45 had registered but, after a long period of settled weather, the forecast was not great. Two days before the swim, there was talk of having to call it off.
So when 34 people turned up we were slightly surprised and completely delighted.
Swimming across Loch Sunart to the Resipole Holiday Park (OK, campsite) is an unusual and deceptively difficult swim. We ferry the swimmers to the other side, which adds a little adventure to the proceedings, as they jump from boat to boat and eventually reach the shore.
The swim is 1.6km for the best swimmers, those who can hold a straight line, and considerably further for those who get drifted by wind and tide. Their route more resembles a banana shape.
I spoke to one of the first out of the water, a good swimmer who normally covers 4km in an hour, yet who had taken 36 minutes to complete this swim. "It's surprisingly hard", he agreed, "with the wind making it quite choppy in the middle".
I also spoke to a former BBC colleague who wasn't the most proficient swimmer and who covered the whole distance using breaststroke. He took considerably longer than the 36 minutes, but hey, he made it. Here's a video which I hope captures some of the feel of the day.
On 12th May we have a short swim in Strontian, an ideal introduction to open water swimming, as part of the Sunart Water Festival. All these swims lead to our big swim - The Sound of Mull - on the 9th June.