T he picture (right) was taken one cool October Saturday morning at Race Hub
in Six Hills - just ten minutes’ drive from Barrow and used by British Triathlon
athletes. The sky is grey and the water looks cold. It is – nine degrees. The
swimmer’s face and hands are pink; they are burning, as he has an ‘ice-tan’ from
the cold water. He looks solitary but earlier he wasn’t at all as there were many others
lapping the buoys after the 10.00 am start time.
This swimmer’s alone as he’s stayed in
longer than most having completed 13
laps. Many do between four and eight but
13 is a lot! Not to this man though as he’s
Justin Palfrey who swam the channel in
1989 and nowadays coaches swimming. But
you don’t need to be very good as it’s open
to all levels of swimmer and you just swim
the number of laps you feel up to. In the
summer when I swam here I usually did one
and sometimes two. Each lap is 300 metres.
The lake is in pleasant countryside and has
become much more popular as a result of
Covid 19 closing the indoor pools for so
many months. If you didn’t swim in the
Soar, or here, you just couldn’t swim locally.
The great advantage of this lake over the
river is that it’s cleaner and safer. There
are fish in the lake, you see them jumping
up in the summer but are unaware of them
otherwise. You do see the moorhens, ducks
and geese, and swimming among them is
great. At night, when the club is closed,
the geese would like to take over the grassy
verges of the Race Hub Club site but are
kept away by fencing. Geese are beautiful
but their poo isn’t! They have plenty of
places to roost on the other side of the
lake. It’s a big lake – room for all.
The largeness of the lake isn’t a problem
for swimmers as someone is always keeping
watch. One of these people is Lee Barber.
If you get into trouble all you have to do is
raise your hand and someone will jump into
the rescue boat and you’ll be out of
the water in a flash. It doesn’t often
happen, as most swimmers are fit and
confident, it’s just that an unexpected
cramp can appear at any time.
Open-water swimming has been in the press
recently as possibly helping to ward off
Alzheimer’s. However, even if it doesn’t,
it has a lot going for it. Lee gave me a list:
it boosts your immune system, releases
endorphins, improves circulation, increases
your libido, reduces stress and burns
up calories. So, what’s stopping you from
joining up? At this time of the year most
swimmers wear wetsuits but Katy Young
is one who chooses not to.
One person who has joined up and loves
open-water swimming is Nicky Tipping from
Long Clawson. She only started swimming
at this site this June, fell in love with it,
and now swims every week. She delights in
how well it makes her feel and is planning
to embark on the Race Hub Chilly Challenges
- 20 short swims which run from October
to March. Like me Nicky is a breastroke
swimmer and enjoys looking around her as
she swims. We agreed that the swimmers
doing fast crawl saw little as they
completed their laps. Taking it more slowly
means you are aware of swimming through
the reflections of sunlight and getting
closer to the wild fowl. When I spoke to
Nicky she was well wrapped up after her
swim. She emphasised the importance of
doing so within ten minutes of leaving the
water. If you don’t, she told me, you might
suffer an ‘after-drop’ and start shivering
uncontrollably.
As well as wearing lots of layers you can
warm up with hot chocolate. There’s a
little open-air café that sells hot drinks
and snacks such as protein bars and fruity
shortbread as you get so hungry swimming.
All in all it’s a very good, friendly place.
So, if you fancy a lake swim, learn more.
Go to their facebook page: facebook.com/
racehub.uk or drive over to see them.
The address is Six Hills Lane, Six Hills,
Melton Mowbray LE14 3PR. The club shares
the same entrance as Six Hills Golf Club.
Check the site is open, and that someone
is there, by emailing info@racehub.uk as
times vary.
Gaynor Barton
