Bluetits 3 Channel Swim Relay Team 2026

We had a team meet up on Sunday, it was nice to catch up, as we hadn't all been together since Pool Bridge Farm. It was great to hear how everyone has been doing. Maria has her dock2dock this weekend and Allison and Lisa have their triathlon and Becca is coming to the end of her wedding season and I am empty nesting again.

On a more swim related note, the temperatures are beginning to drop and the nights are drawing in and we are hoping for a shot at the Channel this year as none of us want it to slip into next, so fingers crossed.🤞

I used to be indecisive but now I'm not quite sure!
Let me explain (😩). Ahead of the rapidly looming triathlon, I had decided to do the swim, skins (not skinny dipping🤣, in a costume, no wetsuit). Reasoning being comfort and the time it takes to get out of a wetsuit.
My intention was to then add layers as necessary for the bike and run.
Then, the overthinking really kicked in! Chafing on the bike and run potentially from the costume and seeing others in their wonderful T**s Who Tri tri suits, I changed my mind. I have tri-shorts and a top, but the shorts are so flimsy, what if they can't cope with the... you know, pressures put upon them!!???
Then the weather, with overnight temperatures dropping, so is the water temperature. Whilst wetsuits probably won't be mandatory, I thought I had better don mine and go for a swim - just in case.
That was Saturday and I was a full 2 minutes quicker than previous loops of the lake and I was going at a very leisurely pace.
Arghhh!
It won't take me 2mins to get out of the wetsuit (probably) that is quite a lot of free time or in my case "faff" time in transition.
Add all of this to the fact that I am feeling woefully underprepared for an event that was meant to be my post Channel focus, I am thinking I am just going to have to make a pressure decision on the day and go with it. At least that way I don't have to spend the rest of the week overthinking and catastrophising 🙄. So decision made, sort of... I am not going to make a kit decision until the day.
On a positive note, the BT3 MK contingent had a get together yesterday. We were last together in Dover at the beginning of the summer so it was great to catch up and discuss hopes and fears ahead of our next and final swim window of 2026 which opens in just under 2 weeks 🤞
Allison

It’s been a good week. Back to work after a fabulous summer of adventures, receiving our first ever batch of T**s Who Tri kit and continuing on with my triathlon training.

Today I have been for a swim, completed a 22km bike ride and then ran afterwards too! Kind of like a deconstructed tri 😂

I’m starting to feel nervous about my first ever sprint triathlon, an event I entered to give me a new challenge ‘post channel’ 🙄 but as we know it has turned out to be channel training itself. It’s next Sunday so not long to go, but it is brilliant doing it with lots of other fabulous Bluetits. Everyone has their own challenges to face and it’s going to be incredible watching them achieving their goals.

We have a BT3 team catch up planned tomorrow that I’m really looking forward to. It’s been a few weeks since we have all (minus Makala) been together and it’s always great to see everyone.

Lisa 🩵

It feels a bit like the Dovercoaster has started again already, and we're still a couple of weeks away from our next potential swim window. I'm thinking about the Channel and our swim more and more now that we're into September and the weather has changed - and now that all the lovely summer plans I had (that were meant to be post-swim plans!) have been and gone so I haven't got anything else to distract me. We've got a tiny glimmer of possibility this month and I'm trying so hard to hold onto the positivity I've been feeling recently. I've also been following the ups and downs of a couple of solo swimmers who are in Dover and waiting for the weather to improve so they can do their swim, and all of this has brought all sorts of feelings up again! I'm trying not to catastrophise or overthink (a lot easier said than done 🤣) and just trust that we'll finally be able to get in the sea and swim to France soon 💙

-Becca

Summer of swimming
It really has been a busy summer, I opened my diary today to find the last entry was whilst during our first Channel window 7th July. We’ve continued our training whilst getting on with our post-channel preplanned life events. Including family holidays and swim events.
As summer draws to a close we continue with our swim training hoping The Channel calls us for September window 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾

It really is a 🎢 🎢 🎢. Although it’s a tough call if the weather isn’t right. Unfortunately we are not the only swimmers waiting for this chance so we’ll keep everything crossed that we get the nod. Maria xx

Hurrah, I have not one, but two swim related updates this week! On Friday we did 4 dips in a day in London. Lisa kept us to a timetable that the military would have been proud of. We were really lucky with the weather, it only rained twice and both times we were in the changing rooms. I especially enjoyed the lidos at Parliament Hill and London Fields both were 50m. The mixed dipping pond at Hampstead Heath was beautiful and Sea Lanes in Canary Wharf was a real experience. Thanks for organising it, Lisa, and it was great to have Johnny from Centre Point along for the ride.

Then on Bank Holiday Monday a few of us went to Dover to celebrate 100 years since Gertrude Ederle swam the Channel, it was a lovely day but the swim was somewhat challenging, there was a lot of swell, but it was a good sea experience in case we do get another window near the end of the month.

Keep your fingers crossed for us, this may be our last shot before the end of year.🤞

Carrie

Dover Road trip......
However, we firmly stayed in English waters!
Half of the team, Carrie, Maria and I, along with our Chief Bluetit photographer, Rachael travelled to Dover today to take part in a swimming event in Dover Harbour. The event was to commemorate Gertrude Erdele's epic English Channel swim which saw her become the first woman ever to swim across the water to France.
We were joined in Dover by two other Milton Keynes Bluetits, Becci & Lindsey.
The sun was mostly shining, the air temperature was warm, however, there was a keen wind blowing and the team know that, whilst the harbour might look just a little choppy, when you are actually in the water, it can feel very different.
I was in the "relaxed wave." Carrie and Maria, who like a bit more pressure 😁 went in the "moderate" wave, which meant I was the first team member to swim.
The swim was 2km, 4 laps and the chop made it difficult to see the course buoys. However, I was lucky as the group of swimmers I was with were towing a big yellow duck and two pink flamingos between them, so I just hoped that they knew where they were going so I followed them.
Each lap was a triangle. The swim from the beach out into the middle of the harbour and the first buoy wasn't too bad, but on turning to go to buoy 2, things were very different, it was only possible to breathe to one side, as the other only resulted in a face full of water rather than air and it was hitting with such force, it kept lifting my goggles. I have never had that before. Turning again towards buoy 3 and the beach was much better and lap 1 was soon over. After that, I let my mind just concentrate on breathing which is what we had been practicing at Tri club last week. Ticking off the laps 2, halfway, 3 nearly there, 4 last one, hooray.
I just had one final hurdle and that was climbing out of the sea up the steep bank of pebbles and it was over. Not the easiest swim, but compared to last year which was shorter and in better conditions, I was very pleased with how it went today and how I felt after.
It was then time for Carrie and Maria to go. I just gave them a smile and a wave. They didn't need to hear how grim it was across the back of the harbour before experiencing it. They did brilliantly of course, as did Becci and Lindsey.
Afterwards, we were treated to a procession with two larger than life swimming models of Gertrude and Mathew Webb (first man to swim the Channel).
What a great day out.
Allison

This week has been about cycling (I joined 2 Breeze rides and loved them) and the final days of the Dipathon (in aid of Centrepoint and the Bluetits) which has involved dips and fundraising. We did a ‘4 dips in a day’ trip to London on Friday which went really well.

It’s been a strange week as I haven’t been very well so haven’t done half as much as I would have liked to, but pleased I still managed to do some cycling and swimming.

If there is anyone reading this who would like to make a donation to the Dipathon I will pop the link below. We have 1 day left before it closes tomorrow.

https://givestar.io/gs/lisas-fundraising-for-bluetits-and-centrepoint

Lisa 🩵

I'm in Scotland this weekend for a friend's wedding tomorrow, and on the way up we stopped off in the Lake District for a couple of nights at a lovely campsite right on the edge of Consiton Water. The weather was, erm, unpredictable 🤣 we got lucky with mostly dry weather for our hikes and decided we might as well get in the water while it was raining. I say we, Harvey got in up to his waist and then made a speedy exit the second my back was turned 😂 On the next swim Harv went out on the paddleboard while I swam, but it poured with rain so hard for the entire time he looked like he'd been for a swim anyway! Coniston is such a beautiful lake to swim in, it's the only one that's ever come close to the Blue Lagoon for me. Then today on our way up (and up and up and up!) to where we're staying for the wedding we detoured to swim in Cellardyke tidal pool near St Andrews. The sea looked fairly choppy so I was glad of the protection of the tidal pool and it actually wasn't as cold as I was expecting! It was a nice distraction after a looooong drive. This time Harvey did get fully in but decided that 10 seconds was more than enough time 😂 It's progress! Maybe by the time we eventually get to swim the Channel he'll be a fully fledged Bluetit 🐦

-Becca

Can't really compete with Allison's beautiful Cretian adventure. My week has been mostly filled with my daughters' 20th Birthday. We have done nothing swim related but did go see the Spiderman movie and last night we went to see Hamilton (again) in the West End with Leslie Odom Jnr. It was great! Looking forward to Friday and our 4ish dips in a day and Monday when we go to Dover to do the Gertrude Ederle 100th celebration swim thing. Other notable events include, Natalie's birthday, Lynn Mcbrearty becoming a nanny again and the small matter of Makala Jones swimming the Bristol Channel!!!
Don't forget to keep logging your dips for dipathon!

Carrie