#30LAKES30DAYS

 

"Every April for the last few years I have taken on the adventure of swimming outdoors every day. It all started with my friend and fellow swimmer Wendy, takes part in #30daysofbiking not owning a bike I first thought it would be great to swim the month alongside her, so to speak. There are no rules involved ‘just simply to experience the sheer joy of being outside in water one way or another every day for 30 days’… The first month was an intrepid adventure, experiencing all the weather Snowdonia had to throw at me. I swam with the deepest snow in 30 years on the hills, broke ice to get in, endured crazy hailstorms, laughed my head off all alone in some rough winds and bathed in glorious sunshine.

 

I had thought a lot about what form this April’s adventure would take, knowing it had to move on from previous years. #30Lakes30Days actually came about by accident, perhaps a typo in an email from a TV researcher or just wishful thinking… it was an idea that horrified me at first but later embraced with enormous enthusiasm. 

 

It wasn’t easy from the start,The first few days saw me pick up some horrible bruising from a terrible lake exit plan, a nasty tummy bug from another lake, I spent three glorious days with a BBC film crew following me on my journey before picking up a chronic back injury only a day after filming finished! However, a brief visit to a hospital and a compressed nerve later, #30Lakes30Days continued albeit at a considerably slower pace than I was used to. My greatest challenge was not being able to drive and navigating myself to a different lake every day. I am incredibly independent so it was hard asking for a lift here, there, and at times, anywhere!! 

 

It’s was a fantastic journey, I had more lectures on my health than I care to recall, more blissful moments alone than I can remember, more pain than I wish to endure again and have most definitely slept more in one month than is surely humanly possible?!  Oh and somehow still managed to work… I don't want it to end but it's time to turn my attention back to my other creative projects and get this nerve sorted!"

 

I was featured in BBC1 Countryfile Spring Special and in Countryfile's The Great Outdoors Compilation both aired in 2015. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05tvc4d

 

Some of these prints are available to buy in limited sizes please email me for details