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!