Open water swimming: Jo Addyman
Jo Addyman preparing for her swim
I was diagnosed with MS in 2002. The diagnosis led my husband and me to re-evaluate our lives and we decided to be as active as possible - to 'not to put off until tomorrow what we could do today'.
When I was a child I couldn't run very far as I had asthma and I hated it anyway. Then in my late teens I developed chronic knee pain that prevented me from doing anything active at all.
In 2000 and 2001 I had operations on my knees which meant I was pain free for the first time in nearly ten years. By this time I had met Rob, my future husband. He was (and still is) very fit. He unintentionally made me feel guilty for sitting watching the TV when he was off running miles in all weathers. So I began to use my newly repaired knees. I started in the gym, and then moved on to running out doors. I bought a very basic racing bike and Rob taught me to swim front crawl. By May 2002 I had entered and completed my first triathlon and I found myself enjoying the experience of being fit(ish)!
However by the end of that year I had been diagnosed with MS, which changed everything. I went through the whole gamut of emotions as I'm sure everyone does, but we both came out of it with a positive plan to make the most of life.
I continue to compete in local sprint distance triathlons (750m swim, sometimes open water, 20k bike ride followed by a 5k run) but have learnt to listen to my body.
We now go on holidays that most people don't consider to be holidays at all! Cycling in the Dordogne, swimming in the Lake District. I have riden since I was a very young child and during the winter months I now ride Ellie twice a week. I have also had a go at indoor climbing with a few of my work colleagues. Best of all we've learnt cross-country skiing! We love it!
I have a very full and active life. I figure the fitter I am the further I have to fall.
Forde Crossing 2009
In 2008 we discovered the existence of the Forde Crossing - a 3km swim race from Sonderhav in Denmark to Sandwig in Germany. I looked at the previous race results and decided to set a goal - I wanted to finish the 2009 Forde Crossing in under an hour. This was not an unrealistic target for me, but I needed to train.
The training involved trips to get some salt water practice as the North Sea is too cold for most of the year, even with a wet suit! In Guernsey in May we swam every day for five days and in some lovely places the water was only 11ºC or 12ºC. Now I know cold water is good for us MS'ers but that's ridiculous! I hoped that the Baltic would be warmer by July.
On my birthday (7 June) I developed foot-drop for the first time ever. That made running impossible but cycling and swimming were still OK, so by the end of June the training was going well (and the foot-drop had gone too).
Race weekend finally arrived. All I needed to do was to swim from Denmark to Germany!
Jellyfish
The day before the race we had a short swim in the Forde. Thankfully the water was a balmy 20ºC, but the jellyfish were out in force. There were thousands of them, touching my hands and feet and sliding past my face. They were mostly harmless but a few could apparently give a nasty sting. Rob tried to get me to hold one in my hands to conquer my fear - it took a while but I soon learned to cuddle them!
Race day dawned cooler than the previous few days and it was raining on and off. The race briefing (in German, of which I could understand not a word) was at 3pm and then all the swimmers had to board all manner of craft to get to the start in Denmark. We were counted into the boats by electronic chips, which would give all the swimmers an accurate time.
Because my boat had too deep a draft to land in Denmark I had to jump off the side and swim to the start line. All the competitors had to stand for what seemed like ages, we were doing Mexican waves to pass the time! Then we were off.
The first ten minutes of swimming was like being in a washing machine. All 300+ swimmers had to swim through a narrow channel between two islands and until we'd cleared these it was everyman for himself. There were feet and elbows flying in all directions!
Once past the islands the swimmers started to spread out but the wind had picked up and the waves started to bounce us around. I had to check every time I took a breath to make sure I was going to get air and not water in my lungs. I misjudged it only twice and got a mouthful of the Baltic.
In the narrow channel between the islands every stroke I took my hand slid into a jellyfish. The adrenaline kept me focused and my fear of the previous day seemed to have gone. As we neared the middle of the Forde the jellyfish started to vanish. I settled into a comfortable rhythm and just kept going. Sighting was tough as the waves obscured the buoys.
I knew I must be nearing Germany when the jellyfish slowly started to reappear. I could see the finish line and more swimmers were around me. I tagged on to a swimmer in front of me and pushed a little harder. I was getting tired and every breath it was a struggle to get enough oxygen to feed my tiring muscles.
Finally I could see the bottom. I picked up speed and kept pushing a little harder until my hands were scrapping the sand. When it was too shallow to swim I stood up and ran as best I could to the finish gantry.
And then it was finished. I'd done it, the full 3km and what was my time? I turned and looked for the clock it said 55 minutes. So I'd achieved my goal, and there seemed to be loads of swimmers still in the water. I scanned the cheering crowd for Rob and he waved - obviously just as pleased as I was that I'd done it.
My final time was 54 minutes and 41 seconds, I came in 45th lady out of 127 and I beat the only other Brit by 1 minute.
So next year the goal is faster still!
- More information
- Outdoor Swimming Society
- Staying Active: swimming
