Thank you so much for visiting my JustGiving page. 

I swam in the Great North Swim on the 12th September this year in aid of the NSPCC.

I have been amazed by the generosity of the donations received online and I can't thank you all enough.  For those who are looking at the site for the first time, donations will still be accepted post event and up to early December. For those that have pledged money then this is the time to donate.

Quite why I chose to swim at 10.30am on the first day I will never know.  It meant a ridiculously early start from Newcastle in the knowledge that I was supposed to be there 2 hours prior.  Having taken a wrong turn somewhere on route it was more like only an hour in the end. Not good for the nerves!  Parking was manic as usual and I was lucky to find a spot about a miles walk away.  

Having said that I would do a good warm up this time round, my ideas were dashed this year.  Having changed into my wetsuit and found someone kind to force the zip shut I proceeded to the "chip" area.  This was not a last minute resignation to fast food but to test the computer timing chip attached to my ankle. Once beyond that I heard the following shout - "30 seconds left to warm up!".  A quick dismissal of a pair of hotel slippers and a dash into the water -a splash about was the sum total of warm up.  Competitors were then ushered out of the water to take their places behind the start rope. This was still a full 10 minutes prior to my start time so based on my previous years experience the organisers had pulled everything forward in respect of warm ups which took most by surprise. 

Overall, It was much better organised this year and they even had walk through showers. Not that I found one until after I had finished and changed!  They may have been there last year as well but I didn't see them at all then! There were  masses of people at the start and finish - all enjoying the fine weather, food, stalls and rather a great deal of swimming.  Observation points were limited and as there was no half way exit from the water this year prior to the turn around.  It was nigh on impossible to recognise any swimmers by cap numbers and in the wetsuits they all looked the same!  The beach area was a popular choice for viewing and a drums troop was beating as encouragement to the swimmers.  Not that I heard them though! 

My finishing time was 27 Mins 22 secs which bettered last years by 46 seconds. The conditions were perfect - just the direction was a bit off!   Final position was 230th male,  332nd overall (male and females), 16th for my gender combining my age band being 45-49 years and 20th by age band (males and females combined) out of 4451 swimmers.

Full results can be found on http://www.greatswim.org/GNS/results.html  You can look at any competitor that you know and filter by all sorts of criteria if you wish.

I am sure I will try again and attempt to get into the 25-26 minute bracket but will need to do a load more training to get there.  A time of 25 minutes would have placed me 4th but that is a big ask! 

Many thanks for your support once again.

Alastair Ruffman

Tel 0191 2847271

Norseman Travel Ltd. 157 Kenton Road, Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne,

NE3 4NQDonating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: NSPCC gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.