A Dip in the Serpentine for the Metronome Man

Only 36 hours and a lot of food, sleep and one good massage after his 18 mile swim in Dover Harbour, Rob was back in his wetsuit and ready to finish the job at 10.15am this morning. A live radio interview delayed his start but at 10.27am he began the first of 96 lengths of the Serpentine Lido swimming area. The weather was better than expected with the rain holding off but a strong breeze blowing over from the west.

Father, Stephen was counting the laps, checking length times and Dan and friend Chris soon arrived to offer their vocal support with yours truly spending more time on the phone talking to lots of people about final arrangements for the cycling stage than doing anything else.

After a strong start, Rob settled into a steady rhythm lapping in around 2mins 10 seconds with his shoulders hurting constantly. Around 12 noon, other swimmers joined him in the swim area, one completing his own training for an Ironman event, and this helped to break the monotony of churning out lap after lap on his own. Rob’s style and stroke is very consistent, he keeps going relentlessly just like a metronome and first 48 and then 72 lengths went by.

At this point, Rob began to slow as boredom, pain and tiredness began to bite but he pressed on with greater vocal encouragement provided by Jono who had slipped out for lunch.

The 96th length was completed at 2.12pm for a total of 6 miles in 3 hours 45 minutes. Considering that Rob had done almost no serious swimming until he began training in October last year, it was a fantastic achievement. Both Rob and Dan have now successfully completed the first leg of their challenge by swimming 24 miles.

Now it’s back to Dover on Friday and the start of the 1120 mile bike around the UK taking in Cardiff, Edinburgh and London and calling in at the grounds where all 12 Premier Rugby Clubs play along the way.

For more information see: www.thetimreevecharitabletrust.org.uk or email john reeve at john.reeve@supanet.com