Super glide

A mild Monday morning, the pool almost empty when I arrived. Then I saw Elizabeth getting in the water. She had asked me on Friday if I caught a picture of her glide as she was breaststroking. I didn't, so I thought today might be the day. Getting in the water felt quite cool, the board said 15ºC but with David on holiday there was no way to check. Elizabeth was swimming freestyle to begin with, her ribs must be a bit better, I think she must have spotted me because on her return she changed to breaststroke, with a beautiful long glide.

I think this captures it quite well, I do love those surface reflections. There's an SLSC Vs Serpentine gala coming up on November 6th, both Pip and Vince asked me if I'd take part I said yes but who knows how cold it'll be by then. Despite my general pace I'm not really a one length racer, I'll do my best though and it's all good fun. I went on to swim twenty two lengths but I think I might be cutting down soon.

Flip flop weather

It was much cooler today. Yesterday the warm morning had given way to a cold afternoon and evening. I had the heating on this morning for the first time this season. The wind had dropped and the water was just over 15ºC which didn't feel too bad but the ground was cold
The pool had a lot of leaves in it, made it difficult to see at times as they tended to stick to my goggles. The leaves are still quite scratchy, especially when you hit a large pile of them, I like to watch them hanging in the water, yellow and red reflecting the weak sun.
I saw Nick get in the pool but paid no attention, I'd already turned and was continuing at a steady pace. About two thirds of the length later he came rushing by me, I'd spotted him in only just enough time and really had to sprint the last third to finish before him. Nick has a very quick sprint but he did start behind me, he'll have to try something else if he's going to beat me.

Elizabeth shows me her flip flops, I'll have to dig mine out if the weather isn't getting any warmer. Twenty two lengths in all.

Half a pool

A bright sunny morning, the wind and rain from last night had passed over and it didn't feel as cold as they said it would. The water temperature is about 16ºC now and we were reduced to the winter swimming section of just half the pool and across the shallow end. I like swimming on the trackside and along with all the leaves the water felt quite crowded. Started of pacing myself against a swimmer I didn't know, took me twelve length to pass him. Then swam a few length with Alfonso. Pip and Batch were swimming up and down beside us for a while,  I saw Batch wait for our arrival and gave him a little half length race.

Here's Batch in all his rolling glory making his way though the leaves. I think his sroke looks a lot better, he has a good reach and roll but told me he wants to go faster. Next time I'm going to film him to see if there's anything he can improve upon. Twenty two lengths in all.

Polenta cake

Another grey morning with light drizzle as I made my way up to the lido but it's still warm and the water is hovering about 17ºC which is good. A good turn out with about a dozen in the water when I arrived, I found a spot between Tom and Vince and set off in the leafy water. Sue and Chris started swimming a little bit later and I got this synchronised picture of them, I love the reflection of Sue's pink watch.

As I was getting dried and changed Chris was talking about baking with Wendy and Gail. Their conversation was making me hungry so I told them so. It started because Chris had a hazelnut and grapefruit polenta cake, he gave me a slice which was delicious, I never tasted a cake quite like it, nutty, moist but witha citrus kick at the end. Chris was telling us he's going to be in panto this Christmas - we must all go and see him!

Autumn falls

A grey morning but still warm. The winter entrance was open today and the lido was surprisingly full, more than a dozen in the water when I arrived. It had been a bit blustery over night and the leaves have begun to fall.

Super quick Nick was pounding up and down the pool, you can see the bubbles left in his wake with each kick. The water was still 17ºC, a large patch of leaves had gathered at the shallow end, it's nice to swim through them and feel them scratch and tickle you as you pass.

Alfonso joined me after eight length and we swam together, when I got a little bit ahead I turned to take this picture, more leaf than Alfonso but I like it. Elizabeth was doing breaststroke still, I'll have to get a picture of her glide. Only twenty two today.

Summer stayed on

Summer stayed a little later this year, and it's been most welcome. This last week-end was wall to wall sunshine with the air temperature reaching 30ºC. They decided to keep the lido open to the public for an extra two days, probably the busiest week-end of the whole summer. On Sunday I did a twenty two length swim dodging paddlers, plodders, lilos and children. It was fun to have the place so full of life, on recent weeks there's been many the time I was the only person in the water.

The winter season started today, but with more sunshine and the water at 17ºC it was hard to believe it was the 3rd October. I got to the Lido at 8am, despite yesterdays crowds it was just the usual faces swimming. My first sub-aquatic image is of Elizabeth doing breaststroke, not a classic but I like how she's flying through the water. I was hoping to get her with her face underwater as she glided but I missed and then wanted to carry on swimming. Elizabeth cracked a rib a few weeks ago and isn't up to freestyle yet as it's still too painful. She's started running widths across the pool which has started a bit of a new craze but I don't think I'll be joining in. The water is slightly milky, I guess from all the week-ends sun block that has washed into it. I saw David, Jonathan, Vince, Sue, Chris, Pip, Carl and Kate among others. I expect I'll see a lot more of them as the mercury falls. The sauna isn't back on until the water falls below 10ºC or the first of December, whichever comes first. Carl asked about Sardinia and told me he was going to up his distance as the water got colder, I think I'll go the other way. Thirty six lengths was easy without a shiver.

Octopussy

Just come back from a wonderful week in Sardinia with Swimtrek. Good company, good food and great to have a bit of hot sun and some good long sea swims. The highlight for me was meeting this octopus, apparently they come into shallow water at this time of year to find a mate.

What a beautiful creature, you might notice that it has a leg missing, I wonder how it was lost? It looks amazing when it swims, transforming into a jet propelled streamlined dart, they can move quite quickly if they want to.
The sea temperature was about 23ºC, lovely.
Back up to the lido as soon as possible, it's probably about 16ºC and will take a bit of getting used to.