Swimathon 2010 - Final Update

Well I did it. Just! After about 30 of the 100 lengths I started to get cramp in both calves. I decided to try and see if I could swim through it which I managed to do until about 70 lengths. Unfortunately at this point both legs ceased up and I was in a lot of pain. I tried swimming on my back which slowed me down considerably (and I was not fast to start with) but this only worked for a couple of lengths before both legs cease from groin to ankle. I was now in so much pain that given a blade (however blunt and rusty) I would have happily sawn off both my legs. After getting advice from the life guard on stretching and a few minutes pause (that seemed like lifetime) I managed to get the pain down to a level that I could just swim. By varying the speed I managed to just keep the legs from ceasing up (but still very painful) to complete the swim. The main think that kept me going was knowing that I could not face the taunting from the landlord of the Red Lion if I did not complete it.

Personally I blame the thong I was wearing as a part of a bet from Reading MAG for cutting off the blood to my legs. Graham who I borrowed it from is considerably slimmer than me.


For those of you now worried about the psychological damage that could have been inflicted on the children in the pool (let alone the adults) I need to point out I agreed to wear a thong for the duration of the swim if sponsorship passed £1000. I never ever agreed NOT to wear my shorts! So I managed to prevent any chance of arrest for indecent exposure by wearing the thong over my shorts!!!

Oh and the sponsorship. Well I am still collecting in the pledges made and still get some aditional sponsors but the current total looks like £1225 in sponsorship plus my match of £1000 making a grand total of £2225 raised.