5/7/10 - Update!

Saturday was the big day for the COOWS - glorious sunshine greeted us at the crack of sparrows when we arrived, letting the pre-race nerves sink in and checking out the course before our 7:30am briefing.  We then suited up, ready to go - and hit the water for our floating start.  The water was the perfect temperature at 14.7 degrees - not too hot, not too cold - just like baby bear's porridge!  Then we were off and racing after a prompt toot of the fog horn at 9am.  There were over 140 swimmers taking part in the event over three waves - there were just over 50 in ours.

During the race we faced some choppy wash from the boats leaving/entering the harbour; difficulty sighting the marker buoys because of the glaring sunshine; a few competitors flailing arms and legs catching blows to our bodies; saltwater and wetsuit combo burns; severe cramping; slight sunburn - just the sacrifice true athletes pay for the love of their sport and the thrill of the race!!

So we each completed our Blue Mile, with Cat coming in 8th in our wave, Zoe 16th and Sarah 20th; Cat was 59th overall, Zoe 80th and Sarah 91st.  Not too bad for our first event - more training now for the Great Swim series!

A huge thanks to all those who have supported us thus far, and especially to everyone who sponsored us with much needed funds towards the important work that WWF do to conserve and protect our beautiful marine environment that we all love to play in.

Donations will be accepted for a few weeks yet, so if anyone would like to sponsor us, even though we have now completed the race, contributions will still be most gratefully received and will help us reach our target of £250.

 

 

 

Yes you read that right - COOWS.  Not a typo.  Not some weird genetic throwback of the bovine species, but the Cotswold Outdoor Open Water Swim team, or COOWS for short.  Particularly apt, some may say, for three girls working at Cotswold Outdoor head office!

 

We have decided to do a series of one mile swims this year, and the Blue Mile is the first!  COOWS are swimming one mile from the waterfront at Plymouth on 3rd July 2010 in a race for the environment.  We are raising money for WWF, the conservation charity that believes in a future where people and nature thrive.  We want to raise enough money to make a difference in order to help conserve the marine environment we each love to play in!

 

We have been training in Lake 32 at Cotswold Water Park, braving icy water, a plethora of weed (which makes for classic comedy moments when entangled) and duck poo...  More pictures and training anecdotes to follow!

 

We have already been supported by Orca, who very kindly donated a Project Kaisei (www.projectkaisei.org) wetsuit to each of us in order to raise awareness for the 'plastic vortex' where plastic and other waste materials in the ocean threaten to kill marine life and enter our (and their!) food chain.

 

But we would really love your support - any contribution is most welcome, no matter how small, and you will be donating to the COOWS team, rather than us badgering you as individuals!  Our aim is to raise at least £250, which could pay towards enabling survey work on Hebridean Whale and Dolphins to be carried out and support their protection.

 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.  Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.  Wish us luck!