Just over a week ago I got some good news…. The lake that I had been using for open water swimming for the last few months was going to open back up (albeit with some changes to compensate for COVID-19). I booked as soon as I could!
I swim at Lenches lake which is around 6 miles outside of Evesham. I’d regularly gone once a week during the winter season whereby the water temperature was typically just a couple of degrees Celsius over freezing. I was looking forward to getting in to a lukewarm lake.
On arrival there were a couple of significant changes:
- You have to get changed by your car exposed to the elements to avoid having to use the clubhouse
- You must wear a glove (or gloves) to get in and out of the lake
My wet-suit felt a bit tighter across my chest than it had done prior to lock-down. I feel this was down to lack of wear rather than any significant weight gain. My plan was to use the session to get comfortable with being in the open water again, and to gently get the muscles firing.
It was a tiring session! The water was 14 degrees Celsius so a really good temperature, conditions were grey, windy and wet. It was genuinely warmer in the lake! After about 25 mins I was already feeling tired in my upper body – it’s going to take some time to build the swimming muscles back up after the past 3 months!
