Swimming upstream
Throughout my life, I have always felt like I was the one swimming against the social norms, often referring to my 'spirit fish' as a Salmon. My drum beat was different and I struggled to find people to harmonise with it. An example of me feeling disconnected from those around me was when I recently arrived at work. I got out of my car and I was instantly blasted with a refreshingly cool wind. I found myself taking a deep breath in and my muscles relaxed. Turning around, I see my colleague walking into the wind with a face on her saying “UGH! Awful wind”. It initially made me feel sad that I couldn’t relate to her. I find nature very spiritual and the way in which that wind made me relax was counter to my colleague's reaction to it.
Was it me? Am I the one not colouring within the lines or is everyone else not seeing the bigger picture?
Feeling out of place
There is no getting around it, as I get older, I find it harder and harder to make friends and connections. I am single and childless. All the normal topics of conversation in my age bracket tend to lie within children and being in a relationship. Having no way to tap into those conversations I often feel ostracised in social situations which compounds the feeling of isolation and social disconnect.
Through a series of decisions, I found myself on a path that gave me open-water swimming. Previous Jenny would have quite easily said “No f***ing way” but here I am: Co-founder of Warmcor and inventor of the Changing Tube. The path that led me here has not been without its peaks and troughs but the overriding feeling is that it has given me is a sense of being.
Cold water has a beautiful way of silencing the mind, especially when you are out in nature. The focus is drawn back into the present and the attention is on what is in front of you. If that happens to be a duck bobbing along, a fish jumping out of the water to say hello, or a Kestrel hovering over the shoreline looking for its next meal, it all helps me to relax. Nature is our one true master and reminding yourself of its awesome power humbles me and gives me perspective in my day-to-day life.
Genes and Cold Water
PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome. What? Never heard of it? Well me neither until last year. But when I did, a lot of jigsaw pieces from my life fell into place. PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome is sometimes called Cowden Syndrome and it’s very rare. In the North of England, only around 35 people have the condition. It’s a genetic disorder that allows non-cancerous growths to develop in areas of the body. The downside is, that these non-cancerous growths can develop into malignant growths. I’m most likely at risk of getting breast or thyroid cancer at some point so I have to stay vigilant. Luckily, now that I am diagnosed, I’m on the high-risk list and therefore will get tested regularly. Quickly nip anything in the bud sort of thing.
One of the symptoms of the disease is that I have a venous malformation on my hip. It started as a birthmark but over the years has morphed into my hip looking like it’s gone a tad wrong. It causes me issues every day - especially in Summer. I put this down to the main reason that I stuck with open water swimming once my sprint triathlon (the event that started this whole Warmcor journey) had come to an end. Moving through the water didn’t put any pain or pressure on my hip. Running can be problematic as the veins get hot, my hip area becomes inflamed and the pain starts. Cycling would squash the area which could also cause pain. But swimming. Swimming was the only discipline in a triathlon that actually eased it. Being in a swimming costume didn’t cut in or restrict the hip and the cold water reduced any inflammation. Add to that a whole host of other enjoyable factors, I found my place with water.
Finding my tribe and a new perspective
I was looking for my tribe. The people that I didn’t have to pretend with. All cards were laid out on the table and it was all okay. This is what I get with open-water swimming. You can be yourself and there is zero judgement. One day when I was stripping down to my costume at Salford Quays I remember thinking to myself “Blast! I forgot to shave my legs”.
This was when the logic and sense of being in this community reminded me,
“Jen, when was the last time you looked at anyone’s legs and thought: Jeeze… have you heard of a razor?”
“Never”
“Right. So why on earth would anyone else be thinking that about you, let alone comment on it?”
“Cool. You’re right”
And off I went for my swim and didn’t think any more about it.
No one cares about what you look like in your costume. No one. The only comment that you may get is the awe that someone has for your lack of body shock noises you make when you get in the cold water. Or comment about the woman in her 90s getting in the water like a boss. Life goals right there my friend.
Those types of lessons seep into your everyday life and you begin to see the bigger picture and you stop worrying about the little things. Of course, they can creep in occasionally, but a quick dip in the water banishes those thoughts away again. It’s the swimming tribe and nature that keeps reminding you of those lessons, and once I found that I wanted to contribute.
Creating a Changing "Game Changer"
The Changing Tube came about after marvelling at the speed at which a fellow swimmer had changed and asking how they had done it. The answer was a boob tube. At the time it was the middle of winter, so I couldn’t nip down to old trusty Primark for a cheap boob tube. After an internet search, one was ordered. The issues started to identify themselves pretty quickly. The biggest one for me was the… what I call ‘boob shelf’ that is built into all boob tubes. Even though I went for the size that would fit my body, the boobs… not so much. Then there was the material. Great for coverage but that’s about it. I wanted something more. I wanted the ease of moment that didn’t involve being confined to a boob shelf and I wanted (in the beginning) to have it as a tool for winter swim changes, so why not change the core fabric? The brief was given to my super creative mother and as part of my Covid Lockdown Christmas present, I was given a rainbow-patterned fleece Changing Tube.
I quickly put it to use and instantly saw the benefit. My swim changes were noticeably shorter than the other swimmers I was with. This was when the itch started that maybe… just maybe… more people could benefit from this.
But as we all know, LIFE has a habit of getting in the way. It took a little bit of time after the initial prototype before the Changing Tube and Warmcor came to life. It all started coming together once I moved back to Cumbria. After over a decade away, I was back and it felt oh so right. The time had come. Recruiting my sister, who still lived in Manchester, we started to work on bringing Warmcor and the Changing Tube to the open-water swimming community. We are still in our infancy but from the feedback and the reviews we have received so far, the future of Warmcor is very very exciting. Thank you for joining me.
