Richard ready to thaw out in a hot tub
Pulling myself up a rope ladder, legs wobbling away, while gallons of murky water smashed into my face, the concept of uphill swimming suddenly felt very real.
I was attempting to scale a fourmetre high lock gate, one of the obstacles on the Red Bull Neptune Steps open water swim. Held at the Maryhill Locks on the Forth & Clyde canal in Glasgow, the 420m course includes seven locks, with competitors facing cargo nets, ladders and climbing walls at each gate. A height gain from start to finish of 18m means the event is billed as the world’s only uphill swim race.