A New Year Day dook in the chilly waters off Arbroath was a mere warm-up for what a Courier country swimmer hopes will be a history-making 2015.
Colleen Blair was among the hardy souls who took the Angus plunge on January 1 but, unlike most of those who braved the North Sea, is a seasoned open water swimmer who has completed a string of marathon challenges across the globe.
Joined by her 63-year-old mum, Irene, for the Arbroath dook, Colleen is planning to write her name into the record books this year by becoming the first solo swimmer to make the Minch crossing, a treacherous challenge of around 30 miles between Lochinver on the Scottish mainland and the Isle of Lewis.
Colleen, 36, from Aberfeldy, hopes to be able to take on the Minch challenge later this summer, and will also be heading to Arizona in May for the SCAR event, a four-lakes-in-four-days open water marathon.
Success in her 2015 endeavours would add to a list of achievements which include an English Channel crossing and 46 kilometre circuit of New York’s Manhattan Island.
The swimming teacher and Aberfeldy sports centre duty manager, whose parents live in Birkhill, near Dundee, completed her first open water event as a youngster when she tackled Dundee’s bridge to bridge swim between the Tay road and rail crossings.
Her dedication to the sport now sees Colleen pick holiday destinations on the basis of the next marathon challenge location.
“I do most of my swimming at home but try to fit my holidays around some of the big challenges,” she said.
She was the first person to make the ‘Hell’s Mouth’ Pentland Firth crossing from Orkney to the mainland four years ago and hopes for similar success in the Minch.