The Run Up to Windermere: Getting back in.

“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.” ― Maya Angelou

Friday 16th August 2019

Recently I had a chat with one of my friends who used to swim regularly as a youngster. Louise wanted to get back into swimming, in particular open water swimming. Louise often got into the pool at her gym, it was mostly with the kids. I wanted this to be about her and the experience she was going to have whilst swimming. 

It was a little difficult working out a day which suited a working mum and finding a location which was actually open had its challenges. Most organised locations aren’t open all the time and Louise couldn’t just drop everything to pop off for a swim. I gave Andark a ring, they kindly made it possible for us to swim on a Friday morning outside of normal swimming times. 

I’ve known Louise and her husband for many years, I first met her at Headley Court whilst I was rehabilitating there, Louise worked there as an officer in the Royal Air Force. 

Along with her husband we’ve all rode on charitable cycling events raising money for service charities. 

Louise drove to my house, then we made the short journey to Andark Lake. When we arrived I was a bit worried they had forgotten we were coming, everything seemed locked up. All was well, luckily we had the lake to ourselves. After getting changed we heard for the water, the recent rain had made it a little cooler, but it was fine for me to swim without a wetsuit on. This wasn’t about distance or getting our heads down to smash out loops, we swam and chatted nonsense for around thirty minutes, it was a perfect swim. This was all about getting in the water and enjoying the moment.