British Gas - Great East Swim - June 22, 2104

Bring it on

Boy, had I been looking forward to this long awaited race.  Finally, I get to swim with my eldest son Mark Betts. 

Disappointingly, the Great East Swim was cancelled last year due to severe winds and Mark had been training so hard.  This year, all the training was done at the last hurdle.  Mark had gone back into semi-retirement, having trained so hard for the 2013 event, but had seriously lost his mo-jo this time round.


I forced him to join Woodham Swimming Club and insisted he stop over at our house every Monday night so I could keep an eye on his fitness levels.   As with all things, it started with great intentions but then it was "Mum, I'm gonna give it a miss tonight" and "Mum, I don't feel too good today".   I knew that if I didn't get him up to a mile continuous swimming, he would struggle out there. 

A cocky Mark - Stop worrying mum

I booked a few swims at the TRIFARM lake and the 750m loop was impossible at first.  I think he must have stopped about 10 times to roll on his back for breath.  How worried was I.  Each trip to the lake, I drummed into him to swim slow, pace himself better, but each time, we would only get a little further round the loop without stopping.   I was fearing for his life on the actual day when he would have to do it at Alton Waters.  A huge lake, much deeper, much colder and with 200 other people all flattening him!

I think on just one visit to TRIFARM we did manage to get round once with two stops?  That was his best effort.  He kept telling me not to worry, it will be alright on the night, so to speak.

Chris couldn't make this event and Sarah, Mark's girlfriend was there to support him as well as Millie.
 

Bored and tied up waiting for mum to swim.

The sun was shining, we took Millie and off we set.  Typical me kept drumming into him all the journey there of the importance on keeping to the outside and just going slow.  Yeh Yeh !!  

Just half hour into the journey, he tells me he has slept funny and has a stiff neck and in pain.  God - that's all I need.  I so wanted him to enjoy it today, so I over-dosed him on ibuprofen and told him to breath to the side that didn't hurt.  That's about as good as my medical advice gets in situations like this.


 

As always, the Great Swims are fabulously organised with a great turn-out and atmosphere.  Mark was feeling a bit better so off we went for the traditional aerobic warm up.

Our heat was one of the biggest of the day, so I insisted he keep right next to me and on the outside.  He didn't need to sight.  I would do the pacing and be his eyes for him.  Yes, I know, an over-protective mum - a tad!

I still can't believe what happened next.  He was going fast and I was panicking.  Hold back, I'm telling myself, hold back.  Nope, he kept going, kept going, and he kept going. 

And what was even more amazing was that in the final stretch when he could see the finishing post, he turned on a sprint and left me!!!!    I must say, I have
never been so proud of him as I was today.  This whole challenge started after he watched my video of the 24 hour challenge back in 2012.  Back then he was smoking, overweight and drinking far too much.  He said he was proud of his mum and I had inspired him to turn his health regime around.

Today he came in with an amazing time of 29mins 40secs and in his age group gender of 25-29, he came 32nd out of 75 and 159th out of 696, all categories/genders.   Not bad for a swimmer that doesn't swim!   Well done Mark, you did absolutely fantastic and I think if you put your mind to it, and of course, did some training, you would be amazed at the results.  You are a natural and I love you. x.  And I promise not to be the over-bearing, over-protective mum next time round.

I repeated the mile about an hour later on my own and swum it in 24.29.  I was first lady home in the +55 age group and came 28th out of 696, all categories/genders.