August Bank Holiday weekend dawned bright and sunny and we arrived at Vachery Lake in Cranleigh, nr Guildford, Surrey for what promised to be a great day out for Di and Paul and the kids and my daughter Faye and I. It was not to be any ordinary day out but a truly exhilerating and awesome one. As a bit of background, Di and I were competitive swimmers as youngsters and for us jumping into an open water lake and swimming 2 miles was I guess viewed like a long training session with a crowd of swimmers and some pond weed and was not deemed too daunting. Paul on the other hand, had no swimming pedigree and had set himself a goal to complete a mile swim, something he had not done before and under race conditions. He had trained at Manley Mere Lake in Frodsham with Di during the summer months of 2010 and Spring 2011 in preparation for the Great North Swim in June, but as it transpired, he did not swim as a brain tumor was diagnosed a month earlier and he was undergoing radiotherapy treatment so Di bravely swam it alone with her kids and I on hand to support her. Paul showed his remarkable strength of character and gritty determination, when finishing his radiotherapy he declared that he would be attempting the next Great North Swim. Di and Paul continued to mass up the laps in the pool during the winter months. June arrived and beautiful Lake Windermere was anything but, it was a stormy, choppy, rain-lashed, dark, grey stretch of unswimmable water and the organizers were forced to cancel the racing scheduled on the Friday and Saturday. Di and I were not too bothered, there would be other opportunities, but Paul was bitterly disappointed, he had built himself up for the challenge only to be thwarted by the great British weather and with his future health uncertain he announced that all his training efforts were not going to be wasted and that he would find another mile to race that summer. So that is how we came to be at Vachery Lake, an unspoilt gem in the Surrey countryside and open for the first time for a festival of swimming and triathlon, this was now to be Paul's challenge. Paul displayed the positive mental attitude that we had come to know from him and entered the lake first, the mile swimmers set off and the rather smaller group of two milers followed. The kids were there to cheer and greet their dad when he appeared victorious from the lake having completed his 1 mile challenge, and, showing all his fighting spirit, although very happy with his excellent 30min time, declared that he was sure with a bit more training he would be able to swim as quickly as Di and I! The day meant so much to Paul, it was a goal he had set himself before diagnosis and was daunting enough for someone in good health but to then not give up on his goal when faced with the bigger challenge of living with cancer, is testament to the kind of guy he was and I shall always be inspired by his courage and determination. In just 7 weeks time, Di and I will do the Great North Swim and we will recall Paul's triumph at Lake Vachery, we will be mentally strong as we swim our hearts out for you Paul and I know you will be so proud of Di for sticking to her plans and not giving up because that's what you would have done. I will race in your memory always. Love Caz x