Leaves & light

It felt even more autumnal this morning, the sun was low and bright but over night rain and wind had scattered fallen leaves over the water surface. I love swimming through them, getting them stuck to my goggles and feeling them scratch my back as I glide through the water.

 

 Vince has taken to wearing a wetsuit as well. It allows him to do more lengths than without, although he does a few non wetsuit length at the end of his swim just like Elizabeth, is this a new trend? The pool was fairly empty this morning, I raced a good length with Angus before he fell away and went on to do twelve in total.

The low bright light looked very cinematic. The water felt a bit colder today but I am rather tired. David confirmed it was just under 12ºC, he's worried about what it'll be in a weeks time when he comes back from Croatia.

Pumpkin & Egg

When Nick bought a pumpkin to the Lido this morning I wonder what he thought would happen to it? Egg gladly accepted it so I ask if I could take a picture of him holding it. 'I'll jump in with it' he suggested. Erm? Okay? And there he goes...

Just for good measure he did a second pumpkin leap. In case anyone was wondering pumpkins do float which was just as well given the size of it. A beautiful sunny morning for swimming (and jumping about with a pumpkin) the water is still around 12ºC.

Dan was swimming this morning with a friend (in a wetsuit) called Mark. The water not very clear I'm afraid.

Dan spotted me lying on the bottom of the pool and dived down to prove you can smile underwater!

A slightly better shot of Dan in action, he uses his whole body to swim, the roll going from his shoulder to his legs. Like all good swimmers he makes it look effortless and causes not a bubble on the way.
I swam another 18 lengths this morning.

2K at 12ºC

A sunny morning although the water is going a bit cloudy. This swimmer (whose name I don't know) was in the water before me and still in it after I got out! The autumn is here and you have to keep moving to preserve body heat.

I love the multi-coloured reflections in the water. Charlotte was  playing her euphonium again, Bridge Over Troubled Waters seemed appropriate enough. Swimtrek Dan was enjoying the water before he goes back to New Zealand for the winter.

Nick, Pip and Johnathan all set off together but the boys soon got out, Pip was left swimming with Dan. I wonder if she beat him? Still 12ºC but I upped my distance to twenty two lengths today.

Cake & music

Another good eighteen length swim. I wore two hats for the first time this season which kept the cold at bay. After this picture I raced to catch Johnathan and Nando up. Later Nando was waiting for me and we set off on a length together, he could keep pace for about  two thirds of the way before dropping back. He would then wait for me to return and try again. There's no way I'd be able to wait the 3 minutes or so when the water is 12ºC.

Someone else keeping the cold at bay is Elizabeth. I'm not sure why she's reverted to a wetsuit but she flies along in it. Later Nick was racing her but I'm not sure who won.

We also had a musical interlude this morning courtesy of Charlotte. I didn't even ask what it is? is it a euphonium? It sounded good over the water as a little light rain began to fall.

As if that wasn't enough Kate had made another cake. An almond and chocolate cake that was very rich, squishy and delicious. Kate warned Nando not to make the slices too big. Two cakes in two days! I'll have to come here more often.

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.