I thought this would be as good of a time as any to venture more fully into open water swimming events and so I entered four over the summer. It’s now three down and one to go and time to reflect. Overall, it’s been fun with the best part being the conversations that I have had with other swimmers before and after the swim. I’ve been cautious in the first three by signing up for the 3k/2-mile range and I’ve made silly mistakes at each event which I can only laugh at.

First up was the Great North Swim on Lake Windermere which is a big annual event with lots of swimmers. It seems like almost everyone in my neck of the woods has done it at some point. The location for the swim with all its space easily coped with number of people so there was never a sense of it being overcrowded. It was a really well run event with impeccable organisation. On the day there was a fair amount of chop on the lake and my sighting is rubbish. On the first lap I was happily swimming with a group and decided to stay with them rather than sight as much and so managed to miss my turn as they were the 5k group. When I reached the 5k turn a steward in a canoe shouted that I was off course by about 200 meters. Not a disaster but just a slower swim time and longer swim than planned.

Next up was Canary Wharf in London run by Turner Swim. This event felt super chill. The water was placid and the number of swimmers was only around 30 per heat. Canary Wharf won’t win any beauty contests but there are remnants of an industrial past combined with endless new high rises to make it somewhat interesting. Again, the event management was brilliant and there was a friendly and encouraging atmosphere. It was a mandatory wetsuit event (a bit surprising) and my silly mistake was to put my wetsuit on backwards and head out to the start. Luckily, I realised before anyone spotted and in enough time to quickly head back to the changing rooms. The swim itself went well despite the hissing swans on the finish line that made getting out of the water an adventure.

The Dock2Dock in London celebrating its 10th anniversary was my third. This is another event with lots of swimmers but, as with the others, it was well-organised and a pleasure to take part in. It felt a bit like a village festival on the day with bands, food trucks and merch tents. My silly mistake on this one was not positioning my goggles properly and struggling over the first part of the swim with water leaking in. I kept going and avoided a panic and eventually they fell more or less into place. There was a very modest chop and my sighting was slightly improved. I’ll need that for my final swim of the summer in Turkey crossing the Dardanelles. Without getting too far ahead of myself, next year would be good to go for the 5k events.