Viceroys Simon T and Adel were among the 1061 crazy swimmers who started and 845 hardy swimmers who finished the 2.25 mile (3621 metres) swim from Hampton Court to Kingston. Simon spoke to MySmartCoach aka The Chairman aka Mark the Shark a month before the race and his instruction paid dividends.

Having got so used to swimming in a wetsuit Simon ditched it for his last 4 swims at the lake and pushed the distances – 4k in 2 sets then the following session 3.75 in one; he had done a 1 hour 16 on the last 3.75k and so was expecting a small improvement under race conditions wearing a wetsuit, possibly to 1 hour 10. Simon was delighed to finish in an impressive 1:01: 48, 131st overall (25/102 in AG) out of 845 finishers and 1061 starters – top 16% overall, with Adel close behind in 1:08:24 in 317th  place (27th in AG)

Even more impressive was that neither were helped by the super currents of last year’s swim (just ask Trevor about his time), the current being virtually nil and the wind was blowing the ducks upsteam (if you believe Simon)!

Simon reflects on his race: ‘High point – finding my swim groove at just after 1800m and pulling away from everyone. Felt like a machine. The finish – calf stretch. Calf stretch. Relief. Oh, and my time.Low points – the first 1800m where I was at 6’s and 7’s then right calf cramp at 3200m. 400m of keeping my foot bent instead of at flipper angle. Really difficult and slow.Extra high point – knowing that now I have my groove I can shave off a good slice of time from that swim especially if I don’t get cramp next time…..

Bring on the Eton 10K swim next year.’