Teacher from Slough becomes first woman to complete epic 13 Lakes swimming challenge

A teacher from Slough is first woman to complete 13 Lakes Challenge – swimming 71km and cycling 185km in 84 hours.

In so doing, teacher Clair Harris has completed a challenge that has previously only been completed by three people – and raising £4,700 for Muscular Dystrophy UK.

She was fundraising in support of her friend Nausheen Ahmed, who lives with GNE myopathy, a rare inherited muscle disease.

At 6.50am on her 60th birthday (Saturday, July 12) Clair entered Lake Windermere to start ‘The 13’ challenge – swimming the full length of all 13 publicly accessible lakes in the Lake District.

If this wasn’t enough, she cycled the 185km between them as well.

Explaining her motivation for taking on the challenge, Clair said: “Originally, I was inspired by Kevin Sinfield and everything he did to raise money and awareness for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in honour of his friend Rob Burrow.

“I thought I could do something similar, on a smaller scale, for Muscular Dystrophy UK and my friend Nausheen, who lives with the muscle weakening condition GNE myopathy.”

Clair and Nausheen met at the school where Clair teaches. Nausheen used to work as a teaching assistant but now has a desk-based role at the school.

“Nausheen and I work together and have been good friends for 10 years,” said Clair.

“I’ve watched her journey living with GNE myopathy and it has been saddened to see how this terrible degenerative condition has affected her life and restricted her mobility and independence over the years.

“But what always strikes me about Nausheen is that’s she’s so positive. She never complains about her condition and is the loveliest person.

“Nothing is too much trouble, and she does so much for other people. This was my chance to do something for her.”

^{Clair and her support team}

The 13 is a challenge is to swim the full length of all 13 publicly accessible lakes in the Lake District as quickly as possible, with the clock starting when the swimmer enters the first lake.

 “I’ve been swimming since I was 13 and have swum Lake Windermere several times,” said Clair. “But this was definitely the biggest physical challenge of my life.

“The idea of taking on ‘The 13’ is something I had been harbouring for a while.

“Three or four years ago, my husband showed me a video of the first person who did the challenge in 2019, Danny Longman, and I said, ‘I’d like to do that one day’.

“Then I thought, why not do it for my 60th birthday? At the time, my husband probably didn’t imagine it would result in me spending our 30th wedding anniversary swimming in a lake while he stood in the rain waving at me.”        

For her challenge, Clair was accompanied by a support team of family and friends, some of whom joined her for parts of the challenge – swimming or kayaking alongside her and cycling between the lakes.

“The camaraderie was special,” said Clair. “Some of the people I train with at Bray Lake came along to swim some of the lakes with me and that support really motivated me. That, and thinking of my friend Nausheen.

“She sent me messages of encouragement throughout the challenge, which helped me through some difficult moments.”

Clair is waiting for her challenge to ratified by ‘The 13’. Subject to approval, she will be the first woman – and the first non-wetsuit swimmer – to have officially completed the challenge.

Support Clair’s fundraising at justgiving.com/page/clair-harris-swim-13-lakes