The plan for summer!

I'm not sure how many people will check this, but I thought I'd just do a quick post to say that we've received a list of what we expect the money will be spent on this summer.

The lady who runs the orphanage, Lillian, seems really excited to meet us and is wanting to plan how they'll greet us when we arrive - it's only 6 weeks away now!

The information about materials and costing is in the file available to download at the link below. The total comes to almost £14000, which is more than we expected but we hope we'll be able to make it to that amount so that we can finish the building and leave them with a fantastic place to live until next year, when we can give them even more.

So, if you'd like to see what we'll be up to, there is an Excel file here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9N27Y0AA

Click the link, type the letters in the box at the top right, and there you go!

I'm in France!

Seven weeks, 14 swims, 1416 lengths, 22 miles... I'm in France! But they wouldn't have me because I'm still waiting for my new passport, so I've had to come home.

My dad came to swim with me tonight and mum was watching from the side (as usual, she found someone she knew to talk to). There were the usual ones getting in the way but one of the things I've learned is just to head straight for them and if they don't move - tough!

It still hasn't sunk in that I've done it!

Thank you to everyone who's sponsored me - the total from the swim is £664 which is so much more than I ever expected.

And now I'm going to have a glass of wine!

The most ridiculous thing happened.

Just as I was running out of things to write about on here, something almost spectacular happened.

I go to the pool at Barnoldswick. I pay. I get changed. I have a shower. I head for the pool. But wait... why is there a shutter down?! I can hear people in the pool - but I can't get to it!

I was totally confused. Why had they let me pay if the pool wasn't open? Who was in there with no way of getting out? What was going on?!

I decided to go and ask at the front desk, which meant getting changed again. Just as I was getting things out of my locker another lady went into the changing rooms. Then another. I began to think that maybe I was a bit early... It was 8.10, and I thought the session started at 8pm, but maybe it was 8.30. I went back to the showers and hung around there for a while, and then a few more women appeared. Everyone was a bit confused by the shutter, but they opened it at 8.30. Thank goodness!!

It was very busy for a while and I was sick of people getting in my way, but slowly they all left and I was on my own for the last 10 minutes. Lovely!

I swum another 2 miles, meaning there is only one more to go!!

A very uninteresting swim this time... it was relatively quiet and I had enough time to do 2 miles, then a bit extra - in total I did 142 lengths. Actually, I think I did a bit more as I kept losing count and going back to the lowest amount I thought I was on!

This means I have exactly 3 miles to go - 192 lengths. Almost there!

Getting closer (to France, and to the fundraising target)

Once again I've been slow in updating this, sorry.

I think the main reason is that I feel like I've finished already, because of the amazing amount of money I've raised so far! On Saturday we held a coffee morning and the total from that alone now stands at just over £425!! I never expected it to be so much and it means that, when added to swimming sponsorship (providing I finish and everyone pays up, of course) my total is about £1,100. As a group of 12 we are aiming for £12,000, so I'm well on track! Thank you to everyone involved in the coffee morning, particularly my mum for all her hard work.

I was at the pool again on Monday, and it was a bit of a performance. Tom dropped me off at Colne, where I knew there was swimming club but thought there would be lanes open for public swimming... guess what? There weren't! So I had to ring home and ask for Tom to be sent back (he hadn't even made it home yet!). He then drove me to Barnoldswick for attempt number 2. Mum had rung to check whilst I was waiting for Tom, and been told I could swim between 8.30 and 9.30pm. I arrived at 8pm, so I had to wait for half an hour before I could go in!

When I did make it into the water it was relatively uneventful. There were 2 lanes, which on first inspection both looked like slow lanes. I decided that wasn't fair so I invaded one which contained 2 other ladies. One was swimming as slow as the people in the other lane, but the other was swimming at exactly my speed. We got on well! Although we did have to keep shuffling around and overtaking the other lady, meaning I couldn't get as much done as I wanted to. I have no idea why she didn't move to the other lane, as she was clearly annoyed at us.

In the end I only had 50 minutes to swim so I got 80 lengths done. And just to top it all off, mum missed the turning into the pool and had to drive around Barlick!

Apologies for the delay...

... things have been busy and I had a slight disagreement with my computer. All is now resolved, and today's update brings you not one, not two, but three blog posts! The most recent follows here, and two more can be found below.

Today I was back once again in my trusty Byker pool. I dislike the swimming experience, but I am growing quite fond of the sauna.

I didn't really have a particular aim for today - I thought 2 miles might be pushing it after Monday.

I started out in a great position next to a wall. This is the best place to be as it means you can only find yourself under attack from side, and it's quite easy to fend them off. However, today I discovered the one great weakness of this spot - the steps. People get in the pool, can't be bothered to move far and start swimming in my space! I don't understand how they think this will ever work. It's not a multi-storey swimming pool. You can't go under or over me. You have to go round. And inevitably I am the one who ends up going round, because most of the people in Byker are pretty scary looking.

Then, something a bit strange happened. Everyone in the pool except me gathered in one corner. I thought, "great! I'll move to that gigantic empty space", and did so. All at once the group in the corner disbanded and attacked my lovely space. It was very odd, and I take it as further evidence that there is a conspiracy.

The rest of the swim was the same as usual - people swimming every way except in a straight line from shallow end to deep end and back again, and using some of the most insane strokes I have ever seen. One man's attempt at butterfly was little more than flopping into the water in a star shape. He didn't move very far.

So, I am at 1002 lengths or 15.5 miles, and I am now back at home for Easter so there will be all new pool experiences to report on next week!

On Monday afternoon I journeyed to Killingworth once more - this is definitely my favourite pool.

My aim was 130 lengths, as I knew this would take me to 14 miles. It would also be the furthest I have ever swum!

Things got off to a good start, but soon the children were arriving (I always forget how early the schools finish!). There were 2 lanes but I was in neither due to lessons taking place, so the large leftover space quickly settled into half for adults swimming lengths and the rest for children messing around. Until... girl + father arrived and proceeded to wander around amongst the sensible length swimmers! At one point I was treading water next to this man for a full minute as he had his head half under the water and didn't see me. He was just standing there. He kept coming up for air and looking around but somehow not seeing me. I couldn't go round him because of other swimmers on one side and his daughter flailing about on the other. When he eventually spotted me he did an amazing comedy jump and splash - I must have terrified him! He did at least have the decency to apologise and move himself and child out of the way.

Both lanes emptied after I'd done the first mile so I moved into the nearest one. I was quickly followed by 4 of the slowest breaststroke swimmers I have ever encountered - with astoundingly dry hair, and probably quite severe neck ache - so I moved over again, and had a whole lane to myself until I hit 130. Can't believe I made it!

Last Friday I was back at Byker and for once it was relatively quiet! I found swimming quite hard though - I felt totally uncoordinated and like I wasn't going anywhere, and also got tired quickly. In the end I only did a mile, as I didn't want to carry on and the children where starting to appear and get in my way! I did discover that the sauna is free though, so I was in there for a while!

Halfway there!

Today I was joined by my friend Jo and as she has a car we ventured further afield to a lovely pool at Killingworth (for some reason she didn't seem to want to go to Byker!).

It was relatively quiet when we arrived and, promisingly, there were lanes! I watched for a bit to try and decide where to swim, and couldn't for the life of me figure out one lane (it turned out to be lifeguard training) so I headed to the other, where there was one man swimming front crawl at about my speed. I was just thinking how enjoyable it was to have enough room and a lovely lane to swim in when I noticed (out of the corner of my eye as I poked my head out to breathe) that the lane was being taken away - the rope was sailing over my head!

I've come to believe that there is a conspiracy against me in Newcastle swimming pools. It's just ridiculous.

Anyway, it wasn't too busy and after about length 80 it was actually very quiet, so I can't really complain. I did 122 lengths front crawl (almost - 2 were breaststroke and there was a token backstroke in there as well today) at a steady pace but it did take a bit longer than usual due to there being someone else for me to talk to! Jo swum a mile but doesn't seem too keen on the idea of another 21... She's running a marathon next month though, so I'll let her off.

So. 586 + 122 = 708 out of 1416... HALF WAY THERE!! And hopefully on target to finish within 6 weeks.

Back to Byker

I was back at Byker pool today, with the usual people dodging rituals. You've heard it all before. My favourites were the 2 girls who repeatedly threw themselves at my head.

I had quite a lot of time so I got a bit carried away and swum 128 lengths - 2 miles!

This brings my total to 586, with 830 left to go.

A different experience.

I didn't realise how long it had been since my last swim! Things have been busy this week.

Today I went to the City Pool after my lecture, and there honestly was nothing of interest that happened to me, which was quite disappointing.

The only way in which City Pool is better than Byker is the provision of lanes - you get a choice between front crawl and breaststroke. The rest of the pool was full so I opted for the front crawl lane. Since starting this challenge 3 weeks ago I have always swum front crawl one way and breaststroke back, mainly because I can't swim a lot of front crawl (or so I thought). The people in the lane were going at a steady pace and I knew I wouldn't be causing problems swimming the odd breaststroke length, as I swim quite fast. However, the lifeguard wasn't having any of it so, even though I was keeping up with everyone else in the lane and other people were far more obstructive than I was, it was made clear that I had to swim front crawl or move into the jam packed bit and commence the usual pattern of dodging people.

The upshot of all this is that I swum 100 lengths front crawl pretty much non stop. Given that 3 weeks ago I was doing 2 front crawl and 2 breaststroke then stopping for a rest, I think this is an achievement!

My arms are quite sore now, but this may be partly due to having a vaccination in each one yesterday - they've been a bit sore ever since!

Today I learned...

... not to try and sing along to Glee whilst swimming.

I have to report that... nothing happened which is worth talking about!

Well, there was the usual dodging of idiots, but I'm getting used to it.

I swam 102 lengths. I did an extra 2 because apparently a mile is 64 and a half lengths, not just 64, so every 4 miles I need to do an extra 2. Also I don't really like doing 100 because it seems a bit too perfect. Maybe next time I'll do 98. Maybe one day I'll do an odd number! Although that would involve getting out at the (slightly) deep(er) end and walking down the poolside, which seems rather silly.

I did tell a tiny little white lie before. Something a bit interesting did happen, but I have been debating whether to tell you or not. Mainly because it makes me look stupid, but since I've just gone on for far too long about 100 being too perfect I might as well tell you.

I was having a shower before getting in, and spotted a lovely big gap where I could swim without interference. It was right in the middle of the pool, so instead of faffing around with steps and cutting across people I went straight for the space. I was aiming for an elegant "sit and slide" kind of motion, like everyone manages, but my foot slipped a bit and it ended up as more of a "flop and roll". Luckily I can laugh at myself, and make it seem like people are laughing with me, not at me!

I kept remembering at odd moments whilst swimming and couldn't stop giggling, and consequently spent quite a lot of time treading water during water-swallowing-induced coughing fits.

Let's start today with a question - when entering a pool, is it sensible to:

a) go and a fill a gap, or

b) plonk yourself directly in someone else's path and swim straight towards them?

Answers on a postcard please.

Next, a slight correction - I actually did 56 lengths on Sunday, not 55. I'm not sure why I was so convinced it was 55 - I'd never do an odd number!

Today I was planning to boycott Byker and try the City pool instead, but by the time I'd packed up everything I had to take to my tutorial this morning I couldn't manage to carry swimming things as well! I ended up back at Byker, armed with a new pair of goggles (red, unfortunately - I quite liked my purple ones).

I was aiming for 84 lengths - my original plan was to do 80 each time, so even though I only managed 56 on Sunday, because I'd done an extra 20 last week I was only 4 behind.

It was quite quiet when I arrived and I jumped straight into a lovely, empty space next to an old lady with a perfect haircut, very large glasses (think Deirdre from Corrie) and bright orange armbands. I was ecstatic to have a place to swim up and down in a straight line! It didn't last long, however... as I was starting back down the pool on only my second length I noticed that armband lady was bobbing around right where I was aiming for. I altered course and avoided her, but she continued to move right into my path every single time.

Eventually I moved over, hoping to get myself in line for prime position (next to the wall) when a few people got out. I did make it there in the end, but only after contending with more people whose only purpose in life seems to be getting in my way. I think my favourite was the lady who I spotted getting in when I was halfway down the pool. She was walking along to find a place, so I slowed down so she would be out of my way when I got to the end. I was less than 2 metres from the wall - one more kick would have got me there - when she turned, stared at me, then stopped against the wall right in front of me! I was so shocked, given that there was plenty of room just a tiny bit further away, that I just floated in front of her for a second, before noticing that she was giving me a look that could only mean, "this is my lane. I always swim here. Get out of my way." I complied pretty quickly.

Anyway. I did make it to that prime position next to the wall, but it turns out it's not so great. Something weird seems to happen with the big grates for the wave machine and the entrance to the children's area, and it makes it far more difficult to swim for the middle third.

After all that, I made it to 84 lengths and then calculated that another 16 would make it 4 miles in total, so I pushed on to 100. Unfortunately the picture below's calculator seems different to mine, and I needed 2 more lengths to make it 4 miles! Ah well. Next time.

I was extra keen this morning and put my alarm on for 8.30am (on a SUNDAY!) in a vague attempt to get to the pool before the children invaded. The internet wisely informed me that 9 til 10am was "public swimming", but from 10am it was also the "fun session" which I thought it best to avoid. So, I was raring to go and in the water by 9.05am, aiming for a bare minimum of a mile.

For some reason the pool at Byker has a complete aversion to putting out lanes, so swimming is a bit of a free-for-all which involves much ducking and weaving. I was just getting into my stride and settling into a pattern (follow slow-breast-stroke-lady until past takes-up-too-much-room-man then dive across to avoid collision, and repeat in reverse) when Captain Crash-a-lot* put in an appearance and decided the best place to swim was right next to me. I did my best to get away from him, but there was nowhere else to go. Then, at 9.30am, the kids starting arriving and took over the bottom quarter of the pool. I was still bravely battling my way through (if I'm going to do this then I'm doing it right) but there's only so many times you can have a small child thrown directly in your path before the novelty wears off. Ten minutes before "fun session" time the lifeguards raised a big barrier in the middle of the pool, cutting it in half, so I gave up.

To cut a long story a little bit shorter than it could have been, I only managed 55 lengths. And I left my goggles in the changing room, and by the time I remembered and went back they'd gone. That's Byker for you.

*Captain Crash-a-lot seems to be a regular feature of my swimming. He always arrives just after I do and seems to be magnetically attracted to me. He jumps in and proceeds to whizz up and down the pool doing front crawl without once looking where he is going. As a result, he whacks people with his windmilling arms or crashes into them with his larger than average head roughly once a minute, never once even flinching let alone stopping to apologise.

Thinking about it, maybe I should adopt the same tactics.

The First Dip.

I'd forgotten what it's like to climb out of a pool after swimming 100 lengths. I feel a bit wobbly, to say the least!

I thought I'd ease myself in by just doing a mile (64 lengths), but once I got into the swing of things I couldn't stop. I ended up doing a mile and a half, plus four lengths for good luck.

I've also found this lovely map which will tell me how far away from France I still am. It's a bit depressing to see at the moment!

So I've made a start. One hundred lengths down - 1316 to go!

I'm swimming the length of the Channel!

I am part of a group of 12 students spending 2 months in Uganda this summer. Whilst we're there we'll be working on the construction of a Children's Village for orphans.

In order to buy materials and pay local labourers, before we go we need to raise about £12000, so I've decided to raise some money by doing a sponsored swim.

Over the next 6 weeks I'll be swimming the equivalent of Dover to Calais, which is 22 miles - 1416 lengths in a 25 metre pool!

I'll try to update this blog after every swim.

For more information, or to sponsor me, search for "Wider Mbarara Project 2010" on Facebook or email widermbarara@hotmail.co.uk.