Swum

3250m today, which brings my total up to 35210m. In other words, I have completed my sponsored cross-channel swim. For a list of the distances swum, see my sponsorship page. While you're there, feel free to whip out your credit card and contribute to the good cause.
I swam the whole distance breast-stroke, mainly because I started the challenge with a hurt shoulder which made crawl impossible. Once I had done the first 10k breast-stroke, it made sense to me to finish it in the same way.

I have swum the following distances on the days of this week:

1000m
3000m
4000m
0m
3250m

I was feeling very sluggish in the water today ("Not this again!") and my right knee protested quite a bit about the kick. But it's done now.

Things I have learned:
- how not to lose count of lengths;
- that swimming more than a mile is easy;
- that swimming more than 3.5km is hard;
- that eating too much after a long swim is as ill-advised as eating too soon before it;
- that choppy water is much harder to swim in;
- some of the ways in which my breast-stroke is inefficient;
- that the lengths pass more quickly if there's another real swimmer in the next lane;
- especially if it's a young woman;
- that I can tolerate low-chlorine pools much better than regular ones;
- that even low-chlorine pools give me dry skin and a chlorine stink;
- how to wear goggles;
- how to wear speedos;
- and that I still dissolve in water.

The next unlikely physical challenge might well be the Great South Run, next November, with my siblings.