Well, that’s the 2026 Swimathon 5km all done!
Considering where things started (hello, wonky wrist), I’m really happy with how it all turned out.
If you’ve been following along, you’ll know this hasn’t been the most straightforward build‑up. From the operation on my wrist, to cautiously getting back in the water and testing it out, to wondering whether 5km was a sensible idea at all… it’s been a bit of a stop‑start journey. But on the day, everything came together far better than I expected.
Following surgery I’ve managed a few training swims while the wrist has been recovering, but these have been very easy sessions with lots of rest between intervals (literally just doing 50m’s and 100m’s). Each swim felt a bit easier but wasn’t entirely pain free and needed some time after for the wrist to settle down a bit.
So on the day of the Swimathon I turned up with plan to take it steady, rest every 1km and aim for around the two‑hour mark and if took longer then so be it. The only goal was to complete the swim no matter how long it took.
As it turned out, the swim / my wrist felt good enough that I only needed to stop twice (once at 2.5km and again at 4km) — and finished in 1:44:39. Definitely quicker than I expected, and a fantastic confidence boost after not doing this long a distance for a quite few months.
The team at Maltby Leisure Centre were brilliant. Friendly, organised, and on top of the lap counting (always impresses me the patience they must have, watching us going up-down-up-down over and over). It was also really goo to see younger swimmers taking on their own challenges — 1.5km, 2.5km, and a family doing the 5km as a relay together. It gave the whole Swimathon session a really positive and inclusive feeling.
As for the wrist: it behaved. A few niggles here and there, but nothing dramatic. The next day it definitely reminded me it had been put to work, but in a “fair enough, you made me swim 5km” sort of way rather than anything worrying.
And then, just to round things off nicely, my weekly Swimtag email landed and told me I’d logged my best 400m time since last year. Not a PB, but still a really encouraging sign that things are moving in the right direction.
It felt really good to finish this one. It’s been a while since I last swam a 5km so there was a little bit of doubt beforehand… Could I still do this? Will the wrist hold up? Will I get halfway through and have to get out?
Touching the wall at the end was a mix of relief, satisfaction, and that quiet “yep, still got it” feeling. And yes, it’s always nice to add a fresh bit of bling to the collection.
Thanks to everyone who’s supported me along the way, the messages and encouragement meant a lot and all helped more than you might think. There’s still time to donate if you’d like to flip a coin or two in the pot at my JustGiving page.
For now, that’s Swimathon 2026 all wrapped in. The wrist survived, the swim went better than planned, and now I have my eyes on the next challenges..
So what’s next? Well I’m on the Open Water Safety Rescue course later this week to renew my certificate (has to be renewed every 2 years).
I’m also looking at doing the 5km in Salford in May for the Greater Manchester Swim and I’m booked on for the Chillswim Coniston 8km swim in June. I reckon that’s enough to keep me busy for the time being!
