Once again this popular Championship was full very soon after entries opened on March 1st. It is a lovely lake and offers the opportunity to swim the length of a lake at a little over 5 miles, so always attracts a lot of interest. However, as last year there were several withdrawals before the event so if this year you were put off by a full entry list, don't despair next year - get on the waiting list and get training, you are likely to get a swim.

The weather this year was better than forecast, during the week before the swim the Met Office promised us gales! At least getting a bit damp seemed mild by comparison, so there were smiles all round.

There was great swimming as always, with Nikki Fraser leading the field home and Peter May coming in soon after to win the men's race. The race committee awarded the Arthur Ayres Dolphin for Endeavour to Neil Meadows, the trophy was presented by Percy Bull of Warwickshire Long Distance Swimming Club, who was instrumental in organising the first Coniston Water Championship.

I would like to thank so many people who helped with the preparation and running of the Championship - Joe, who produces all the paperwork, races around collecting programmes and trophies then kayaks and runs errands on the day even though I moan at him if he forgets to do something!; the crews of the rescue boats; all the land based officials and the staff of the Bluebird Cafe who open up early and allow us to take over the place, come rain or shine, even ending the day still smiling and thanking us for our custom.

If you swam this year, well done, hope you enjoyed it. If not, enter next year, you'll see why it is so popular!

Jean Wilkin-Oxley

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