Perry Beeches  open water swimmer Paul Bates added  to his growing list of achievements at the weekend by taking took on and conquering  the most iconic open water swim in the UK , Lake Windermere..Paul took part in the famous BRITISH LONG DISTANCE SWIMMING ASSOCIATION 57th WINDERMERE CHAMPIONSHIPS along with 30 of the best open water swimmers in the UK….Having got up at 3am to drive the 150 miles from the midlands to the lake district  , Paul met his fellow competitors on banks on of Windermere at fell foot park national park at 9.00am to start the race, before the race there was brief swimmers safety meeting, details like the distance of the swim is 10.5 miles, finishing point is waterhead beach at the north end of the lake..water temperature today is between 15 and 17 degrees , please be careful of all water traffic 100s of sailing boats and ferries are out today and finally the not so good news, the weather forecast is very mixed…strong wind and rain is predicted but hopefully the sun will come out later in the afternoon…!!  With that we got a good luck and swim safe and we were off…. The 1st 3hrs of swim seemed to go fast, water was a bit fresh but okay…however as we reached Bowness-on-Windermere about 6 miles into the race the wind and rain turned up…! Swimming got a lot more difficult after that …the next 4.5 miles were very tough as we were swimming into the wind, the water got very choppy and hard to keep a good rhythm to your stroke …the last 2 miles seemed never ending you could see the finish in the distance but never got any closer , but finally after 5 hrs of swimming paul reached Waterhead ,he was cold and exhausted but he had made it , a big crowd of family and supporters and many tourist clapped and cheered him and every swimmer into the beach…   Paul official time was 5hrs 6 minutes, a superb swim in the conditions, as result Paul was placed in a incredible third in the Open men’s race, (and 1st in vet over 45.) Paul also was lucky enough to be award the John K Slater “Lakeland Trophy” for the fastest newcomer to the event. Paul is pictured with ex world kayaker Sue Carriock, who was paul amazing kayak support for the swim, Paul said, Sue plotted a great course for me, which as I result meant I was very lucky and proud to get 3 third in the men’s race, which also meant I was award the John K Slater “Lakeland Trophy for the fastest newcomer to the event ..Not bad for a bald 45+ something chubby boy from Walsall …felt very lucky and proud to be awarded it ;-)). Good times..