Conquering Windermere:
15th August 2014
12 months ago myself
and Tony Mellett uttered the
words 'Let's swim Windermere'. We got a team together and began plotting......
Early on we approached
Ben Jaques with a ‘selfish little proposal’.
We wanted to reccy the lake by row boat to find out just how in the heck
these things are accomplished. It didn’t
take too much arm twisting for him to agree to being a guinea pig, swimming the
10.5 mile length solo while we supported him and sized up exactly what we were
letting ourselves in for.
Next we needed a team
and the concept of ‘rowers and throwers’ was born. The former to man our support craft and the
latter to look after our nutritional needs and monitor our condition in the
water. Meetings were held. And by meetings I mean banter-filled
barbeques to discuss logistics and resources (hic). Ben’s reccy swim was scheduled for 28th
June and myself and Tony’s attempts for the weekend of 16th
August. The Lake Wardens were consulted
who, by all accounts, proved to be very approachable and accommodating, highlighting
the necessary hazards of the lake.
Rowboats were secured for both weekends and soon enough our support
teams held their hands up and committed to escorting the swims. Myself and Tony had a training plan which
involved notching up to the distance by taking part in the BLDSA 9-mile
Champion of Champions series in Dover Harbour in mid-June, followed by a 2-way
crossing of Lake Bala in mid-July. Surely
that would do it??
But in the early hours
of 2nd May my mobile phone woke me from sleep and I took the
devastating news that Tony had passed away very suddenly at 10pm the previous
evening. Incomprehensible as he had
dropped me home less than an hour and a half earlier, after our usual pool
session with the Thursday Night Garons Crew.
The world and our plans ground to a halt while we mourned his loss with his
and our extended Redcaps families.
But we all agreed that
Tony’s swim plans must go ahead. And
indeed they did. Lesley Cook stepped in
to swim Champions with me. Shaun Hales,
Wouter Van Staaden and Ben Jaques provided kayak support and Vicki McFarlane
pitched up land-side to warm us up and gee us along for the gruelling affair. Tony’s wife Sarah, her daughter Sally, grand
daughter Emily and Sal’s boyfriend Stu accompanied myself and John Willis to
Wales to support our Bala swims. Ben’s
Windermere reccy was axed in favour of him taking Tony’s place for the August
assault on England’s longest lake.
When we finally
arrived in the Lake District she seemed to be meeting all of her stereotypes,
with Hurricane Bertha doing her worst
for the weather. Light showers
interspersed with torrential downpours and high winds. But a window of opportunity seemed to be
emerging for Friday 15th August and, with the wind blowing from the
North, we decided on an early departure from Waterhead, at the top end of
Windermere. Considering how abysmal the
weather was in the days leading up to the swim, and indeed those that followed,
somebody was definitely looking out for us from above. 
Our proposed route was
to swim towards 10 o’clock aiming for a tiny buoy-marked island named Green
Tuft. There we would hang a left, swimming
headland-to-headland down the Western aspect and behind the islands. Just before the halfway point at Jemmy Crag
we would have to exercise caution as we crossed the chain-link car ferry. If at all possible the Lake Wardens had
advised us to go behind the ferry.
Judgement on margins of safety would be required for any attempt to
dodge it! From Jemmy Crag lake traffic
would be quieter and it would be essentially down-hill to the steamer pier at
Lakeside and a sharp left to the yellow buoys at Fell Foot which mark the end
of the lake and start of the River Leven.
I took a cheeky little
head start while Ben did his usual slow entry but it wasn’t long before he streaked
past me. HEADING IN THE WRONG
DIRECTION!!!! Everyone was shouting and
it seemed ages before somebody got through to him. A few minutes later, back on the correct
bearing, he thundered past again and his team edged away into the
distance. Bye bye Ben & Co., see you
on the other side!!
Our teams were under
instruction to feed us on the hour, every hour and we had a selection of sweet
and savoury foods to snack on, a tiny morsel at a time. For me fruit pots were an absolute
winner. Glugging down the sugar water
before scooping little chunks of peach and pineapple into my mouth while
floating on my back. And, as filthy as
it may sound, the odd handful of chicken & mushroom pot noodle was
delightful, no chewing required. Ben
opted for Helen’s homemade flapjacks and the co-op’s very own Scotch Eggs. Scotch Eggs with a twist that is, because
they weren’t actually Scotch Eggs at all but mini Chicken Kievs. An easy mistake to make but apparently the
garlic butter in the middle was deliciously molten to make swallowing them much
easier so I guess they were a success.
Behind the islands the
wind picked up and was against us for a while, the Western valleys funnelling
the prevailing Northerly back up-lake towards our start point. Fuel-stops were necessarily kept short and
sweet in this section. But just long
enough to take a phone call from Lesley Cook, enquiring as to our
progress. Nice touch Lesley and much
appreciated!! Another lovely moment
behind the islands was a surprise visit from Sarah and her family who had hired
a motor boat to come and pay a visit. In
the days leading up to the swim I had repeated a silent mantra: Get In, Switch
Off, Swim, and it took quite an effort from Team Mellett, Vicki and Shaun to
rouse my attention for a quick and surprised ‘Ahoy There!!’.
Stroking in excess of
70 per minute, Ben put in a stupendous effort and reached the chain-link
crossing in just two-and-a-half hours, timing it just right to get behind the
ferry without having to hang around. When
I approached the same point, an hour and a quarter later, the ferry was being
loaded and was nearly ready to leave.
Spurred on by Vicki, however, I got my head down and sprinted straight
in front of it, shaking with fear in the water but trusting her judgement
nonetheless. I turned around to thank
the captain with a thumbs up and was greeted with the honking of the ship’s
horn and an applause by passengers and crew as they set sail for Bowness. Again, just the kind of encouragement needed
for a swim of these proportions. In fact
most vessels out on the lake that day took the time to wave at us and cheer us
on. And Ben had an encounter with a lady
on a rock (Mermaid? Fantasy? Delirious hallucination??), who encouraged
him with the words ‘Only four miles to go!’.
Hmmmm, thanks…..
At my six hour feed I
was eager to hear if Ben had landed yet and Vicki put in a call to Sarah to
receive the news that he was into the home straights. Half an hour later he touched the yellow buoy
at Fell Foot to become ‘first man home’.
Helen was so overwhelmed at the blinding effort he had put in that she
jumped off the boat to join him in the water and pass on her
congratulations. Erm…. FULLY
CLOTHED!!!!!
A little under two
hours later, 8 hours 25 minutes after taking to the waters, it was my
turn. Catching sight of that yellow buoy
for the first time I shouted into the water ‘We’ve only gone and bloody well
done it!!’, then made the final push for home with the team shouting and waving
from the shore J
So that’s Windermere
for you. 10.5 miles, England’s longest
lake. If anybody fancies a shot at it
then it comes highly recommended and we have all the contact details and know-how
to impart. Enormous gratitude once again
to our teams, on land and on the water.
We really could not have done it without you and any time you need
support for a swim or any other stupid challenge then please do cash in your
chips!
For Tony xx
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