A group of Mid Sussex Marlins Masters were among a field of over 300 who recently took part in the 2Swim4 Life Endurance Challenge in Guildford open air lido. This year’s event has so far raised over £20,000 in aid young people with mental illness.
The Challenge is to swim a mile every hour on the hour for 24 hours. You have to stop after each mile and you can’t start your next mile until the next hour. Swimmers may either do the whole challenge (24 miles) as an individual or swim in teams. All swimmers are required to have a ‘buddy’, whose job it is to count lengths and ensure their swimmer is fed and kept warm between swims, and watching for signs of hypothermia or exhaustion. The pool heating had been turned on after the winter only the day beforehand, warming the water to around 19 degrees Celsius- well below the normal temperature for general public use.
Marlins had twelve swimmers at the event. Graham Lock swimming as a solo (24 miles) and the remainder in teams of 2 or 3 – thus swimming 12 miles or 8 miles respectively. Richard Arthur deserves thanks for his efficient and good natured organisation which got us to the start and through the event. The other swimmers taking part were: Clare Chilton, Matthew Record, Matthew Disney, Sarah Moore, Katie Chatfield, Sarah Davison, Steve Braine, Jamie Goodhead, and father and son pairing Tim & Alex Fraser.
All our swimmers were allocated to the same lane. This was a great help to morale since it meant that we could encourage each other and work together to share the load at the front and pace each other.
All the Marlins swimmers completed their mile swims in well under 30 minutes, leaving just over half an hour to dry off, feed, get warm and swim again. On paper, it doesn’t sound that difficult, even though the distance is longer than swimming the English Channel. However Graham Lock, who has done both, ranked this swim on a par with his Channel crossing in the way it challenged the extent of one’s physical and mental endurance. The repeated re-immersion in cold water before the body had recovered its core temperature from the previous swim caused a cumulative chilling impact throughout the 24 hours. This is exacerbated by sleep deprivation. The key to success is keeping warm and replenishing energy levels between swims throughout the 24 hours.
This year’s event was blessed with sunshine during the day which helped keep up body temperature and morale. Conversely, the clear sky caused the air temperature to drop to single digits after dark, which greatly increased the difficulty- by this stage we had been swimming for 12 hours but were still only half way through! This was where the camaraderie and support between the Marlins swimmers was key to getting through. Having a towel handy for one’s buddy as soon as he/she emerged from the water or handing him a hot drink were vital- as was the shelter of “Team HQ” ie a large tent where the group could sit and rest between swims and which mitigated some of the worst of the cold at night.
There is no denying that this event encourages bizarre behaviour. Repeatedly immersing oneself in cold water, stripping naked in the middle of the night to change costumes in front of total strangers (who were all doing the same since they were equally tired and cold and beyond caring); eating vast quantities of strange foods in every hour, and being prepared to wear absolutely anything which might provide extra warmth no matter what the appearance – none of these would be called normal. Nevertheless there is a strange attraction which brings swimmers back to this event after swearing “never again”!
Anyone wishing to donate to the 2 Swim4 Life charity can still do so here.
