I had just turned 15 and prior to the race my dad assured me that i should put on Vaseline to keep warm.

It ended up on my goggles also which made them virtually useless.

As i couldn’t see anything as a result , at the end of the race i couldn’t see the other swimmers ahead of me and for a brief period thought i must have won!

In reality, i think i came 21st . Quite a choppy sea too!

Loads of old men in the race and obviously only men entering at that time (women weren’t i think, permitted to enter at that time).