a family wedding over in Australia. OK, so the rules of the challenge were that it was meant to be a different county in the UK each month, but the opportunity to do the swim in another COUNTRY was too hard to resist.

I thought finding a spot over in Oz would be a doddle. Not so. Sea swims were out wherever we went as the sea was so rough. Good for surfing, not swimming. And, if the red and yellow flags are not up, then swimming is pretty risky, especially if you don't know the area. Towards the end of the trip, I was getting worried I would not find a decent spot that either a) was not going to cause me to drown or b) would not contain creatures that were likely to kill me. Then we landed in Lennox Heads. We had heard about Lake Ainsworth, a lake stained brown by the tea trees surrounding it. And when we arrived it was idyllic. The day of the swim was a beautiful, warm, blue sky day. Of course, the beach was deserted, as despite feeling like an English summer day to us, the Ozzies were in the midst of winter.

I loved this swim, the water was so clear despite its brown colour. It was like swimming in really cold tea, quite a strange yet lovely experience.

Warleigh Weir - Bath and North East Somerset - The July swim

Warleigh Weir was a local swim spot I had been meaning to swim at for ages, but had always been slightly put off due to reports that it is always super busy, especially in the summer months. But, as I was searching for a swim spot in the BANES area, this seemed like the ideal time to head there and try it out.

This was another day of being accompanied by friends, and I was joined in the water this time by our new friend Rik. As predicted, the spot was busy, but we managed to arrive early enough so that it was not packed with people. I LOVED it here, I really like river swims, they seem so peaceful compared to being tossed around in the sea. (Although sea swimming will always remain my favourite type of swim.) As I swam a few hundred feet down the river, I felt like I was the only person around for miles as the noise of all the people disappeared with my distance. And the thing that pleased me the most about this swim? I was also joined in the water by Ruby. The water was pretty cold so I admired her lack of complaints. She is only just 5 and can't yet swim without armbands so hers was just a dip, but I felt so glad to be showing her how great open water dips can feel, and I really hope she (and her 1 year old sister) is inspired to keep on dunking in the water with me as she grows older.

Talland Bay, Cornwall - The June swim

I decided to combine the June swim with a weekend away with friends camping in Cornwall. Staying just outside of Looe, we discovered a little place called Talland Bay which seemed perfect to do the swim.

The day arrived grey, and the swim was tricky. Ankle deep mud needed to trudged through to get in, and it was not my most dignified entrance! But it was also the first swim I was joined by a friend, as Leanne got in with me. Fully clothed!