First Open Water Swim - RNLI Castle 2 Castle Swim Falmouth to St Mawes

I completed my first open water swim yesterday. It was 1.1 miles from Falmouth to St Mawes in Cornwall with 250 swimmers registered and 231 swimmers finishing within the 1 hour time limit. The start was overwhelming with that many swimmers trying to launch at the same time and swimming through the waves and into the wind was hard work. But, I really enjoyed it and found the camaraderie really supportive. Learning to adapt my stroke to counter the waves and the need to develop a head up style to allow sighting of the next marker is a priority for my upcoming intro to open water swimming in Mallorca. I loved the final 150 metres or so on the arrival to St Mawes - swimming above a kelp forest in clear water when I had finally relaxed into a regular stroke pattern was such a pleasure!