Found another lake

Whilst rummaging around the internet to find a wetsuit stockist I read about Spring Lakes near Nottingham. I decided I wasn't interested in their Zoggs wetsuit range as they don't appear to produce a 3:5 style suit. However, a lake within an hour's drive is of some interest.

I find the travel to and from supervised lakes rather long in relation to the amount of time I'm actually able to swim, but then again, I flew to Greece for what must have been little more than 12 hours of swimming! A major advantage of Spring Lakes over, for example, SwimYourSwim at Hatfield,  is that they have slots for most of the daylight hours. This means that I can choose to travel to avoid 'rush hour' and to fit in with other things at home. 

The venue's website is tidy, detailing all of the activities, and online booking was straightforward. The website and photos suggest that the dry-side of the venue may well be cleaner and more attractive than some...

The lakes are on the edge of Long Eaton and can be reached from the M1 by two routes. The shortest is through the busy town centre, and there is a slightly longer option on a better-flowing peripheral road. The map suggests it wouldn't be a massive walk from the station, but open water swimming often involves more kit than it should.

The approach road is narrow and could be tricky at bust times. I drove past the entrance initially, the first sign for the lake really indicates the venue. The parking appears plentiful and check-in was efficient. The toilets and changing areas are adequate but, as mentioned above, more rustic than I expected. I didn't find the advertised showers. I didn't use the lockers, current practice seems to be the widespread approach of leaving a car key at reception and ones' clothes lakeside.

The water was 19°C, green with weed, and rather hazy. Unusually, you're allowed to swim anywhere in the lake, the one in use today would be a mile around, I chose to stay at one end with a nominal 500m loop. The lifeguard was very happy to explain the options to me, and did enquire if I had some open water experience. I'm always conscious of my body temperature so wore my rather heavy Alpkit SilverTip wetsuit. 

As I was warm enough I stayed to complete three laps in around 45 minutes with pauses to look around. Each lap was perhaps slightly smaller than the preceding one! If I go in the near future, before the water is much colder, I'll try a full lap.

Strava map of the swim, showing the venue layout

I had a warming coffee and cake from the lakeside cafe before setting off for home. Overall, the venue is worth considering for a supervised open water swim. The staff I met were pleasant and helpful. Don't expect a hot shower and smart, tiled changing area though.