Over the last few years Team Mermaids have participated in the Swimathon and it is now starting to feel like the opening event of the season. While it can often be several more weeks before we actually race again it feels good (if somewhat scary) after a winter full of interval training to get in the pool and swim continuously for 5km.
As we did in 2015 we decided to swim on Friday night at Chelsea Sports Centre just off the Kings Road. This proved to be a good choice again. The session was nice and quiet and Kate, Manda and I (Katie) ended up having a lane to ourselves. The staff at Chelsea are also lovely and remembered us from last year, which meant we got extra snacks at the end.
This year Sports Relief were trying to drum up a bit of competitive spirit before the event and allocated everyone a team colour. The idea was that the teams would compete for who raised the most money, who had the most supporters and other things. I was #teamgreenswim, Manda was #teamyellowswim and Kate was #teamwhiteswim. Our teams were then meant to correspond to the colour of our hats on the day of the event. Unfortunately this year the hats were TINY. I could barely fit is over two-thirds of my hair and even then I looked like Shrek with my ears popping out the side. I therefore had to wear my own #teammermaids hat!
When I swum in 2015 baby Max was just 10 weeks old and it took all the effort I had to drag myself through the 5km finish in 1.26.11. Manda however zipped past me every 500m to speed home in 1.16.28.
In 2016, however, our situations were sort of reversed with Manda due to have her baby in 10 weeks’ time and me FINALLY back to where I was before having Max. Strangely we almost reversed times as well with Manda finishing in 1.25.38 and me finishing in 1.16.43. Team Mermaids always queens of pacing (self-titled) even if it is copying each other’s pace!
Kate also swum a PB of 1.26 – well done Kate! On stopping the lane counter insisted that she had another 6 lengths to go despite us all being sure that Kate had finished (in Garmin swim we trust).
Well done to everyone who swam over the weekend, especially to Josie and Emily who completed 5k for the first time and to Laura who swam the 2.5k event. Team Mermaids are proud of you!
TEAM Mermaids 