Shark attack

2 weeks ago I swam for the first time in the Atlantic Ocean. I was at Widemouth Bay in Cornwall, the weather was excellent, the surf was 3 ft and I wanted to swim way out beyond the breaking surf to the deep blue swell. I wanted to get a feel for what it would be like to swim away from land in very deep water. I checked with all the life guards about currents and tides and picked the safest time to swim, I had Tasha my safety kayaker with me and so just put my head down and swam out through the throngs of surfers and crashing waves into the deep blue Atlantic Ocean.

What is quite incredible and always seems to hit me after a swim like this (fortunately not before), is how 4 months ago I still had a huge fear of deep open water and it is now only 4 years since I learnt to swim. I seem to have developed this tunnel vision about the swim ahead of me. I had planned to swim straight out into deep water for 40 minutes and swim back for however long it took. This session was about experiencing new conditions, but also a normal training session for me.

I swam out for a mile and half, I wear ear plugs to prevent the feeling of dizziness you can get from swimming for a long time and so I can't always hear my safety kayaker correcting my course or warning me of problems ahead, this scream was different, I quite clearly heard the word shark and in that instant I panicked. A wave of nausea hit me and I instantly brought my legs up into a ball then called Tasha over so I could wrap my legs over the boat and hold on. I wanted to climb out of the water and sit on the kayak but the risk of capsizing was too great and needed the safety kayak to be 'safe'.

Three or so Basking shark, about 4 ft long surfaced within a few metres of me. What I didn't know was that these shark are harmless, but to a swimmer, looking through goggles, lost in his own thoughts a 4ft shark with fin, is a scary thing to see.

It took a good few minutes to calm down, I was just floating on my back in the big blue Atlantic swell, enjoying the peace and solitude, trying to get the sharks out of my head. If I carried on swimming west I would eventually reach New York!

I love swimming in the sea, how I hate swimming in a pool.....