| La Grande Traversee du Lac de Soustons – the rematch |
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The Mortlemans were in fine form for their annual lake swim in France, including stunning debut by Tamsin.... Ah yes, while the fair and good of 7oaks Tri have been doing Ironmen, World Champs, Marmottes, 7000km time trials and the like, I have been keeping my powder dry and focussing my training effort (errr what training? – Mike W.) for the most illustrious event of all. Yup, it was time again for the La Paillotte Campsite cross lake swim in Soustons, SW France. To recap for those of you fortunate to miss last year’s missive from your humble scribe: basic format, get driven across the lake, and swim 2 km back. Each swimmer to have an “accompagnateur” for safety, and also to show the way – its difficult to pick a path across the 2 km without help. Last year saw me valiantly hold off a desperate challenge from a 13 year old pink hatted French girl called Perrine to finish second to Bob, a sneaky 6’ 5” wet suit wearing Dutchman. Sally had a hung-over accompagnateur who couldn’t go in a straight line and finished about 6th. So again we gathered on the far side of the lake, just as the wind whipped up. Mort contingent supplemented this year by Tamsin (12) who had prepared by doing no training, but did make the concession of going to bed a few hours earlier than usual (12.30am or so). Our band of finely tuned athletes included Board-shorted teenagers, bikini clad French girls, several grand-parents, and a bloke in a mask and snorkel, and no Bob who had gone home. Then – Dunkirk-esque – the accompagnateurs appeared on a motley assortment of – well, anything that vaguely floated……. The briefing, in true French style, didn’t seem to happen, but normally apparently involves a quick – if you see one of those Forest Fire putting-out-water-scooper planes, get the f*** out of the way. So we were off. I quickly found myself about 100m to the right of everyone else, following my brother on a kayak. He had been out the night before studying wind direction, current, the Karma Sutra, the constellations etc., and come to starting conclusion that the best bet was to swim in straight line. I was beginning to wonder if he was right…… did everyone else know about a Lac de Soustons Gulf Stream that we had missed? I seemed to be pretty much in the clear. There was a fair amount of chop in the middle of the lake, then I was relaxedly nearing the finish and a canoe appeared, and my bro seemed to be getting a bit animated, leading to a desperate 400 m sprint. It was all a wind up though – canoe was a campsite safety bloke, and had no swimmer with him. So onto the beach for the traditional slice of cake and welcome from assorted kids still in their pyjamas. Next in was Rachel about 4 / 5 minutes later – non training ex-county swimmer with a major neck op to her credit, then, much to my astonishment, Tamsin, whose only concern had been to beat her mum. We had fully expected her to either refuse to get up or bail out half way across. Sally came in a few minutes later with Mr mask and snorkel. I fancied her chances in the sprint up the beach; she clearly didn’t and resorted to rugby tackling him instead. They eventually came up the beach hand in hand to rapturous applause and an impromptu wedding. Les Resultats: 1st Charlie - 36’ 24” 3rd Tamsin - 45’ 50” 6th Sally and Mr Mask and Snorkel - 50’ 45” Myself and Sally both a few minutes down on last year – suspect there was a decent current against us (honest………..) |