Where did January go? It doesn't seem a month since I started the year off with the "Icebreaker Swim" (actually more of a dip) in the frozen-over lake at Manley Mere with two of the friends I met outdoor swimming last year. I'd thought after the OSS December Dip that it would be a lot longer than 3 weeks before I would be a) back in the water outside, and b) in a wetsuit, but in the event it turned out to be an excellent way to start the year. (It also persuaded me that it's time to invest in a pair of swimming gloves.)
Since then I've been swimming in the relative warmth of the pool, and working on my backstroke (which is starting to become a very relaxing stroke now that I can go mostly in a straight line) in between bouts of breast stroke and crawl. A lot of people are already making all kinds of big plans for epic outdoor swims later in the year, and as a result I'm feeling a bit behind already - so far all I'm definite about is an Art of Swimming weekend butterfly course (hopefully in Manchester, and hopefully using the voucher I got after my Scillies write-up got published on the Shaw Method website in December). I'm not so fussed about the smashing-through-the-water aspect of butterfly, but I've always been both fascinated and intrigued by the dolphin-like undulation of the stroke, and I think it would be fun to learn how to do it.
At the moment though outdoor swimming is still some way off in the year. I'm thinking vaguely about a Swimtrek weekend in the Lake District, but I think I'd also like to try some more sea swimming (like the Llandudno swim that I did last June, or maybe Burgh Island in September ... the danger of course is that while I'm still day-dreaming about them, everyone else has actually signed up and there won't be any places left by the time I decide to commit).
In the meantime I'm content to admire Hannah Booth's write up of her Greek Swimtrek holiday (and the accompanying pictures) from last Saturday's Guardian, and - at the other extreme - the amazing feats of people like Jack Bright, who's making a film about winter swimming. For now I'll remember Colin Hill's words from the December Dip, that the foundations for outdoor swimming is laid down by your indoor swimming, and keep on with my lengths while waiting for warmer weather.
