Dart 10k: Making Waves for Charity

This weekend saw days full of fun, joy, eating and exercise in Devon.

On Saturday, we volunteered for @levelwateruk at the Dart 10k. We managed to get my favourite job - Water Exit! So wetsuits donned we headed down to the pontoon - a temporary, long, floating plastic structure to help swimmers get out of the water easilly and over to dry land. We spent a happy few hours helping swimmers climb onto the pontoon and get their land legs back.

The rain then started to fall and our swim on Sunday began to look doubtful with Level Water issuing an Amber Alert that it might not happen due to the potential for sewage in the water. We were due to get an confirmation at 6.30am so we went to bed needing a restful night but with our bodies on alert for rain sounds. The message came through on time, saying that less rain had fallen and we were going ahead. Time to shift into swim event mode, pack the bags and get the pre-event food on board.

Level Water organised a fabulous event, warming us up at Steamer Quay, briefing us on how they were managing the safety of the event and reminding us of the incredible amount of money this event had raised for their charity (£213k on Sunday afternoon). As we walked into the peaty water we put our game faces on and started swimming. And swimming. And swimming! With the water flow and tidal push you could swim smoothly and fast, heading downstream. Two feed stations were welcome but you had to speed up to cross the stream and quickly grab hold of the pontoon - all part of the entertainment.

The last 3k were the hardest and we passed many moored boats and crossed over towards the finish pontoon. We felt tired but equally as if we'd barely got started. It was still a relief to get onto dry land, and be sprayed with clean water (just in case) then a short, steep walk up the hill for a very welcome hot chocolate.

As a teacher of Level Water lessons I was honoured to support, swim and raise money for the charity. The children get such pleasure from the water and to see them building their skills and awareness of the water is truly humbling.

On top of that, I also met so many members of Out To Swim - the inclusive LGBTQ swim club that we're aiming to set up a branch of in Bournemouth and Poole. Such a lovely friendly bunch and so many opportunities for us to meet up, socialise and swim together.