STAR LETTER.

Glyn has a letter of the month in OUTDOOR SWIMMER magazine. Glyn tells of his love of swimming before epilepsy changed his life,  he was to become an 'occassional' swimmer with ultra distance running taking over his life.

A titanium replacement right knee was to force him to retire from running and take up cycling - however, that first swimm in the open water of a local lake was to get Glyn excited, exhillerated and fired up.

Well done Glyn.

Long distance running, long distance cycling, dodgeball, stand up paddle boarding and now...... OPEN WATER SWIMMING!

In Glyn's latest book (1977, My first year of epilepsy) he tells of his love of swimming, either at the local leisure centre and once in the local canal (for a dare). Over the last 45 years, Glyn has been a recreational swimming and enjoyed the warmth of a swimming pool but now - he is enjoying the freedom of the open water and looks forward to swimming challenges in the future.

Wearing his bright orange swimming cap, Glyn has found great excitement in a lake. Here is Glyn at Cliff Lakes, near Tamworth.

After an induction session, Glyn was eager to get off in the lake and enjoy the exhillerating feeling of swimming in the cold water.

A wetsuit is recommended to help keep the body insulated and protected from the cold by trapping a layer of water between the skin and the neoprene. The layer of water warms to your body temperature and gives valuable insultion to your body, in cold conditions your body shunts warm blood to your core by closing blood vessels in your skin and extremities. This can cause muscle cramps and fatigue - also, cold can cause you to experience mental confusion and impaired co-ordination.

Glyn sends out a big 'THANK YOU' to  The outdoor swimming company for a great introduction into Open water swimming.

Caroline has a great way of making open water swimming more enjoyable.

www.outdoorswimming.co.uk

At the end of another swimming session, taken at Cliffe Lakes, Kingsbury near Tamworth.

Glyn is enjoying his new found pastime, swimming in open water is such a thrill and so exhillerating.

I think we will be seeing Glyn taking on a few open water challenges in the near future.

Swimming in the cold open water of a lake is so exhillerating and brings a great sense of freedom, Glyn will always have a GPS unit on his person ( be it running, cycling or swimming) and he loves to log his training sessions. Here is a screenshot for one of his training sessions from his Garmin swim 2 watch - it shows a whole lap of the lake followed by a half lap ( he had an easier day that day then).

Glyn cannot praise the staff at Cliff Lakes enough for their friendly and supportive manner, a smile and a warm welcome each time he visits. A huge thanks to Caroline Saxon ( The outdoor swimming company) for the support she gives to Glyn and other swimmers.

A satellite view of a training session, from Garmin swim 2 watch (as Glyn is addicted to training data). Glyn still enjoys cycling and other sports, but at the moment, swimming is giving him the thrill he once experienced when ultra distance running ( before his knee operation). A screenshot from Glyn's Garmin app ( one of many).