SWIMMING in the River Eden at the end of November...

Crazy, that is what everyone told me.

But what is the worst that could happen? It's not every day you get to train with firefighters and that's just what I did.

It had been planned for a few weeks and I'd been bragging I'm going to be rescued by Blue Watch from Carlisle East and West Stations.

As the day came closer the nerves set in.

Working on the Newsdesk I have written many tragic stories involving the water - and many amazing stories about rescues - but none of this put my mind at ease.

I knew the water would be freezing and the thought of cold water shock was playing on my mind.

But, in true Bridget Jones style I got into the kit our wonderful fire service provided and joined in.

I don't think I honestly expected it to be as challenging as it was. Flipping over a boat and learning how to get back to the river bank in the water blew my mind.

It's all very technical but these skills are vital, especially in Cumbria.

Knowing what goes into this exercise has really made me appreciate the skills firefighters have. It's not just fires they deal with and to take me on this journey will stay with me forever.

Water Rescue Instructor Seamus Brenan looked after me in the water along with the rest of the crew.

He said: “In Cumbria we have fire crews specifically trained for water rescue, crews train regularly for many different water rescue scenarios and once a year we complete an annual refresher where we assess crews competency in the water.

"We have state-of-the-art PPE, equipment and training to enter the water safely and train for rescues, ending up in the water courses without these could result in serious injury or death.

"Our advice for the public is to remain a safe distance away from water to ensure that you do not end up a casualty.

"Yesterday, we have covered a wide range of training elements both theoretically and practically, we spent this morning focusing on searching and search patterns as well as the range of techniques we can use to affect a rescue.

"Then we covered different practical elements such as how to self rescue, how to recover boats and water dynamics.

"As the temperature drops further, ponds and lakes will inevitably freeze over.

"In the past we have been called to both animals and humans that have gone on to frozen ponds and then gone through the ice, our advice on this remains the same, do not attempt a rescue yourself, we have the training and capability to rescue from frozen water such as ponds.

"Whilst we appreciate this can be distressing for owners of pets, calling us out is the safest thing to do.”