Race Report: Zone 3 Coniston Epic Swim 2012
Created On: 29 May 2012
The sun shone and the lake was chilly, but overall everyone had
a great day and went home happy!
One week ago we were concerned whether the event would be
possible due to cold weather and water temperature then we were
blessed with a great week and everything changed. A water
temperature reading was taken on Wednesday and it looks great at
13.5-14 degrees, based on that we were all go! Saturday arrived and
the Epic team swam the 3.8k course to check out the conditions and
there had been a noticeable drop in temp. The strong Northern wind
was creating quite a 'chop' on the lake which was washing the top
foot of water along the lake and washing away with it, the 13.5-14
degrees.
The forecast for Sunday was calm and at 8:00am we hopped in to
the flat waters for a test swim and even at that early hour, the
sun had warmed the water.. smiles all round and we were ready to
go. We decided against tradition not to run the 'head shoulders
knees and toes' warm up for 500m swimmers, preferring to get them
started as soon as possible. As they exited the water there were
several complaints about the distinct lack of communal singing,
with a few people exclaiming that they had entered largely for the
singing.
For the 3.8k and 1 mile swims communal singing was very much
back on the menu and the voices rang out so clearly across the lake
that I momentarily considered a Britain's Got Talent entry.. 'Only
Men Allowed' were great (although admittedly they were just a big
choir) and the ladies who mad the final with their synchronised
swimming act must also be applauded, but putting them both
together?
There are too many stories to list from the weekend and past
events so I'll just pick one. Congratulations to Jeniffer Hunter,
pictured front 2nd right, who overcame several significantly
obstacles to enter her 1st open water swim. Unfortunately the trip
from Glasgow took a little longer than expected and she missed the
500m start time. Undeterred she then swapped to the mile and
completed the first 800m loop, proving the point to herself and to
those supporting. That officially makes you an open water swimmer..
well done to all.
For the next instalment of our Zone 3 Epic Lakes Series we move
to Derwent Water on June 17th, before the finale at Ullswater, 15th
July. Don't forget the Morecambe Bay Mile Swim, August 5th. We hope
to see you all there, enjoy the rest of the good weather!
Did you race this event? Rate it HERE
Results:
500m
1.6km
3.8km
Tags: news,swim,epicevents,racereport
