A tale of two swims

Swimming for an audience, and swimming alone.

Well hello, it’s been a while. I’ve been busy writing/reading/other for my Masters, which is going very well so far. But I have also managed a few swims.

This time last year my sea-to-pool ratio shifted more to the pool for weather and comfort reasons, the rhythm and ease of just swimming up and down lanes in tepid, empty water. From late autumn my time in the sea gets shorter and is more about thrilling dips/swimbles than proper ‘swims’. The days get shorter as well, so it’s harder to get to the sea during daylight hours. I really enjoyed all my evening swims in late summer/early autumn!

I haven’t been to the pool once this year, mainly because of Covid but also the time it takes to drive there and back, and I’m not likely to get there anytime soon, so it’s 100% sea swims for now.

One of my Master’s projects has been filming a short video about what happens to your body when you get into cold water. (I chose the topic and the medium – I thought I’d try something that didn’t involve writing for a change.) The challenge is to explain the science in a fun, engaging way, so I decided to film myself talking about it as I get into the sea.

Talk about a comedy of errors! First of all, I didn’t have my camera settings right (it was on night mode for some reason) so the footage was unusable. Second, it’s actually really hard to look at the camera, say all the right things, and also keep an eye on the sea to make sure you don’t trip over a shark (or crab). I wrote a script but – surprise! – it got wet. It’s also a funny feeling being in front of the camera in my togs, although at least I get to control the footage!

Anyway, I got there in the end. I have a rough cut of the video and some other students will give me feedback before it’s due to hand in.

The second swim I did was about an hour ago, which reminded me to come here and finally update my Substack. Last week we had a cold front zoom up the country with some hail and thunder, so that was exciting. All that activity caused several days’ worth of heavy swells which always feels a bit eerie to me; the wind’s gone but large waves are still crashing on the beach. I almost swam yesterday, but the water was surfy and all churned up so I didn’t. And almost-swims make me feel a little sad so today I resolved to try again.

The tide was out, the sun had almost disappeared behind the hill (at 3:30pm!) and I almost had to climb over the giant mounds of seaweed that had been flung onto the beach by the surf. ‘Pounding surf’ is a cliché but it really was pounding! I felt a bit vulnerable heading out in nothing but togs, but the water wasn’t as freezing as I expected. The current was strong so I didn’t go far, just had a play around for 5-10 minutes (must remember to start wearing my swim watch again as it’s easy to lose track).

It’s that time of year when suddenly my packing list for the beach grows dramatically so I can warm up afterwards. It wasn’t that cold getting in, but getting out with the sun gone and I really had to focus on a quick-dress: trackpants, merino shirt, coat, ugg boots, hat. Did I look silly? Yes! Did I care? Well, yeah, but warmth > style.

I also took a hot ginger drink in a thermos (warming up that core temperature is important) and my body tingled all over afterwards. I felt great: physically and also because even though I’d felt a bit nervous I got in and it was all fine. In fact, it was easy because I didn’t have to hold a camera and talk to it!