Obviously it helps when your friends are equally as bonkers as you and you’re all staying on the same caravan park, within a stones throw from each other – it can only mean one thing – lots of fun!
I was expecting it to be a weekend of fun and laughs, with a killer, exhausting 10km swim in the middle.
I tend to enter these long, marathon-esque things to challenge myself. I usually enter them every few years, after I’ve forgotten the pain of the training and completing the damn thing. I often end up hating the activity for a while after the event and never want to participate in anything ever again – hence the reason for entering stuff every few years!!
The run up to the Barmouth Hurly Burly was no different. I trained, and trained – tried to follow a training plan, but never quite got up to the 8km I was aiming for. I also did a training swim in Lake Bala – which, if you’ve never been, can sometimes be like a washing machine on full spin!! Two and half hours swimming in that was not fun! This was 2 weeks before the Hurly Burly, which planted all the seeds of doubt in my mind that I was probably going to need to be brought in by the safety boats – which would mean (in my mind) I failed!
So, as you can see – the weekend, in my mind, was going to be some fun times with great friends and a failed 10km swim in the middle, then I would probably end up hating swimming forever.
That could not have been further from the truth! To be fair, I know, once I get into a rhythm I can swim and swim and swim – but we only had a small window of opportunity (as the safety briefing guy kept reminding us) to go with the tide, before it turned and went back out. If that happens there’s no way you can swim against it, it’s that strong. Needless to say, my nerves were on edge, I was worried about everything.
At the briefing and registration there was a big map of the route showing where we needed to aim for, when to turn left and right, where feed stations were etc – which amplified my nervousness!! I’m used to swimming from one bright yellow buoy to another – I’m not used to navigating my way down an estuary. There was absolutely no need to worry! The number of safety kayaks, paddle boarders, jet ski’s out on the water guiding us along was amazing. At no point did I ever feel lost, or like I was going the wrong way – we were constantly guided.
The feed station came up in what seemed like no time at all – however, the tide was that strong we whizzed straight past it!! Thankfully there were kayaks further upstream with drinking water. I only needed drinking water, as I'd stuffed my face with caffeine blocks at the beginning, so energy was not a problem!! The estuary did get colder the more in land we got, I had bought a new base layer to go under my wetsuit and I’m glad I did! Towards the end I was shivering whilst I was swimming, but I could see the finish line and I didn’t care – I was not stopping now!
The finish line was a big white pub - The George III Hotel! What better landmark to aim for! Before I knew it we’d finished – it was over, I’d swam 10km (albeit with some tidal help), but I had thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. The view down the estuary as we were swimming along was beautiful, the sky was blue and the atmosphere was terrific. There wasn’t one thing I would change (except there was no medal at the end – we did get a towel/scarf type thing, but I always prefer bling!)
I actually got out of the water and wanted to do it all over again! That is a first for me! We did spend quite a long time to get to the warming tents – around about 10 minutes in a bottle neck of swimmers shivering away was possibly not the best way to finish, but in all honesty I was buzzing so much from the swim I kind of didn’t notice how cold I was – it was only when someone spilt hot chocolate on my bare feet and I couldn’t actually feel it I realised I must be pretty cold.
That said, my trusty base layer must’ve helped, as once I was in the warming tent I defrosted almost immediately - no white fingers or toes that I'm used to having.
It’s really hard to describe how brilliant the whole event is. This 'review' of mine is a condensed version because I could waffle on for ages about each element - from the first taste of the salty water, to slipping on the mud getting out at the end!! All I can suggest is that you’ll just have to try it for yourself next year – and I'll probably see you there?!
For more info about entries to Barmouth Hurly Burly, and other fantastic swims - visit the Outdoor Swimming Society website
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