28/06/2026
The alarm went off at 1:15am. Needless to say, sleep was very minimal last night. But it was worth it for a sunrise swim doing my first Henley Classic. 🏊
It was actually my first ever swim race. I’ve done a couple of triathlons and a fair amount of open water swimming but this is my first swim only race and my first time swimming in the Thames - well apart from an unintentional dunking a few weeks ago when I fell in whilst SUP-ing a few weeks ago 💦😅
I haven’t been posting many running pics lately as there hasn’t been too much running. Injury has been long lasting and I haven’t updated my Diary of a Perpetually Injured Runner for ages either. But I have been busy. Swimming a lot! 💪
I was in two minds whether to wear at wetsuit or not as the water temperature was a balmy 24.5 degrees but it was the middle of the night and with most other people keeping the neoprene buoyancy on I decided to follow suit. It was fine and I kept myself cool enough by pulling the suit down at the neck every so often to let the (slightly cooler) water in.
The swim is the 2.1km Henley Regatta course which takes place this week. The entire length of the course is lined with marquees and seating areas and bars. And more bars. I hadn’t realised how big and event it was. As you come into Henley, with the sun now up, it’s quite a privilege, especially with the beautiful clear skies as we had this morning.
As the early morning rowers were getting ready to head out onto the river, we were heading home. A shower, a cuppa and back in bed for a nap by 8am. Today had been a weird but memorable day!
Thank you Henley Swim and all the nocturnal volunteers. The atmosphere was friendly and inclusive.
