Friday 8am - Uxbridge Lido

We were due to arrive at Uxbridge at 8am on Friday. Unfortunately due to some metropolitan line confusion Chris and Libi ended up getting a second breakfast in Costa while they waited for Pete and Shirley to make it to the end of the tube line.

Uxbridge Lido reopened earlier this year after closing down in 1998 and it was one of the few pools that none of us had seen or even swum in. The original 12 sided star shaped pool is a gradeII listed structure which has been refurbished and it was certainly a stunning pool to start our adventure in.

Despite the dire weather predictions the sun was breaking through the clouds as we arrived and the sun glittering on the water of the empty pool made the water look attractively summery and inviting. Any illusions we might have had about how easy the

challenge was going to be were shattered pretty effectively when we dipped our toes in the water. We’ve definitely been spoilt by the heated luxury of London Fields Lido which is a balmy 26.5 ‘C throughout the year. To our unhardened bodies the Uxbridge Lido water was icy and we knew it was just the start! All three of us found the cold a real struggle and while Pete forged ahead Libi was worried she wouldn’t even manage to complete her first 100m however she’d warmed up by 300m and it was Petes turn to start flagging. Chris called it a day at 300 meters – it was after all Pete and Libi who’d vowed to complete 400 at each pool Chris was just coming along for the challenge. In the end Shirley surprised us all by jumping in to join us on our last lap and adding her own 100 meters to the tally. As we finishing our final lengths we were joined by another swimmer who’s speedy laps made our 400 m look a just little feeble. He was training for a triathlon in September and we left him powering up and down thebeautiful pool enjoying the wide-open space of the otherwise empty 50m pool.

Although we’ whinged about the freezing cold when we’d jumped in to the pool we were all slightly sad to leave so quicklyand as the warmth flooded back to our skin we all felt more alive than we had for ages. But we had 5 more pools to swim in before 8pm and we didn’t have time we would have liked to lounge around the beautiful pool. By 9.10am we were heading back to the tube stop – next destination Richmond Pools on the Park.

Between the four of us we swam 1600 meters and thanks to Uxbridge Lido’s concessionary entry we were able to add £2.50, the amount we saved on admission, to the Sponsorship pot.