First winter mile

It's the first day of the winter season. It feels so different, bringing my bike through the top gate and parking it under the shelter. We have to sign in, no one to check the passes. The usual names are already here, some have gone already and a few are in the water.

It's still rather gloomy and the drizzle hasn't stopped. I know almost everyone I see at this time of year, at least by sight if not name. This is when the SLSC becomes a club again.

Carl is powering up and down the pool, I'm not sure how far he went but I expect it was a fair way. I was doing my best to catch up with him but he got out before I had the chance. Kate had made a delicious cake for after swimming, beautifully light with a dusting of icing sugar - Thanks!

I think Hilary tries to avoid me in the water. She swims well and with style. Sue and Chris were swimming together, Elizabeth was in a wetsuit, David swam in a circle, I saw Johnathan, Sue B, Vince and many more. I did an eighteen length swim, the water was 12ºC, a five degree drop on this time last year.

A bigger splash

I just got back from a week in Spain with good friends. An excellent time was had by all despite the weather. It hadn't rained in the area since april and they've had their hottest summer in seventy years. We had four days of rain which threatened to over flow the tiny pool in the back garden.

It was still warm enough for us to swim, I could manage four lengths underwater of the oversized bath tub but it was good fun. I wish I'd remembered a pair of goggles though. Apart from the water and trips to Cordoba and Almodovar del Rio we ate, drank and played cards.

I set the self timer to get this shot of me diving into the water, I'm really pleased with it. It did take several goes and helped empty out the over full pool.

This too was taken on self timer. I got quite cold with all the splashing about despite the water being about 20ºC. Winter season starts at the Lido tomorrow, I bet the water there is much cooler. It does mean I can start the daily blog again though.

Montenegro Swimtrek

I've just come back from a wonderful week in Montenegro with Swimtrek. My mate Ben came along as well, here we are in front of the church tower in Perast, the beautiful little Venetian town where we stayed.

We had a great group of swimmers from all over the place: Sweden, Israel, Australia, Germany, Ireland and the UK. A great bunch and very social, a few very good nights out added to the ambience.

I had visited Perast before and always wanted to swim around the church situated on a little lake in the bay, this was my chance.

Some of the group liked to do a bit of synchronised swimming.

And diving off the boat was good fun.

One day we swam at lake Skadar on the Albanian border and then went up a river that had snakes in it.

We also swam out on the coast along cliffs dotted with caves which we had time to explore.

The water was beautifully clear and warm, the lido will be a shock when I get back in next week.

By the end of the week we all had aching limbs and sore shoulders. I got a little sunburnt and my skin feels cleaned by all the salt. This was a really good trip, the swimming varied and the company fantastic.

Pond life

A jump or a dive? Ali performs a mixture of both into the murky waters at Hampstead mixed pond. A warm sunny Saturday when friends who normally work were off, The pond was a great place to spend it.

A more traditional dive from Eva. The water was probably around 20ºC I think. I probably get to swim up here once a year.

I changed and joined Ben in the water. They're plans to close the ponds at some point to renew the dams.

Even Reedy took to the water, he rather enjoyed it too.

Midsummer relay

The midsummer relay took place at the Lido last night and we had a proper midsummer evening with long shadows in the setting sun. I felt quite nervous arriving at the pool to see the large crowd of swimmers. Twenty nine teams of four were taking part, almost 120 swimmers!. We signed in, got our colour coded team hats and were assigned a lane. Pip's Squeaks were in lane 18, Margy's team were in 20. A quick and confusing run through of the rules and we were off. No images of the racing itself, I was too busy swimming!

There were many time keepers and helpers who did an excellent job. They were also serving coffee, hot chocolate and cakes afterwards.

The real hard work was working out who won. Nicola and Mandy fresh from the water looked over the numbers and Sue filled in the certificates. There were awards of bronze, silver and gold for the three different age categories.

First up were the under 150 (total age) winners. I don't know who they are but there were some powerful swimmers in this group.

The 150-200 winners were the Met police I think, they had quite a few swim teams here.

So Margy's team beat us to win the 200+ group. Swimtrek Dan who is holding the certificate had us in check all the way.

Here we are, silver medal for the Pip's Squeaks. It wasn't really all that relaxing but I was glad to take part. I think we did very well and I'm proud of my first ever swimming medal.

Good to be back

I'm back from the north and back in the water. It's feels good to be swimming, the rain has made the water soft with a fresh earthy smell to it. On Monday there were only three people in the water at 8am and although there were a few more this morning it wasn't the usual rubber Tuesday crowd. I'm not sure of the temperature because David is on holiday at the moment but a thirty six length (two mile) swim was fine. Wednesday sees the midsummer relay race, I'm in a team with Sue, Nick and Pip. Our main rival will be Margy's team, she has somehow coerced Swimtrek Dan to join and he's probably the fastest person I've seen in the lido.

Tootin'

An old picture, but I like it. Water still 19.5ºC swam a pleasant twenty four lengths. Will be taking a bit of a break now, off to Scotland for a couple of weeks. Happy swimming!