My swim story: Luke Richards

From sinking to swimming, reader Luke Richards learns how to go the distance

I sink. I don’t mean I can’t swim; I can rescue myself when I get into trouble. I mean I literally sink. My legs just want to pull me to the centre of the earth.

The first time I got into a river with my partner, Rachel, she didn’t believe me. “Everyone can float,” she said as we prepared to swoosh. After five minutes, she was aghast that I did indeed sink. I struggled my way for a kilometre down the river, using her tow float as a flotation device, but it was a kind of an awakening. It was June, the river was chilly (to me) but I remembered my love of being in the water, despite my lack of buoyancy.

This was the start of my coldwater journey. It was from this point I ended up in a body of water every week that I could. I would plunge into lakes, the sea, lidos, and Rachel said I would sometimes eye up a large puddle. I was brute forcing my buoyancy. I work at a desk in cyber security, so the idea of just attacking the problem until it worked was what I was aiming for. But I still wasn’t a strong swimmer. I was doing 80s breaststroke, never got my head in the water and basically just kept myself afloat. I figured maybe just being in the water, I would improve, and I sort of did. I was getting better at being used to lower temperatures. I did my Christmas dips, my New Year’s swim and by March I had a Penguin award. I was definitely an open water swimmer now…

Rachel suggested I enter the Bournemouth Pier-to- Pier swim event, which is a 1.4-mile (2.45km) swim from Bournemouth Pier to Boscombe Pier in Dorset. It sounded like a fun challenge and something I could achieve. I signed up for a local pool membership, then worked out how many lengths I would have to be able to swim the distance, which was 90 lengths! In my first week I did six and I felt like I was dead. I could barely lift my arms after that first swim. I remember looking at the task ahead of me, the monumental distance I had to cover, it seemed insurmountable. I had a training plan; it added six lengths per week. But that second week felt even worse than my first. I had to do 12 lengths, that was twice as much! Surely, I couldn’t do that?! But I got in, and with a few stops I did it, I pushed myself and I kept going.

I went to Portishead Lido and I practiced in the cold, which takes your energy fast! But I kept persisting. I got some new goggles, and I was shocked at how much they helped. I could properly get my head under when I was on the glide part of my stroke. I improved so much after that. I remember being in the pool, and one of the ladies there (who are incredible, honestly, they put me to shame) commented on seeing me swim at the beginning of my journey, and she said: “You look like a swimmer now”. It was such a huge compliment that I am taking that with me to the sea.

I have now hit my donation target of £500, thanks to friends, family, and a community of people online. I’ve also gotten close to the 2.45km needed in the pool. In fact, in the next few days I should be up to 90 lengths. I am getting more confident day by day and now believe that I can not only do this swim, but in general, I CAN swim. I’m now getting to the point where I am trying to take my distance technique to the sea, to work out how well I can transfer that skill. It’s a process, but with the help of my partner I know I can do this. Rachel has been my champion, my advocate, and my coach; I couldn’t ask for better. I still sink, it’s like a party trick to show swimmers: “Oh hey, you know Luke? Legs denser than a dying star, that’s him.” But now I count myself amongst the swimmers of the world. I am not winning any medals for speed, but I will get one for going the distance.

Luke will be tackling his first swim event this July. You can show your support by sponsoring him: justgiving.com/page/lukepier2pier-25