FINAL UPDATE: Thanks so much to everyone who sponsored me and took me way over my target, I'm really grateful for all your support.
We managed the swim, although it didn't go entirely to plan, and involved a couple of unscheduled stops at harbours to take refuge from the weather on the first day. I have never swum in such choppy water before, and will be very happy never to have to do so again. I also suffered horribly from sea sickness, both whilst swimming and also whilst trying to rest on the boat on the Friday night. The wind really got up and the boat was rocking around all over the place.
However, after a sterling effort from the boys plus a back up swimmer (who had done no training, just likes to do the odd triathlon to keep fit etc) from midnight until 4am on the Friday, whilst Laura and myself got a bit of rest in the back of one of the support vehicles, we all set off again on the Saturday and had the most wonderful day. Calm, warm water, sunny conditions, very little traffic on the lake. It really couldn't have been better, and I'm happy to say that I was able to swim well and feel like I was actually making a decent contribution after all the stopping and starting of the previous day. We finally got to Geneva, swimming the last few hundred metres together, around 11.30pm, so only eight and a half hours late!! Knackered, relieved and very happy.
Thanks to all the people who worked really hard behind the scenes making food, taking turns to drive the support vehicles, drivers of the boat and people who helped the swimmers in and out of wetsuits and kept us topped up with chocolate and hot drinks. And to Pete my brother in law whose mad idea it was and who was such an amazing motivating force (and a pretty damn fine swimmer).
In addition to the money I've raised here, I also raised over £900 for my children's primary school, which is a great deal of money for a small village school.
Thanks again to everyone. And if Pete calls me with an idea next year, I'll be busy that weekend.
Gaynor x
I am taking part in a relay swim of Lake Geneva (also known as Lac Leman), the largest freshwater lake in Western Europe. It's a long crescent shaped lake - over 73km in total. The English Channel is only 35km, so we'll be swimming the equivalent of the channel twice, plus a bit more. It's also a very deep lake, 310m at it's deepest. Full of large fish...
The swim will happen during the first weekend of October, actual date dependent on the weather, and we'll set off from Villeneuve and swim to Geneva, or vice versa, depending on wind direction. There will be four of us taking part in the relay (including Pete, my brother-in-law, whose idea this was), each of us swimming about 30-45 minutes at a time, with a number of longer swims thrown in so that each member can get a decent rest at some point in the twenty four hours that we estimate it will take us. I have been in training since May, mostly long swims in local pools, but also some training sessions outdoors at Whitlingham Lake, which has been good experience. The biggest challenges will be the weather, as swimming in cold, choppy water is not pleasant, and also swimming in the dark which is something I've not done before. I am trying not to think of the creatures with sharp teeth lurking in the depths...
So why am I doing this? Well, I'd really like to raise money for the Jenny Lind Children's Department of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. They do a wonderful job and deserve all the support they can get in treating very sick children. Money raised can go towards both medical equipment and leisure items, helping to make the experience of being in hospital as good as possible for the children. As an example of what your donations will buy, £600 will fund an ear and eye examination kit, and £100 will fund a buggy used for transporting poorly toddlers and equipment.
Please do give as much as you can, it's a really worthwhile cause.
Thank you so much for your generosity. Watch this space to find out how we get on!
Gaynor
UPDATE!!
16.9.09: I have booked my flight out to Geneva, on Thursday 1st October, and at the moment the plan is to start the swim in the late afternoon of Friday 2nd. The thinking behind this is that if we can get the night swim out of the way fairly soon, we'll all feel much better about it once the sun rises on the 3rd! And then we can all have a jolly nice weekend knowing that it's all over. Well, that's the plan...
