What made this crossing so unique is that Betley had previously crossed Windermere three earlier times swimming butterfly, backstroke, and freestyle – and so she achieved a Quad IM
August 24th 2013 in 5 hours 27 minutes swimming freestyle
September 2nd 2018 in 7 hours 56 minutes swimming butterfly
July 13th 2023 in 6 hours 46 minutes swimming backstroke (subject to ratification)
Betley describes each of her four crossings in the different strokes:
Freestyle
Initially, I wasn’t going to do any swims in 2013 because I had swum the English Channel in 2012 and shortly after was diagnosed with coeliac disease, so I was taking a year out to get my diet sorted. However, the opportunity came up to take part in a Windermere event that I couldn’t pass up. It was, at that time, a one-off and not part of a bigger plan, and I swam it in the obvious choice of freestyle. On that very same day, I also met my (now) husband, Jason, for the first time on the beach at the top of Windermere and it turned out he had also swum the length of Windermere earlier that day. I didn’t particularly enjoy that first swim, I was sick as usual and I underestimated the challenge following a successful channel swim. I didn’t have any intentions at that time of swimming it again.
Butterfly
In 2017, I was getting tired of swimming freestyle and had done several channels and had lost direction with what to do next. I felt like a bit of a sheep just following everyone else doing the same swims. Furthermore, whilst pregnant with my daughter that year, I found freestyle increasingly difficult as it was harder to rotate and breathe so I did more and more butterfly. I’m not exactly sure how the idea came about, although Jason and I had both been experimenting with different strokes, but we both decided to do another length of Windermere in 2018, he would do backstroke and I would do butterfly.
Unfortunately, my first attempt was unsuccessful and I gave up about a mile from the end, whereas Jason succeeded with his backstroke on his first go. My lead-up to the swim hadn’t been great, and again I experienced sickness so I was pretty sure with better preparation I could do it. A few weeks later, I went back for another go and, despite wanting to pull out at around the same spot (a big psychological hurdle), I persevered to the end. That was my first major butterfly swim, and this time I was adamant I never wanted to swim Windermere again.
Backstroke
Years passed, and I can’t remember who put the idea in my head, but someone said I should swim Windermere backstroke and breaststroke to complete the medley set because I’d already done the hardest. Initially the thought filled me with dread, knowing how I felt after my previous encounters. On New Years Day 2023, I felt the need for a challenge to focus on having just closed down my business, and I began to feel that a couple of Windermere swims could be within my reach. Officially, 2023 was my year off as my husband and I alternate our years for big swims now that we have a child to consider, and this year he was training for an English Channel 2-way. However, he gave me his blessing to try for 2 more Windermere swims as long as I could fit my training around his. I opted to do the backstroke first and then breaststroke later as part of the British Long Distance Swimming Association event because it made sense logistically.
I expected my backstroke to be pretty strong given that it was my best stroke as a teenager and I used to do quite a lot as cross training for freestyle before I switched to butterfly, but I was very surprised to find my backstroke was actually weaker than my breaststroke which I seldom swam. It seems that butterfly had inadvertently helped build up my breaststroke muscles whilst my backstroke, which used to piggyback off my freestyle fitness, had fallen victim to my lack of recent freestyle. On the day of my backstroke swim, everything was perfect, the sun shone from start to finish and I had a large and very experienced team looking after me. However, despite not being sick at all during the swim, I did experience hip pain from start to finish and was cold the whole way through for no apparent reason. I knew my backstroke was slightly weaker than my butterfly and therefore expected to come in around 8 hours, so I was pleasantly surprised and relieved when I came in at 6 hours and 46 minutes – this suggests that if I went back to swim it butterfly again now, it would probably be somewhat faster than my 2018 time.
Breaststroke
Then came the switch to breaststroke. Knowing that my breaststroke wasn’t too bad at the start of 2023 I had primarily focused on backstroke which meant my subsequent rapid increase in breaststroke training had predictable consequences. Neck pain, shoulder pain and, even more predictably, knee problems. I therefore did not do anywhere near the level of training that I had hoped to do and went into the breaststroke leg feeling undertrained, over-tapered, and still experiencing knee and shoulder pain. Not a great start. On the day, the conditions again were perfect and I had a great kayaker by my side, but the knee pain became excruciating in the second hour of the swim. I employed various techniques to swim through the pain alongside paracetamol and ibuprofen, it is so true what they say about mind over matter and gradually the pain seemed to ease. I knew things were going well when I reached the halfway point in less than 3.5 hours. But I always remain cautious with my predictions on when I’ll actually finish to avoid disappointment, which meant I could once again be pleasantly surprised when I knocked 10 minutes off my backstroke time.
Comparison between the four strokes
In hindsight, although it didn’t feel like it at the time, the freestyle leg was the easiest. Butterfly was probably the hardest at the time because it is a more challenging stroke using more energy and strength, and I was a relatively inexperienced butterfly swimmer at the time. But I actually believe if I went back to do it fly again now (since it has been my primary stroke since 2018), I would find that much easier.
From my experience, the easiest stroke is the one that you train in the most and have been doing for the longest. I had been training for freestyle for about 3 years when I first swam Windermere, Fly for less than a year, and backstroke and breaststroke for only a few months. My freestyle actually felt like it peaked about 5 years after I took up swimming again, so despite knowing this and in complete contrast, I made the mistake of jumping into this challenge without adequate build-up of required muscle strength and experience resulting in unnecessary injury and, in the case of the fly swim, a DNF.
Gratitude
I couldn’t have achieved any of this without the input of key individuals over many years. I must thank all of the crew and kayakers who helped me throughout my various Windermere swims, thanks to the BLDSA for ratifying those swims, and thanks to my family for supporting me and helping me achieve my goal.
I also have to thank Marlborough Swimming Club coaches, Alan Crook and Ian Duckham who gave me fantastic coaching when I was young. I haven’t had any real coaching since I was sixteen years old, so my ability to swim those distances and in a respectable time for each stroke is testament to the amazing coaching I received as a kid (although my technique has slipped somewhat over the years).
To commemorate her butterfly crossing, her husband Jason commissioned Nancy Farmer to create this beautiful piece of art. Farmer explains how she did it here.
