June

It's all been a bit quiet here. Two wonderful weeks in Greece swimming in the sea and then back to the reality of Tooting Bec lido. June has seen a busy pool,  Most mornings I've swum between 22 and 36 length before work. It's hard to remember the cold winter month right now, the water is around 18ºC and I feel as if I could stay in for ever. No real statistics to report, certainly less distance than May. I haven't even kept an eye on the doors this month!

Time for a swim

As I reached the pool today Alfonso was just getting out of the water, he wanted me to believe he's done forty four lengths. I've not seen him in a while because he had a cold (in May?) and in fact he was just easing himself back into the water with a ten length swim. I set out to do twenty lengths in the little strip of shadow on the track side, clear goggles again much better vision. I used Margy and Tricky as pace setters at first then about length eight I noticed someone waiting for me at the end of the pool. I don't know her name (sorry), Alfonso told her to swim with me and she thought I was a different Alex so it was confusion all round. By about half a length I realised she couldn't keep up with me so I slowed a bit  but was still too fast. Alfonso meanwhile was timing us, my two length time averaged 2 minutes 58 seconds making it just over 16 minutes per kilometre or just over 25 minutes per mile which seems about right on a 2km swim.
Saw Carl and Kate as I was getting changed, asked Carl a bit more about Sardinia. The sea was about the same temperature as the lido but Carl is off to Scotland swimming between the western isles next week where it'll be much cooler.
I'm off to Greece on Saturday for a couple of weeks, not just swimming but I'll take some pictures if I get the chance.

Up a degree

Another sunny day, warm too. Saw 'quicker' Nick as I arrived but we swam seperately (phew) I wasn't into racing today. Used my orange tinted goggles, they reduce the glare on the water. The orange tint makes the world above water look cheerful but it's slightly more difficult to see underwater. Thirty six lengths in under an hour, keeping to the shadow line on the track side. Water up to 18ºC.

Shadow line

A relaxed twenty two this morning. They had just taken the shark lane out so I swam on the track side along the wall which at 8.15 was still in shadow. A bright morning the sun quickly rising so that by 8.45 I was in full sunlight. The water temperature is still hovering around 17ºC according to David but the warm patches we felt yesterday have dispersed.

Whole pool

Great to have a whole pool again, especially when there are so few in the water. A sunny thirty six lengths puctuated with a near crash into Chris on length thirty three. It's half term so quite a few people were later swimming than usual.

As it's the end of the month I must do the May statistics:

In May 2011 the water temperature ranged from 13ºC to 17ºC

I swam a total of 706 lengths

Which is 70600 yards, about 39.5 miles or 64 Km

I did 23 seperate swims

Longest single swim 36 lengths, shortest 22 lengths

Scores on the doors: nine blue, six red, five green and three yellow.

I also swam 2km at Brockwell lido so over 40 miles in a month! And more puzzlingly yellow went from favourite to least use door colour, what does it all mean?

Summer season

It's officially summer now because the lido is open to the public again. A bank holiday Monday at 11 saw a few familiar faces but also lots of other swimmers making the most of the morning sun. It's great to have the whole pool open again even if the atmosphere seems a little different. I can't take any new pictures now that it isn't club members only. I hope to do some other swims over the summer so do check in still. A great thirty six length swim through warm but busy waters. The shark stereotype was confirmed by the wetsuited young man using hand paddles who managed to hit me as he weaved his way up and down the pool. No damage was done, I just wish he swam consistently and in a straight line which would have made it more fun to try and chase him.

HMS Lido

The fair weather swimmers have gone, on the cusp of the summer season the pool was the quietest I've seen in weeks. Yesterday's heavy rain and this morning's drizzle had bought the water temperature down by a half degree to 16.5ºC but it felt soft and was warmer than the air still. Swam twenty two lengths while a lifeguard scribbed the mid pool from HMS Lido. A scratchy blue rope was strung across the water to keep the boat in place and Brian raised the rope so we could swim under it, although I still got caught a couple of times.
From tomorrow the lido is open to the public, not sure there'll be a big rush given the forecast but it should mean we'll get the entire pool to swim in again.