“The lake is open but likely to be a bit choppy. It’ll be fine but just to warn you – good race practice!” came the text message on Thursday morning. I checked the weather forecast for the evening – 22mph winds and some rain.This was weather meant for staying indoors, lighting a fire and having a dog curl up on your lap. As I don’t have a fire or a dog, I had no excuse not to put on a wetsuit and jump in a lake.

Picture by K

This was only my second proper open water swim. Katie had offered to take me open water swimming when I first voiced my intention to become a triathlete. I had to learn to swim first. But on Thursday with panic building about my first sprint tri in less than 10 days and the fact that I had to swim 750 meters in a river scaring the life out of me, I took her up on it.

The guys down at Bray Lake weren’t deterred by the weather. There was a friendly community feel to the lake – people were swimming together in groups and telling us ‘It’s not so bad once you’re in it.’

They handed me a brightly coloured swim hat and pointed us in the direction of the lake. A lake where two hardy souls were swimming about in just their trunks. Everyone else was zipped up tightly in a wetsuit – there was none of the odd-one-out embarrassment I’d experienced on Monday.

This time, calmly talked through it all by Katie, who I considered my own personal lifesaver and cheerleader, I was in the water and face down (in a good way) quicker than last time. We swam a 400m loop while the wind picked up the water and smacked it in our faces every time we lifted them to breath.

The last 50 meters of the loop was headfirst into the wind. I had to stop every 10 meters to catch my breath but K assured me I was ‘doing great’. I made it back to the start but left K to swim a second lap by herself while I watched on from the deck.

As I sat there another pair of women approached the ladder. One said to the other: “I can’t believe it’s so windy for your first open water swim. Honestly it’s not usually like this. If you can swim in this though, you can swim in anything.”

I watched Katie glide round the lake. My first time there had been less than ideal but I can imagine on a calm day when the sun is out, swimming round it is pretty fun. I think I’m going to like this open water swimming business. And I think I’m ready for my triathlon.

Thanks to Katie for guiding me through this triathlon lark. And thanks to Bray Lake for giving me a season swim pass.