Could you imagine swimming for nearly 20 hours non-stop, in freezing temperatures and for much of that time in total darkness?
Well that’s a feat achieved by Claire Bennison, Chartered MCSI, who swam the 23-mile length of Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands in 19hrs 47 mins.
A veteran of open-water swimming, Claire’s exploits have included crossing the English Channel and every other major lake in England, Scotland and Wales. But she is no doubt: “This was definitely my toughest challenge yet.”
Here Claire, who lives in Saddleworth near Manchester and is Regional Director for Brooks Macdonald Asset Management in the North of England, gives the Review readers an insight into her ‘longest day’.
Thursday 5pm: Captain and crew of my support boat meet with me to discuss the weather outlook for tomorrow’s swim. It looks like conditions will deteriorate from the afternoon onwards. The original plan was to start the swim between 4am to 5am so there would be only a few hours of night time swimming. Due to the expected deterioration we change the itinerary and will start around 2am. I know I will have a sleepless night as the nerves start working overtime.
Friday 1am: Time to get up - not that I’ve had any sleep anyway. My throat is dry, I feel sick and I have spent the last few hours questioning why I am putting myself through this ordeal. The captain and helmsman are bringing the boat down to Fort Augustus at one end of Loch Ness. I sit in the car soaking up the last minutes of heating still feeling very sick.
2am: We arrive at Fort Augustus just after 2am to see the boat pulling up in the harbour. We have a larger boat supported by a small speedboat. The speedboat is there primarily for safety – if something goes wrong then it is the fastest form of transport to get me to shore.
2.13am: I enter Loch Ness. There is overnight cloud so there is no light from the moon or stars. The water, even in daylight, is pitch black due to the peat. As I start swimming I can see absolutely nothing apart from the boat. If it was not there I would not have a clue which direction I was going in. The first two hours are unpleasant. The light of the boat attracts, I hope what are small fish, and I can feel them swimming around me; they disappear when the boat suffers a power failure and there is an anxious few minutes for the crew as they try and keep sight of me whilst correcting the problem. Strangely this little incident helps me settle down and I get into my swimming stride.
4.15am: Two hours into the swim, my legs are in agony. Don’t ask me why - in all the cold water training I have undertaken in the past 12 months I have never had an issue with my legs…. I am already getting very cold and the shivering has started which will stay with me for the duration of the swim. I don’t even have the protection of a wetsuit as for the swim to be officially recognised, I have to compete in a standard costume. We had planned on my feeding (with energy drinks and supplements passed to me from the support boat in a baby bottle attached to the end of a pole) every 40mins. But during the course of the swim we move this forward to 30mins to try and keep my energy and warmth levels up.
9.15am: I complete the first half of Loch Ness in 7hrs. Shortly afterwards the weather starts to deteriorate.
2pm: It becomes difficult to even feed as the waves hit you. I get most upset when the waves steal my Jaffa cake before I can consume it. All the crew and subconsciously even I know we will be in for a long swim.
10pm: I reach the end of Loch Ness – it’s my longest swim to date. I’m so focused on keeping swimming that I do not realise that I have reached the end until my knees hit the rocks and pebbles. I crawl out of the water - after nearly 20 hours you lose all sense of balance. By this time I am extremely cold, one of my friends who helps me to the car compares the experience to “touching a piece of frozen meat” – I have had better compliments. But nevertheless the goal has been achieved and my friends and family who so kindly came up to support me help me celebrate for the rest of the weekend.