An afternoon out in Crawley

In a fit of enthusiasm/madness earlier this year, I entered the SE regionals 1500m long course event at the K2 in Crawley. Madness because I rarely compete in the pool and I hadn’t swum a 1500m in anger for years. But after a good consistent period of club training and with the open water season on the horizon, it seemed a good way to see where I was swimming-wise.

My entry time was from three years ago, and quite a lot has happened since then, so I guessed I would struggle to match that. As I struggled into my now ancient race suit, I persuaded myself that I should just enjoy the luxury of swimming 1500m in a 50m pool with a lane to myself.

In fact I was reasonably pleased with my swim - I did not disgrace myself, did not come last in my heat, and immediately afterwards was wondering when I could do it again! I also got to see Laura swim an impressive PB two heats later.

If you enjoy swim training but have not given racing a go for a while, why not enter an event? Laura and Becca would be able to advise on which competitions would be good for a low key start. Go on, give it a go!