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Got over to Broggie on Saturday morning for my first OW swim. Met up with some of the TeamMK guys who were great and helped myself and a few other newbies in our first foray into lake swimming. Broggie is obviously really popular on a Saturday morning as the carpark got quite full with swimmers. There were probably about 10 TeamMK’ers and maybe 20 or more from Boxfit Tri Club (it’s one of their ‘home’ lakes). Many swimmers had turned up with bikes so were clearly planning on brick sessions.

First time out and the initial entry into the water wasn’t too bad. But shortly afterwards it does get quite cold on your face, and the tightness of the wetsuit can feel a little claustrophobic. I started with a few strokes, but I quickly found the sensation and experience a bit overwhelming and it was a bit like I’d completely forgotten how to swim. What was comforting was finding that the buoyancy of the wetsuit means you can easily roll onto your back and tread water without difficulty, so it’s quite easy to take a break.

We swam about 400m out to a platform by which time I’d warmed up nicely and was getting more accustomed to the sensation, it was a little off putting to see plant life below me though as we approached the platform! The swim back to the shore was much more pleasant. I’d adapted to the wetsuit which encourages a more gliding style of swimming and easily built up a rhythm. In total we probably only did about 800m but that’s by far the longest I’ve swum without touching the bottom / side etc.

All in all a really good first OW swim – I think Saturday mornings at Broggie will become a fixture, and hopefully another morning during the week too.