Open-air swimming was a popular pastime in Maidenhead, recalls Wendy Cooke (née Stubbs), medal-winner in the ladies’ river race from 1963 to 1966, as the only swimming pool in the town was open to the elements. Set out as a lido with grassy areas to sit on, it was open from May to September. Unheated, the water temperature could be as low as 10 degrees at the start of the season, but it still attracted a crowd of teenagers and adults. Swimming stopped each winter and the Long Swim in the Thames marked the end of the season.
Wendy entered her first race in 1963, aged 14. It was held at about 6pm, after the boat traffic had finished for the day and when the water was at its warmest. That year – in which she finished 2nd in the ladies’ race – she recalls that there was a cover boat for each swimmer but by the time of her last race in 1966, increasing costs meant there were only a couple of boats to look out for everyone – not ideal, given how spread out the swimmers could be.
The men’s race in the 1960s was dominated by three men: ‘Rad’ Howard, Derek Harris and Mike Hughes. Derek Harris won the two-mile race twice, once in 1964, aged 20. ‘I personally did not enjoy long-distance swimming, so I only entered three times – once as a teenager, when I came second behind a guy named Richard Howard (nicknamed ‘Rad’) who was about four years older than me.’
Rad won for four years, from 1960 to 1963. ‘My first win in 1964 interrupted his winning sequence,’ said Derek. ‘Rad was always the man to beat.’
Rad Howard recalls the two swimmers’ rivalry. ‘After Derek won in 1964 I think it may have made me more determined to succeed, which I did in 1965 and 1966.’ It was a friendly rivalry, though: they played in both the Maidenhead water polo team and the Maidenhead 1st XV rugby team together, and Derek was best man at Rad’s wedding in 1965.