Wave

The light wasn't great but I managed to catch some underwater pictures today. Here's Giles powering along.

Richard joined me in the water too, I did a six length swim then took a few pictures.

Batch stopped to wave making me laugh, which isn't good when you're underwater.

On my way out a caught another Elizabeth dive in exchange for carrying her flip flops back to the shallow end.

Dummy

Not sure what the life saving mannequin was doing at the bottom of the pool this morning, no one seemed to want to jump in and rescue him. Cloudy but mild, the water still has a bit of bite. I did six lengths before heading to the sauna.

Ian and Nando after a couple of lengths, I think Ian is trying to say that it's cold.

A week doesn't go by without an Elizabeth dive, it must be a real shock to get in the water this way.

Reflection

It was a chilly morning with bright sunlight and long shadows, the reflection of the trees in the kiddie pool looks amazing as the sun comes up.

The water lapped lazily at the steps, it was cold. I did a six length swim.

Long shadows with the sun behind me and the cubicle doors lit up. Another beautiful morning.

Rules

A version of these retro-style swimming pool rules are now hanging in the sauna. We all seemed to remember them fondly from the various swimming pools of our youth. Did it not used to ask you to refrain from 'heavy' petting? would the youth of today even understand? No Smoking in the pool, was this really a problem? There's no mention of eating because people never used to snack between meals and a scalding plastic cup of hot chocolate was all that could be bought in foyer on the way out.

You wouldn't believe I was caught in a shower on the way up to the lido given the clear skies in this picture. The dark figure is Vince.

By the time I joined him in the water he was on his last two lengths sans wetsuit.

Michael then joined me in the water and I had a game of catch up before snapping this image. The water felt colder after the week-end frosts but I still did six lengths.

Why the fountain was coned off I have no idea, perhaps it had been icy?

Blue sky

I got my sunny morning at last, the clear sky had left a little frost and the air was much cooler. Unfortunately the sun doesn't reach the water until after 9am at this time of year.

A got this picture of Mr Ape before joining him in the water. I powered on to catch him up and we swam a couple of length together, I did six in total.

I'd seen Fred when I came in but he was off for a run. Later I caught him finishing his swim before I had to go to work.

Gloomy

The weather forecast promised a bright sunny morning, at least the rain had stopped. Another six length swim in the gloom.

A Brockwell icicle enjoying the water, rather blurred because it was hard to press the shutter with numb fingers.

Jonathan does a quick width, I tried to catch Nick as well but he walked the last ten yards.

Push off

Sue pushes off for her quick dip. A dry morning for once and the sun was beginning to spill over the water as I went for my swim.

There goes Richard. I did a six length swim again wondering what the temperature was? Of course it's cold but it felt quite nice in the winter sunshine.

David is the man in the know. 5°C was the verdict which surprised me. I thought it was getting warmer, I must be re-acclimatising quicker than I thought.

Mild and windy

 Vince already in the water by the time I'd struggled against the wind and reached the lido.

James Penrose on a marathon swim. I joined him in the water and spent six lengths catching him up. I dare not ask him how far he went as he tried to warm up in the sauna.

Not the best looking morning but the air temperature must be well into double figures and I think the water was perhaps a little warmer. A couple of Brockwell Icicles were swimming here this morning, one had an electronic thermometer that read 7°C. I prefer to go by David's temperature reading just because he takes it more often and in the same place but I didn't catch what it was today.

Here comes Nando! Water a bit murky today, they were messing about with the hoover at the deep end, is it broken?

 Here comes Elizabeth! She didn't see me until she stopped, I think I gave her a bit of a fright.

The perfect balance of Mr Ape, nice bubbles.

Rain

It was a wet and windy morning, I got soaked just cycling up to the lido. Clouds were scudding across the sky with heavy showers.

Vince was in the water when I arrived, back to school and back to earlier swimming.

I did a four length swim, it might be a little warmer than last Friday, around 5°C I think..

Routine

It's difficult getting back into routine. It was dark and raining when I got up and I wasn't sure I wanted to go swimming. Luckily the rain stopped as I cycled up and it wasn't very windy or too cold.

The pool is very full at the moment, with my feet on the hand rail they are fully submerged. I didn't sit around for long, I got in and did a brisk four length swim before heading to the sauna.

By the time I was out of the sauna the clouds had cleared and the sun was coming up. You can see how high the water is in this picture.

It was turning into a beautiful morning just as I had to go to work. The hand rail reflected, it's usually above the surface level.

Elizabeth was back and promised to dive in if I carried her flip flops down to the shallow end for her.

I followed her down the pool and got this picture as she got closer to the shallow end.

Flip flops waiting for her I got this image just as she arrived and before I had to hurry off to work.

Happy New Year!

It's still quite dark at 8am but the sky was clear, it wasn't raining and the wind had died down a bit. I haven't had a swim in a couple of weeks but now the new year has begun I must get back into the routine.

I'm not sure of this chaps name but he too was swimming after a festive break. The water felt thick and heavy but not too bad, I did a four length sprint. I think it's a round 4°C but I didn't check with David. It was good to see familiar faces like Sue, Chris, Batch, David and Vince and I spoke to another Alex too before I had to dash off to work.