I’m surprised I haven’t swum at Capernwray Dive Centre before, especially given its reasonably close proximity. I suppose I’d previously discounted the MyTriEvents Mid Week Swims held there as it would mean a potentially manic post-work motorway dash. Nevertheless, I was looking for a final event to fit in before the end of season that didn’t clash with other races/commitments and the last Wednesday night in this series seemed to be my only option.

The prior 4-day mini-break eating and drinking plenty of fine Scottish fare (BBQ Smoked Haggis & Black Pudding Burger anybody?!), plus scoffing my weight in cheese at a buffet lunch before, were probably going to be detrimental to my performance but what the heck!

Rather disappointingly, there didn’t appear to be a particularly good turnout for the Swim-only, though the Sprint Triathlon running simultaneously was well attended. I decided to hang back a little at the start as the triathletes were only doing 500m so I assumed the pace would be a tad rich for me doing 1.5k (it wasn’t). I hoped I could get a decent tow around the first lap, however it turns out I have an annoying knack of finding clear water even when I don’t want to!

The Triathlon had the added excitement of “The Hunt” – the previous winners were invited back to start with a handicap and chase down the rest of the field. This became advantageous to me as I was able to pursue/pass someone in the first half of my second lap.

After that, I was pretty much just out there by myself really. I tried to focus on enjoying the clear, calm water but my poor preparation was biting me in the bum on the last lap. Both of which contributed to a not especially fast time – though I was 3 minutes up on the 2nd finisher.

Maybe I’ll do the full series next year. Now for another winter of pool training…