The Run Up to Windermere: Ellingham Lake

It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us; in joy we face the storm and defy it. - Amelia Barr

I should mention why I was putting all this effort into my open water swimming. The previous year I had taken part in the Windermere One Way. Which is an eleven mile swim from the south to north up Lake Windermere. Our support team had really pulled it out of the bag for us. The work they put in helping the swimmers throughout the event. One person, in particular, stands out. Mark Airey who works for Help for Heroes at their Catterick recovery centre. I’ve known Mark for many years. He worked at Headley Court as a Rehabilitation Instructor whilst there recovering. This man has helped so many of us over the years, so I wanted Mark to do something for him. I asked him if he would swim with me this year, he jumped at the idea. This meant we all had to get in the water to knock up the milage. We had twenty-three days until Windermere One Way. 

I was up super early this morning, I was greeted by a very windy start. After checking that the lake would be open with this unseasonal weather, it was open. I headed off knowing I would be getting a good swim in.

Ellingham is the closest lake to me, with long-distance loops which I enjoy. Set in the heart of the New Forest near Fordingbridge, its a beautiful location. The staff are helpful, friendly and always remember your name. I turned up after six o’clock in the morning, there weren’t that many cars, the weather must have kept them away. 

After clocking in, paying my swim fee, I walked down to the ‘my spot’ to get changed. The rain concerned me a little, I brought a dry bag to put my legs in, they rain wouldn’t have been kind to my expensive prosthetic legs. The clouds didn’t look like they would open up, just to be sure I stowed all my kit to make sure it wouldn’t get wet. 

As I bum shuffled into the water, I thought it might be a little cooler, to my surprise the rain hadn’t really effected it as far as I could tell. It was still around the nineteen-degree mark. At this time of the year, I wouldn’t normally wear a wetsuit. However, I wanted to test my new shorty wetsuit out. I had recently bought one to free my arms and shoulders up fro the constriction of a normal wetsuit. 

Getting in I never really set myself a plan about how much I’m going to swim, I prefer going with the flow. Initially, I had a vague plan to swim around four kilometres, that’s what I was aiming for anyway. The weather had changed all of our plans, the only loop open that day was the shorter four hundred metre circuit. This ended up being a blessing in disguise, the water was a little choppy, it was busier because we were all using the shorter route. Perfect conditions for Windermere. In the end, I swam just under two and a half kilometres. 

I went home content with my efforts that day in rather rough conditions.