Thomas Noblett, Liane Llewellyn, Keith Bartolo, Michelle Lefton, Michelle Sharples and Dee Llewellyn are well on their way to set the world’s longest non-stop relay record in Windermere in the Lake District in England, but it has certainly not been easy so far.
Thomas, who lives on the Windermere, reported 44 hours in their swim from the boat on one of his rest breaks on the terrible conditions that the relay is facing.
“I has never ever seen conditions so bad on the water. The water temperature is between 10-11°C (50-52°F), but there were the river feeds where the water is dropping to 9°C. The cold, coupled with wind, rain and night temperatures well into single figures has made it is simply horrendous.”
Mark Robson who is in contact with the team said that time wise they are way off any estimates due to the conditions, but they are focused on the distance [not the time]. “They are approaching the end of lap 7 and hanging in there.”
Liane also reported in, “We are well into our seventh leg [of the largest lake in England]. The weather has worsened, but is due to improve, so on we go, keeping strong.”
To give perspective to their effort and focus, Mark reported that a 500-meter Epic Events wetsuit swim just down the road from Windermere went ahead as planned, but the the 3.8K swim was reduced to 1.5K and the remaining mile event was canceled due to poor weather. “That just proves that the relay swimmers are doing a great job.”
Dee provided another perspective. “With the water temperature at 11°C, the air temperature is cool and was made worse by 20-25 knot winds and gusts up to 30-31 knots. Our unofficial times per lap were 6 hours 45 minutes, 5:45, 6:15, 6:02, 6:25 and 6:06 so far. We had a fair night last night, but the rain and wind picked up this am. There is great team spirit and everybody is in good form. The support crews are fantastic and planning going well. We are outside our best predictions, but we are well inside slower allowed predictions. I’m so happy that apart from the weather, the whole experience has come together seamlessly.”
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