A few months ago, casually at the end of a spin class Erica had mentioned a swimming thing, I didn’t pay much attention but simply said yes and then promptly forgot all about it. Weeks later somebody mentioned this ‘mad 24 hour swim’ that Erica was doing, and I realised that it must be the same thing so I contacted Erica to get the details and signed up and finally paid some attention to the details that I should have paid some attention to long before.
A 24 hour relay swim at Shepperton lake. Teams of up to 8 would take it in hourly turns to swim for a total of 24 hours. Starting at midday on the Saturday and finishing at midday on the Sunday. It was a fund raiser for the Water Level Charity (please look up the charity it’s wonderful).
Our team of 6 met up at Erica’s a couple of days before. To have a chat about who was providing what for the camping and ‘tactics’ for the event. After lengthy discussions we decided to take a jigsaw puzzle with us.
The team was made up of Erica who feels passionately about the work that water level does, Jill and Jo who are planning to do a channel crossing in relay, myself who was trying to fit a year’s open water swim training into a single weekend, and then Harshal and Hannah who had never done open water or swum in a wetsuit (nothing like diving in at the deepend).
We met up at 9.30 on Saturday in the carpark at Shepperton and gathering the tents from Harshal and the rest of the camping gear from Jo we trouped over to the campsite. The plots weren’t big and were packed close together. I almost ran away then and there as I saw the plot next door a guitar resting on a chair. Thankfully nobody had the poor taste to try strum a cord until the final hour. We set up a couple of small tents and a gazebo and settled down to wait on folding camping chairs. The organisers came round to inform us that the start time had been pushed back an hour. There was a long queue as they struggled to complete the registration and they decided to postpone rather than compromise safety. The delay was annoying but on reflection the fact that they were so concerned with safety was a positive and the whole event did feel safe. This was the first event of this size and outdoors that Water Level had run and so it was only to be expected that there would be some minor glitches.
At 12.30 were made our way to the edge of the lake for the briefing which was taken by the organiser, Mark Fox who explained everything (none of us had actually read the induction pack except Hannah who became our go to expert for all the details).
The set up was a tent tunnel leading down to the beach which was divided into left and right sides by a rope. As a swimmer came out of the water on the right side they were signed out by a marshal. The swimmer then went out of the back of the tunnel and found their next team member and handed over a pink wrist band (as a sort of relay baton). Once they had this the new swimmer could enter the left side of the tent and be signed in by a marshal. Swimmers went round the 400 metre circuit until ten minutes before the hour, if a swimmer had started a lap they finished it, if they had not started a new lap they were guided by the safety crew in kayaks into the shore.
At the end of the briefing the announced that got the biggest reaction was that all participants would be getting a sew on badge. The biggest squeal of delight came from Hannah who spent the rest of the weekend spotting the various places and items that people had sewn badges on.
One advantage of the delayed start was that the yacht club opposite the lake was setting of fireworks for a celebration of their own. So, at 1pm to the borrowed sound of fireworks and wild cheering Erica entered the water. After piping her in we all made our way back to the tent to work on the jigsaw puzzle. (Open water swimming may have many wonderful attributes but it’s value as a spectator sport is rather limited.)
The swimmers were all shapes and sizes. There were obviously some athletic swimmers, but it was very much a mixed ability fun event. It was also great to have a significant number of disabled swimmers especially considering the work of the charity which was to fund swimming lessons for disabled children. On a not an unconnected subject just before loudly complaining that the pink band was painful on your ankle or would slip of your wrist- It might be worth having a a little look around at some of your fellow swimmers.
At quarter to 2 we dragged ourselves away from some great work on the corners and edging pieces and made our way back to the lake to clap Erica out of the water. Jill was up next and she gathered with the large crowd waiting to be signed in. The swimmers were well spread out and exited in dribs and drabs to be signed in and pass over the wrist band. This staggered entry and exit approach seemed to work well and prevented any mass starts clashes or race to the finish line. Swimmers got individual applause and cheers.
The jigsaw was going well, we’d managed to get some good runs of lettering together.
I think that we were all keen to get our first swim out of the way especially Hannah (who was following Jo) and Harshal who hadn’t done open water. We needn’t have worried as they both loved it, and I think are now firm converts.
Before my first swim I went for a bike ride (including a pasty stop) to try get some extra training in although all my good intentions for a run came to nothing, but it was alright because the team managed to crack on with the puzzle and did a lot of the pond section at the bottom of the picture.
Having got the first swim out of the way we settled into the evening session. It was a bit early to start physically falling apart but we were beginning to a few issues;
Jill had either discovered an allergy to Duck poo or had picked up some bug from the water and was feeling terrible.
Jo was in great pain with a headache and her elbow was struggling to cope with the power she put into each stroke.
Harshal was suffering as his new wetsuit was making a serious attempt to slowly decapitate him by rubbing through his neck.
My back was aching because the jigsaw puzzle was at an awkward height.
Hannah seemed continually as fresh as a daisy and amazingly cheery from start to finish so perhaps the closest she came to injury was tired cheeks from all the smiling.
Mixed view on wetsuits. Jill and Jo preferred skins (although it did mean signing an additional waver for the night swim) although they did at least one swim in wetsuit. Hannah also braved the cold and swam without a wetsuit; I think that she was keen to fully experience open water. Myself Harshal and Erica kept our suits on (well I kept my suit on, they took theirs off between swims I didn’t, after 12 hours my lower half wasn’t doing well, everything had sort of marinated and I had to take it off and risk the sensation of putting a wet wetsuit on for the final leg). I think that Harshal and Erica were keen to keep warm, but I needed to float.
After 8pm it officially became a night swim and participants were required to be illuminated, a small light on the goggles and one on a float towed by the swimmer.
The night swim was absolutely fabulous. The water looked oil black shimmering in the moon light. The buoys were draped in multi coloured illuminated hula hoops and with the swimmers coloured lights bibbing round it was magical. I like many others just put up my goggles and breaststroked, marveling in the view. Erica went even further and perhaps remembering that she had recently retired sat on the beach for the last 15 minutes of her hour glazing out across the lake (not sure if a tartan blanket and fish paste sandwiches also made a showing).
With 5 hours between swims it would appear possible to fit in some sleep before re-entering the lake but it didn’t seem work out like that. By the time you dried off and got changed it was halfway through the next swimmers turn and at quarter to we would accompany the next swimmer to the lake and clap out the exiting teammate and clap in the next one. A bit of food, a few jigsaw puzzle pieces and then it is only a couple more people before you are back into the lake. An uncomfortable doze in a chair or on the camp bed was all any of us had. The world’s loudest snorer was in a nearby tent and worst of all he must have been a team’s support person because he never seemed to wake up and actually swim so we were forced to do the jigsaw by torch light.
By the time of the early morning swims the loud crowds hanging around the changeover tunnel had dwindled to a quiet few. On their first swim team members sped up get an extra lap in before the 10 minute cut off, by the third swim you could see lots of heads slowly bobbing up and down or doing a very gentle breaststroke so they didn’t have to swim for any longer than necessary. It did mean that their incoming teammate was probably not pleased with having been left with more than an hour to swim.
I know it sounds really obvious but 24 hours (27 if you consider our arrival time) is a bl####dy long time and the arrival of Sharon and Graham was a lovely lift, sausage rolls and cakes went down a treat. Ian and Dave incorporated visiting us into their Sunday ride. The support of the rest of the club on chat and messages received was great and boost in the long night hours and we did our best to keep followers posted as to the progress of the jigsaw puzzle.
As the time approached for the final hour we, as with other teams started to pack up our camp and a few people seemed to have departed. There was a growing feeling of the thing petering out slightly anti climatically, so it was with a rather heavy heart that I prepared to do our team’s final swim. I shouldn’t have worried the crowds were back at the tent and in a party atmosphere we were clapped into the water. It was my best swim, it all just seemed to fall into place and the time flew past. When the hour was up we all made out up the beach and were held in the tunnel as the name of our team was called out and we left the tent to rapturous applause and cheering. There was a real sense of joy and sharing handshakes and hugs with such a great team was really quite moving. Mark, the organizer took to the mic and we all had the opportunity to thank the amazing volunteers from water level and all the Shepperton team that had made it possible. He also gave details of how the fundraising had gone. It stood at £92,000, but they had just had an anonymous donation of £5000 (6 with gift aid) and that we ‘were’ going to top £100,000 (on that point the team just giving page is still open). The speeches were kept short and we made our way back to the car with great big smiles.
The swimming, which I suppose the event was meant to be about (rather than the jigsaw) was sort of as you would expect, perhaps a little less frantic than a regular session and very good natured especially considering that everybody was swimming solo so you didn’t have the large training groups that are so often present. While I am sure individuals kept their own score of circuits done the absence of competition did give the event a lovely atmosphere.
I’m not sure how you would construct a perfect team to do this challenge; the right mix of enthusiasm and stoicism and experience, team dynamics etc.. I think Erica just found the only five people she knew who were mad enough to do it and available, but it worked out great and made it an absolute pleasure. It was a real bonding experience, and I would highly recommend all club members to give it a go.
