It’s Christmas 2012, I’m sat in the living room trying to figure out a plan for my first year of training in 2013.

The plan was to swim a lot in my local swimming pool in the beginning until the water temperature in the sea was warm enough to venture outside. A good plan I thought, get back into swimming, regain some of my speed and then work towards achieving a six-hour sea swim in the summer. I had never swum beyond 3 hours before and but as this was the qualifying distance for a Channel solo swim, it seemed like a logical goal.

I was training 4 or 5 times a week in the evenings after work and at the weekends.

2013 Training Days

Initially I was covering no more than 2-3k in each session, and you can see below, although I was swimming frequently my monthly distance rarely exceed 60km by much.

I swam in the pool until May when I decided to enter the H2Open’s first National Open Water Ranking Series, this consisted of a number of swims in lakes around the country and I thought this would be a good way to add some intensity to my training and finally escape from the pool.

My first was a 5k at Box End in Bedfordshire on the 4th May and I was one of only a couple of skins swimmers in a crowd of rubber. I was afraid that it would be too cold for me and I even tried to sit in a cold bath at home to replicate the anticipated temperature. As it turns out my worries were unfounded, as although it was cold at about 14.5 degrees, I managed it well, even if there was a bit of shivering following my exit.

I thought I was swimming pretty fast at Box End but as it turns out I was well down the field at the finish. I only realised later that I had lost a lot of time due to the fact that I was struggling to swim in a straight line, the data from my Garmin confirmed this as the 5K swim had turned into nearly 6km for me.

Box End 5km H2Open swim statistics

Nevertheless, I took confidence from this swim and went in search of somewhere to train outside where I could practice sighting.

After a bit of online research I discovered Swimmers Beach in Dover. Freda Streeter and her team would observe and dish out regular beastings to Channel swim aspirants on a Saturday and Sunday morning. This sounded ideal as I could drive down to Dover on my own and the family did not need to worry about me swimming alone.

Swimmers Beach Dover

I swam at Dover on and off for several weekends in the summer that year, slightly in awe of those around me I went about my business and completed a number of 3-4 hour swims en route to my 6 hour swim. I also continued with the 2013 H2Open Ranking series and to my great surprise I finished third in the mens non wetsuit category.

I decided to attempt my 6 hour swim in the sea at Budleigh Beach under the watchful eye of Alan Franks aka Albie, an old friend who swam in the relay with me all those years ago and for whose Channel solo I crewed in 1994. Albie, had over the years trained and supported a number of Exmouth swimmers in their own solo swims across the Channel, and I thought it was highly likely that he would later accompany me on my attempt.

My first 6hr swim at Budleigh Beach

I remember it being a tough swim but I felt incredibly excited to have achieved my 2013 goal. Having swum over 375 km in the year, it felt like I had laid a good foundation for what was still to come.

I decided that my target for 2014 would not be the well trodden route that my friends had taken in preparation for their Channel swims, and instead of the recommended BLDSA two-way Windermere swim, I wanted to do something different. I decided I was going to swim the BLDSA Loch Lomond Championship!

Everyone except my wife Debbie thought I was mad to even consider it, the distance, the cold, the success rate and not to mention the logistics.

My mind was made up…