8 Isle of Wight athletes braved the chilly waters of Hyde Park’s Serpentine Lake to complete the 2-mile open water challenge last weekend.
More than 4,700 swimmers took to the water on Saturday for distances ranging from half a mile to 6 miles. Among them were Wight Tri members Lizzie and Arielle Elton-Waters, Kevin Winchcombe, Gill Bushell, Tracy Sedman-Holdsworth and Claire Squirrell, alongside Road Runners Jane Andrew and her daughter Louise Clark.
Tracy was first to dive in, completing her 2 miles in 1:25:31 before celebrating with pizza and theatre. Claire followed with a personal best of 1:19:33, rewarded afterwards with curry and cider.
Lizzie and Arielle began together but lost sight of each other early on, only to reunite mid-swim thanks to their distinctive wetsuits and purple goggles. They crossed the finish line side by side in 1:12:13, cheered on by their dad Nigel who had marked his 250th Parkrun earlier that morning.
Gill, Jane and Louise were next into the Serpentine, with Kevin taking on the final ‘fast’ wave. Despite limited preparation, Kevin still powered to 1:10:48, while Gill came home in 1:46:18. Louise’s training paid off with a strong 1:13:51, and Jane battled through to finish in 2:26:32.
There was added cause for celebration as Arielle, Jane and Louise collected the London Classics Medal – awarded only to those who have completed the Serpentine Swim, the London Marathon and the Ride 100 cycle.
