Bank Holiday weekend! Time for many things – celebrating the last of the summer holidays, braving the traffic, and – a celebratory Swim down Loch Lomond! As Mark Sheridan would say, ‘Ave it! It was in memory of the first ever solo swim of Loch Lomond by Commander Gerry Fosberg; so, not only an iconic day to remember as the first time the swim had been done, but also a celebration of the life of an open water swimming great. Cue the awesome organising federation of the British Long Distance Swimming Association (BLDSA), who came up with a master plan for the weekend, based around a relay swim to acknowledge the achievement. The rules were based loosely on the way all BLDSA swims are done, for example no touching the boat, and very specific swimsuits. Specifically though, one of the team members had to have previously done the BLDSA solo swim of the loch – held as their premier event every two years – and had to be a paid-up member. As it was a relay, logistics became a key issue as, unlike a solo challenge where the swimmer just swims from top to bottom, with the relay, we had to come back to shore at various points to swap out kayakers and swimmers. The distances of each leg varied from about 0.9 miles to 4.8 miles so lots of scope to accomodate all levels of swim abilities. Each team were required to have a shore crew to support them and also a kayaker to support the swimmer in the water.
Rewind to the latter part of last year, I had just become one of the latest Solo swimmers who make up the 63 people who have ever done this stretch of water as a Solo event under the banner of the BLDSA. I was approached by a good friend of mine, Mark Sheridan, who was trying to put together a team for this event. He asked if I would be interested in taking part in the event and if the Slimhippo would be happy to take on the role of water support – kayaking with the swimmers. I was honoured to be asked to be a very small part of an amazing team. The Team was going to include Mark Sheridan, Anna Ploszajski, Fiona Mildner and Hazel Killingbeck. With the likes of those 4, this truly looked like a dream team which begs the question, why did they invite me to be part of it? To be part of a team with a swimming pedigree like that, I jumped at the chance. Sadly Hazel had to pull out due to a family bereavement at the last minute, but fortunately yet another amazing swimmer, Corinna Bridges, stepped into the breach at the eleventh hour to fill the gap.
There were now 7 teams who would race down the loch. Each swimmer would be accompanied by a kayaker, with the rest of the team moving cars and swimmers to the next switchover point. As the distance that we would be covering would be slightly longer than the usual Solo swim, the teams would be covering about 24 miles of the Loch. As is with the Solo event, each team has to enter an approximate time that they expect to take to cover the distance. This in turn makes it a VERY long day for the organisers. The way an event like this is tackled is the slower teams start earlier and the faster teams start later. This way, all should finish at a similar time. So the first team set off at 3am in the morning and the last teams started at 8am. Our dream team was one of the last teams to set off. If you take a look at the field of swimmers, there is a lot of highly experienced swimmers who have been in the sport for years, sometimes decades. This includes the organisers who are mostly volunteers taking a break from swimming, spending their summers travelling around the country organising some of the most amazing and iconic swims in the country.
One thing you learn in life, particularly in the sport of open water swimming, is the ability to adapt to changes and become very flexible is important. Last year I had to throw the entire feeding plan out the window and make a new one whilst swimming. There is a blog on this website should you want to read more. Now Mark, Our team leader had planned things meticulously. Accomodation, team order and kayaking, who was doing land support, the works. It was going to be a great weekend. But, there is always someone who throws a spanner in the works and this year is was the time of the Hippos to mess things around. Due to a recent holiday in the States, our leave allocation and the sheer nature of our jobs saw us starting the 500 mile car journey north at 2pm – ON A FRIGGIN BANK HOLIDAY!!!!!. Well our sat nav was way out. It was saying a nice sedate 7 hour drive to Loch Lomond. Yes, you might ask why the hell we drove; well, we had the kayak that we needed for Audra to carry out her duties. Well Sat navs lie!! it was soon very apparent that we would not be arriving between 8 and 9 pm but a lot closer to midnight. So whilst on the journey up there was a need to switch things around. The Slimhippo and I were due to take on the first leg of 4.25 miles. Mark’s reasoning for this was because we had done the whole event last year so we knew the lake a bit better than any of the others. With us still in transit, with a scheduled 8 am start, it was agreed that it would probably not be worth us doing the first stretch. In my mind I had planned it this way and was happy to battle my way through the 4.25 miles. I was still happy to do it but was worried that after a 10 hour drive and 5 – 6 hours sleep, the Slimhippo might be a bit grumpy.
So it was agreed that we would sit the first leg out and take on another leg. It now turned out that I was allocated the longest stretch of closer to 5 miles. Yes it was much later in the day but I had a smaller leg of 2 miles to do before that. With 10 legs and 5 swimmers, we each had two legs to do. NOTE TO SELF. Don’t be late again!!! I was slightly wary of having to do the longer distance as I was possibly going to be the Achilles’ heel of the team with my lack of training, having trained just 12 km in the last 2 months. This change in position, however, left Fiona to take on the first leg and Mark to sit in the kayak.
Here is the brief outline of the legs of the swim
- 1. Ardlui > Inveruglas 4.25 miles
- 2. Inveruglas > Tarbet 3.76 miles
- 3. Tarbet > Firkin Point 2.45 miles
- 4. Firkin Point > Inverbeg (base camp) 2.01 miles
- 5. Inverbeg > Culag 2.08 miles
- 6. Culag > Luss 1.69 miles
- 7. Less > Aldochlay 1.46 miles
- 8. Aldochlay > Arden House 4.83 miles
- 9. Arden House > Duck Bay 0.91 miles
- 10. Duck Bay > Balloch (finish) 0.98 miles
At 7 am the next morning – on a particularly warm day for Scotland – we made our way to the start to check in with the organisers, get numbered up, prepare the amazing Fiona to swim and teach Mark which was the front of the kayak and which was the back; it is hard when both ends are pointed. Miraculously we launched him into the Loch a short time later, having survived much banter, and still dry. Needless to say there was a round of applause when he managed to leave the shore and take his first tentative strokes without capsizing. Shortly after watching this amazing event unfold, the swimmers, one each from our team and another team were under starters orders to start our adventure down Loch Lomond at 8am. The memories of exactly 365.5 days earlier came flooding back, when I was standing in the Guiness coloured water waiting for my start. I could literally recall exactly how I felt before I waded into water, not to exit it for another 11 hours 30 minutes. After watching the start, the rest of the team headed to the cars to get ready for the first change-over at Inveruglas.
Pit Crew 
Final preparations 
Does anybody know what we are doing? 
Are you sure that is the front?
As the Inveruglas stop is on the tourist trail, we should not have been surprised when we arrived to Scottish tones; a bagpiper was setting up shop for the day. He was there to entertain the bus loads of tourists who come there to view the Loch from the Inveruglas Pyramid lookout point. We left Corinna and Anna there and went back to our base to collect the paddleboard, and get it ready for anyone who wanted to go for a stand-up paddleboard. The day was turning out to be a stunner with mild temperatures and a little bit of rain in the air, but generally quite warm.
Soon it was time for the first leg swimmers to come in and it was all change. Mark relinquished his kayak to its rightful owner, the Slimhippo and the next swimmer Anna set off, with Audra beside her. This was the only leg where the heavens opened a bit, but due to Audra’s past experiences of a night on this Loch, 3 hours of it in the rain, and hypothermia in Arizona, she had invested heavily in kayak kit that was going to keep her warm and dry come hell or high water – wise! While they were out on the water, Mark, Fiona, Corinna and I were scratching our heads about logistics of kayak support. The plan was that all of us except Anna, who was tasked with moving vehichles, were going to switch with Audra giving her a break. It was turning out to be quite a big brain teaser as we did not want to end up in a situation where you either kayaked then swam back to back or vice versa. We need not have worried. The Slimhippo was an absolute star, kayaking 16 miles of the overall 24. After the brief downpour, the heavens cleared leaving a glorious day and the temperature rose to a tropical 23 degrees.
The rest of the day progressed without a hitch, with cars being moved, swimmers switched out and the entire team working perfectly to get us to the half way point ahead of time. There was only one minor hiccup where Corinna arrived to the switch over point but somehow her kit had not made it from one change-over to the next. Thanks to the amazing organisers, she was soon reunited with her kit. Then it was time for me to take on the 2 mile stretch – it felt good. The biggest leg came around really quickly – which I really was not looking forward to. The Hippos teamed up and it felt good to be a team again with me in the water and the Slimhippo in the kayak. As this was the longest leg, I did not have a Paddleboarder for support, but as one of the teams who had started last, we were now in 4th place having overtaken 2 other teams that had started ahead of us.
In my head, all I needed was 2 hours and 15 minutes of focus to get me through this stretch. Knowing that I had swum the entire length of this Loch gave me some comfort but I was still wary and did not want to let the team down. The water was black. One thing you realise when you are in or on the Loch, is that due to the depth and also the peat that runs off into it, it is virtually black. When I was kayaking earlier, I was amazed that when I just sat the black paddle on the surface of the water, there was no colour difference. But now I was in the water; I put my head down, and swam. I soon overtook the team who had left about 500m ahead of me. We then went out into the middle and headed down to the next headland. After about an hour I came up on the next team ahead of us and gave them a wide berth as we passed them. I stopped a while to experience the amazing views from the water and watch a sea-plane come in to land. My focus was waning, my mind was speeding towards usual rudderless, unfocused norm, someting I fight tirelessly to overcome in all parts of my life, not only swimmming. I was stopping more often now to adjust my goggles, hat and check my watch. At one of these stops, Audra pointed out another team, possibly about 400 -500m ahead of us. I could also clearly see the headland that protected our next change-over point. Seeing that swimmer and the headland gave me a new, sorely needed boost to my focus. New Goal! To overtake that team and put us in the lead before we got to the change-over. The next hour of swimming was possibly the best swim I have had in about the last year; I just kept my head down and gave it my all. Coming into the harbour to the change over, I was in hunting mode, the team ahead was now my prey and I was NOT going to lose this battle. weaving amoungst the anchored boats to get to the change over and in the last 100m I overtook the other team. My job was done, I had gotten us into the lead. My time for that leg was 1 hour 56 minutes. After tagging in the next swimmmer, I waited in the water to congratulate the swimmer that I had overtaken.
We were now onto the penultimate leg with just over 2 miles to the finish line. For the last two swims, the paddle board came out and now the swimmer had the slimhippo in the kayak and Corinna on the paddle board supporting them. I was back in the car and very soon we were at Duck bay for the final change over. Mark who had been team leader had assigned himself the terrible job of swimming the least amount and this final leg. I think he wanted to have the energy to Run up the beach at the end putting on his best Daniel Craig impression. I travelled to the end to watch them in and very soon, we could see Audra, Mark and Corinna getting close to the finish. Now it dawned on me that My Solo time was in jeopardy of being beaten! and we had swum about 3 miles more due to hugging the shore.
After 11 hours and 29 minutes Mark Walked up the beach, beating my solo swim time by two minutes. So bathed in the setting sun, the dream team gathered and had some celebratory prosecco. The last time I had set foot on that beach had been exactly 365 days 12 hours and 29 minutes previously, when I walked up that same beach looking a lot worse for ware after completeing the solo in 11 hours 31 minutes to win the event. Apart from the similarity in time, there was one other similarity and that was pointed out by one of the officials Amanda Bell, who reminded me that in the final throws of my solo swim the previous year,I had passed her in the last couple of hundred metres to win the event overall.
It took another 1 hour and 30 minutes for the rest of the teams to finish the event and the final results were as follows
- First team 11 hours 29 minutes
- Second team 12 hours 59 minutes
- Third team 14 hours 52 minutes
- Fourth Team 15 hours 43 minutes
- Fifth team 16 hours 7 minutes
- Sixth team 16 hours 43 minutes
- Seventh team 17 hours
It had been an awesome day and the Sun had shone for most of it, except the patch that Audra kayaked, The Weather gods must have known that she had spent a small fortune on Kayak kit and was just itching to test it all out so it had dutifully provided a nice little downpour JUST for the slimhippo. Or maybe, she is a Weather God! It is known fact amoungst her family that wherever Audra goes, weather changes will shortly follow. This can be a blessing and curse for all of us. On our most recent trip to America for a wedding, Pennsylvania was in the grips of a pretty severe heat wave. The Family summised that this was not a problem because Audra was on her way. Just hours after Audra arrived, its grip was relinqhished bringing the teperatures down by about 8 degrees so the Temperature on the day of the wedding was at least bearable.
So near on exactly a year apart I had won the solo event and now had been a very small part of the winning team in this relay event on the same stretch of water. Two Very different ways to swim Loch lomond. one during the day and one overnight. I know which one I prefer!! If they do this event again I will definitely be putting my own team together. it is a superb way to introduce new people to the wanders of this amazing sport as there are legs to suit all capabilities out there from the hardened Ultra distance swimmer to the novices who are just getting to know the joys of the sport.
Prize giving
As the final swimmers finished at about 9pm in the evening, there was not alot of time to have a prize giving so the following day, One of the teams who owns and runs self catering cottages on One of the bigger Islands, Inchmurrin; Invited all of us for lunch on the island and to have the prizegiving ceremony. So at midday on Sunday we all gathered at Burnfoot and took the Ferry across to the island where we spent the day catching up with the rest of the teams, learning about Commander Gerry Fosset and for the winning team to collect their comemorative coasters. Scotland was basking in what seemed to be the hottest day for the last umteen years so it was always obvious where most of the swimmers would end up, Back in the loch and to my total amazement, even the slimhippo decided to join us all in the loch for a wallow. This is probably the coldest water that she has ever willingly swum in and I think she actually enjoyed it.
It was then back to our cottage on the edge of the loch to have a BBQ on the beach, Joined by some of the other teams that were staying on in the same holiday park as us. It was a stunning way to end a great weekend, the only thing that remained was to wake up early and head on our various ways. Mark off to the Airport, Anna, Fiona and Corinna off in Alan – (Annas Van) and for the Hippos to start the 10 hour drive back down south.
One thing that remains is to thank the BLDSA for organising this event. It is a great event and a lovely way to experience the loch and its surroundings. A big thanks must also go to all the volunteers for giving up their time on a Bank holiday weekend to watch over a bunch of mad swimmers sedately making their way down the loch. I do hope that they will be organising this event again.
Great reading as always