Swimmers in the spotlight

Hi! I’m Stuart. I used to be a lot less fit than I am now and could only swim two lengths of the pool before stopping for a rest. I got talked by a good friend into trying out triathlons, and loved them. I was finding mass starts really stressful and had visited Horseshoe to practice my open water swimming. As I determinedly beached myself on the shallow bit on my first swim I knew I had a lot of work to do. Over the last couple of years I’ve taken advantage of the sessions offered by the lake to master open water, then winter swimming, swimming in skins, and finally swimming winter in skins. This winter I was tackling 4 degree water in just my speedos, which was unthinkable a year earlier. As I type I’m in Dover building on the work I did at horseshoe throughout the winter for my channel swim later this year. Horseshoe is so friendly I can guarantee that every time I arrive for a swim I’m going to have a good catch up with many more friends I’ve made with the crew and the other swimmers. I love watching new swimmers being guided through their first attempt at open water.