WATCH: Shropshire swimmer swaps pool for stream to keep up training
A south Shropshire swimming champion swapped the pool for the stream and is now an internet hit.
A film of Tess Tinsley swim training in a stream was picked up by swimming retailer Swimzi, and posted on Instagram and Facebook as an example of how to train in lockdown.
It has now been viewed more than 1,500 times by swimmers across the world.
WATCH Tess in action:
Tess, aged 14 and from Marshbrook near Church Stretton, swims for Ludlow Swimming Club and Northgate Swimming Club.
She won four gold medals at the 2020 Shropshire County Championship and had qualified for the West Midlands Swimming Championships in May, for the third year in succession, but it has now been postponed.
Used to training in the pool six days a week, Tess decided to start swimming in the stream at the bottom of her garden with a belt that her mum, Liz Tinsley, held up to create extra resistance.
Liz said: "Tess went from training for 12 hours a week to nothing overnight when lockdown started.
"She missed the pool so much and needs to keep her fitness up.
"So with the weather so nice, she decided to go and try swimming in the stream at the bottom of our garden. It was very cold, only 13 degrees, but she managed 45 minutes.
"She's used to open water swimming, Tess competed in the 2019 Midland Open Water Championships in Nottingham, but this is very different."
Tess said: "The water is really cold, even though I've been wearing a wetsuit. But at least it's something to help me train.
"It's not the same as the pool. I'm a butterfly swimmer, but it was really hard to try fly in shallow water."
