First (proper) swim

Down to the lake for the first time this year... on a slighty chilly, damp and grey morning, it's worth remembering it does look like this later on in the year:

Apparently 13º today. Cold enough! But a good turnout - must have been 50-60 crazy people on the decking when we started.

We got in to a chorus of assorted "oohs", "aaaaahhhs" and "brrrrrrrs", and possibly a few slightly more rude expressions. I still maintain that the best thing is to get it over with, a quick tug on the neck of the wetsuit to let all that cold water in at once rather than enduring trickles as you swim. Honest!

I decided to regress to a yellow hat for now (dropping from the faster red category I'd gone up to last year), and swam with fellow yellow Lynn. Not accounting for the break at the buoy, we did 35:20 for the whole lot -not a bad start for the season. It took at least half of the swim out to get comfortable and acclimatise, but it really wasn't too bad after that point. I even felt hot when I got out!

I had been slightly nervous that I'd find it hard to get back into lake swimming, but by the return leg, I was enjoying it just as much as last year, especially when we had a brief glimpse of sun from behind the clouds. Just need to add on another 400m, and I'm ready for the Cowman.