1.609km every hour on the hour for 12 hours. Easy. Well it sounds easy. It’s hard.
Actually it’s dreadful. The faster you swim the longer you rest. The longer you rest the colder you get and the harder it is to get back in. This swim was as much a mental challenge as it was a physical challenge. The first few miles are fun but the swim gets harder and harder as the swim goes on and more and more people start to drop out, the harder it gets. It’s easy to quit when everyone around you is quitting. You see them packing up and going home where it’s warm and cosy. You are cold, sore, hungry and you still got another 4 miles to go. Just keep going, don’t make eye contact and don’t speak to them. Just keep going. It was a hard swim. But one which I am very proud to say that I completed.
I don’t often keep my medals. I kept that one.