Lowestoft Pier to Pier Swim 2007

I don’t remember exactly when, and I am sure a glass of wine or six were involved, but I somehow agreed with Clare Cole that I would participate in the Lowestoft Pier to Pier Swim. 

The cold light of morning dawned but all was well, it turned out I was on holiday for the event. This meaning I could say “oh dear, what I pity, I would love to do it, very disappointed but…” I got back from a very good holiday to the “good news” the event had been postponed. How lucky, I could now enter.

Having never actually swum in the sea properly, I paddle occasionally, that is it, the sea is a dangerous place and not somewhere one wants to put ones face. Sue and Heather took pity on me and accompanied me into the sea two days before the event as a trial run. I lived and enjoyed the experience but the calm water at Sea Palling is not like the open water at Lowestoft. Sea Palling has sea defences between you and Belgium, Lowestoft its Zeebrugge here we come…. 

Sunday morning dawned, Darryl and the children could not talk to me, I was definitely vicious. We headed for Lowestoft with me praying that the event would once again be cancelled and the rest of the family hoping to survive the morning. The sea looked flat, I rang Clare, hoping that she had overslept and I did not have to enter. She was five minutes away, no going back, so I entered. After that it was a case of ok don’t think about it, don’t speak to me, actually don’t even look at me (I find denial always works best).

We lined up on the beach just south of the pier, 69 of us, the horn went and we were off, I was ok (Clare had agreed not to leave me), well I was until I realised how far off the shore I actually was (how come you can still smell the chips that far out?) and I could not put my face in the water, hence I now have a fantastic friction burn on the back of my neck from swimming with my head out of the water. I had to swim like this for a good 100m, then suddenly I was ok, I relaxed, I even enjoyed it and want to do it again next year and the moral of the story is (all the first timers doing Waveney this weekend please note) you might be scared and don’t want to do it, but if you overcome that fear and do it anyway, you might actually find you enjoy it.

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Article by Kerry Davis
Page created: 10th September 2007. Last updated: 14th September 2007.