Making waves in open water

I have never been a strong swimmer.

- Clare Mackintosh

Terrified of putting my head in the water, I completed the obligatory 25-metre assessed swim of my childhood only on the hard bargained promise of pickled onion crisps and the immediate cessation of lessons if I passed. I did, and so began more than 20 years of swimming like a duck; head protruding from the water, while my limbs paddled furiously beneath the surface.