Swimms O'Clock

Today was the day of my first open water swim and where better than Victoria Docks (near Excel in London). The water had been tested and rated 'excellent' and the water temperature at 9am it was already 17degrees, the sun was shining so all was looking promising for this venture away from running. 
We arrived in plenty of time and watched at the 10:30am wave set off, then the 11:00am wave, then the 11:30am wave...my nerves building each time I saw the swimmers set off into the water front crawling over one another to get ahead. Me and Jill got into our wetsuits and headed for the start line and acclimatisation area, our hats were scanned, our details checked, our numbers written on our hands as back up in case we lost our hats... we entered the water. I braced myself for the clod and yet it was fine, quite warm in fact, due to the lovely sunny weather we have had all week. Thanks goodness, one less thing to worry about.
As the timer slowly reached 12pm and the time of the purple wave to head off we did a group warm up and stretch, the nerves were clearly showing as Jill kept reassuring me I would be okay. Then it was time, we were off and Purple Rain was playing us out (not especially motivational but matched the hats I guess... still a week choice for a sporting event). I held back before entering the water, my fear of being swamped getting the better of me and settled comfortably into the stroke. A large inflatable Buoy marked the distance every 200m and I was going at a fairly decent pace compared to what I thought I would do. By half way I was delighted to be ahead of schedule and mentally its all downhill from here.... although not quite as the wind was in my face and the waves quite choppy I ploughed ahead, gradually overtaking some other swimmers as I went. Seems I am a metronome in water as well as on land! I rounded the final corner and under the bridge, I could see hubby looking out for me and gave a few waves, he didn't spot me but the safety kayakers did... I stopped waving! He finally spotted me and saw me finish. Very happy I got out of the water, grinning like a madperson and waving to our supporters. I waited for Jill to finish and we went to have our celebration piccies taken. Great event, really uplifting and positive way to start the weekend. The medal was great and a goody bag containing flip flops, t-shirts and more was well worth the entry fee. 
Next step was to quickly change and head to Borough Market where we celebrated with lovely food and Pimms! Awesome day!