A Man In Deep Water

Most men reaching 60 settle for cake and a card. Bury’s John Mather decided to swim all 17 lakes and he wrote a book about his experience

THIS was an adventure both challenging and memorable. It also made me aware of both the beauty and fragility of this wonderful land.

It was my 60th birthday and I decided to celebrate by swimming the length of all 17 lakes contained within the English Lake District, little realising the time, effort or the planning involved. These 17 range in size from Brotherswater, the smallest which is just under a mile long, to Windermere, which is ten and a half miles.

I did eventually complete the task even though it took me three years, starting in June 2014 and finishing in October 2016. I began with some of the smaller lakes in an attempt to build up my strength and stamina.

Even though I was rewarded with tantalising glimpses of red squirrel, cormorants, woodpeckers and deer, surely nothing compared with a chance sighting of Bassenthwaite Lake’s resident ospreys in majestic flight.

Open water swimming may be proving very popular in the Lake District but it comes with considerable risks. I might consider myself a strong swimmer, but I really struggled on a section of my Windermere swim. That hurt.

Everything started so well. Three friends joined me on my first swim in Loweswater, a mile long lake situated in the remote north west. Bright swimming caps were fitted and goggles adjusted as we pushed off from the northern end. It is difficult to convey the silence; that all embracing dry stone wall to wall silence that literally took my breath away. Impetuously, I powered into a full blooded racing stroke for the final, vital few strokes.

We next turned our attention to Buttermere, a near neighbour. It’s no wonder it is a mecca for wild water swimmers because it’s situated in one of the most dramatic valleys in the Lakes. There is something gloriously elemental and reassuring with being on water and surrounded by such mighty peaks.