Cramp

The challenge was on. Swim to Rottingdean and back - Channel Swimming rules (ie. no wetsuit). And in the month of May, records were there to be broken. Conditions were perfect, a good air temperature and sea not far behind. No wind, tide in, millpond conditions. What could go wrong?

I arrived early with the intention of running widths with Joan in order to warm up for this epic swim. Glancing west I could see Pete and Hildi running towards us along the undercliff. It was all coming togethger nicely.

The first sign of problems, for me, was during the running. My legs felt very heavy and tired, and I completed only 6 widths. Joan completed an amazing 12. Soon we were joined by Hildi and Pete and we all prepared for the business of serious swimming.

There was a distinct chill in the early morning air, not that much, but discernible all the same. Hildi took the first sea temperature reading, which came out as 12C. Seemed a little on the high side to me. Pete decided to have a go, he came back with 17 - what fahrenheit? Also, there was no clear indication where Pete had taken the reading from.....

Joan first in, Pete quickly followed and provided the first manual temperature reading by declaring that the bit he was standing in was noticeably colder than the bit he had taken the temperature from. Next in was myself quickly followed by an enthusiastic Hildi. I stood in the water up to my waist, stretching my arms, and realised that this was not going to be my day. My legs still felt very heavy, and a lack of sleep was beginning to tell. (See Paul Cockburn Book of Excuses Volume 35 Part B, Section 278).

Hildi, unusually, was very quick into the water, and began swimming out to position herself for an assault on Rottingdean. I gingerly followed, still feeling very sluggish and hoping that I would shake off these aches and pains.

Hildi led the way and I followed. To begin with we had to swim out quite a way in order to round the pile of rocks just beyond the first groyne. So far, so good although Hildi was starting to get away from me and heading further out to sea.

We made good progress, although I mentally decided that I would head to the far beach and then turn back, and not push on to Rottingdean. Alex had previously stated that we probably had 30 minutes in the water although a trip to Rotters and back was likely to be in the region of 45 - so we were risking the cold by doing so.

I continued to follow although the more I did so the more my legs felt like lead, becoming more useless as I progressed. Before long I began to struggle and unfortunately succumbed to that awful dread feeling when your body does not respond correctly and you find yourself in deep water with no respite. But even so, it made more sense to me to carry on as I was, at this point, in the no man's land between Saltdean and Rottingdean. With the tide in, there was no way to get out.

And then the sharp cramping pains began in my thighs. I tried to shake them off, but they just kept coming. I assumed it was cramp and not the attentions of sharks. Not only did this make it difficult to swim, it also made it impossible to tread water. I would have to abandon the trip so looked for my options. There was a staircase carved into the sea wall which was probably possible given that there were no waves. Problem was, getting there.

I looked around and could see that Hildi and I had become seperated although she was looking in my general direction shouting a request for confirmation. The hand signal for my predicament is supposed to be an arm extended into the air, but I could not do that either. WIthout further debate I dragged myself in, legs now useless.

Once near the sea wall, I calmed down. Hildi was swimming quickly towards me, When she reached me I explained the problem and we agreed that it would be a good idea to head back home. Or maybe just continue to the far beach. I wasn't really sure what I would do but chose to follow Hildi back, drafting at her suggestion. Same problems for me on the return leg and I did think about getting out sooner when we reached the first beach, but I held on to the end with Hildi's encouragement.

Pete and Joan completed their swims without any real incident, although Pete also confirmed he had suffered cramp in his calf muscles. We were in the water 29 minutes, so the day was not a total loss. Legs muscle so sore afterwards that I unusually opted to get the bus to work rather than cycle. Moral of the story, if it doesn't feel right, don't do it.

Another day at SSF. Going to take a few days off to rest up. See you next Wednesday.