18. St Mary's Loch
St Mary's Loch held on 10th September 2011
The swim held this year on 10th September
was a trial event, having not held one at this venue before. It attracted
17 entries in total for the one and two way events, the distance being
approximately 3.25 miles each way. One withdrew before the event, 2 did
not start and 2 did not finish, although one of those did complete a
one way swim.
All agreed the venue was perfect in almost all respects, but as many found,
beautiful scenery, a welcoming ale house, a good camp site and a large tepee
with a warm fire, still did nothing to ease the difficulty of unpredictable
Scottish weather. As always with my swim reports, the only way to understand
and know why certain things happened is to see it with your own eyes, so I
will not be attempting to tell you who almost capsised kayaks, couldn't row
against the wind or set their socks on fire drying them over the fire!
All swimmers who completed the swim got a certificate along with a wee dram
and some shortbread, and consultation is taking place with swimmers to see
if they like this or the more traditional trophy approach. It seems to have
become commonplace in recent years for swimmers to leave the scene before any
presentation can take place. Interestingly only a couple left St Mary's, despite
the last swimmer taking much longer than expected to complete. Perhaps it was
the fire in the tepee, or the refreshments provided by the Inn, or even the
thought of having to get into their cars dripping wet and covered in mud.
Although I have said I am not telling any tales, I must just tell you about
two acts of particular endurance. Our President, Beverly Thomas, a lady of
few words at the start of swims, chose to kayak for a one way swimmer so that
she could be on the beach to welcome most of the swimmers home. I didn't give
her an opportunity to say her "few words" at the beginning, saying
that she could have them at the end. However, Beverly's swimmer duely finished,
with most of the field still behind, but Beverly decided to go and see if others
were OK in the less than ideal conditions. There she stayed for 6 hours in
total, and eventually ended up accompanying our last swimmer home, 66 years
old, Margaret Smith. About an hour from the end of Margaret's swim a decision
was taken to sign the certificates by proxy and have the President Elect present
them, as time was getting beyond that where we could expect people to stay.
This was done, but of course this meant that the President's "few words" were
still not heard!
All in all the event went well and feedback
has been positive and constructive. It is still welcome if anyone who
was there has any. There is always room for improvement, and I hope to
run the event again next year, with the status of trial event removed,
and a better understanding by all of just what wind, rain and remoteness
mean to an event like this.
Thankyou to all who helped on the day, and I hope we can use your expertise
again next year.
Janet Wilson
Swim Secretary.
