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Where did December even go? It doesn't seem a month since I was back down at Parliament Hill Lido, braving the cold water for the Outdoor Swimming Society's fundraising 2011 December Dip.
Unlike last year's 0.1C Plum Pudding Plunge, this time the weather was much milder: no snow or ice, just blue skies, winter sun, and water at a balmy 8C. This year's celeb was Radio 1 DJ (and local swimmer, if I heard right) Edith Bowman who spoke some encouraging words alongside OSS founder Kate Rew, before the 300 or so dippers took to the water in three waves (each with their own coloured wristband and theme played by the live brass band at the poolside). There aren't any wetsuits at this event, with most people just wearing regular swimming costumes - however at least one man went the extra mile with his extremely impressive tinsel-decorated trunks (posted on Goggleblog, which coincidentally has another take on the event).
The dip itself seemed to go very quickly this time - like many people I decided I'd go in the first wave (to the tune of "The Great Escape" apparently, although after I'd jumped in I don't think I heard the band at all) and my gasping breaststroke took me there and back across the regulation two widths of the lido before I finally struggled out victorious:
Afterwards there were warm clothes, apple brandy, coffee and mince pies, and I think I could tell the difference in temperatures as I never lost feeling in my feet and got warmed up much more quickly this time. The dip itself is not pleasant, but afterwards you do feel very much alive which I suppose is the point (the event also raises funds for OSS activities including the OSS wild swim map, which aims to collect together outdoor swim spots of all kinds in the UK and across the world so that wherever you are you should be able to find somewhere nearby).
There was also some socialising with other dippers, and a real high point of this year for me was meeting two very cool fellow swimmers, Tara and her mum Jane, who'd come all the way from Penzance (where they are part of Nature Workshops) for the weekend. I really enjoyed talking to them and hearing about their swimming exploits around the Cornish coast and hope I'll see them again at another December Dip:
Since then it's been back to the pool for my swimming; catching up with my unread issues of H2Open; and thinking about possible outdoor swimming trips for 2012. I've bought myself a new wetsuit, already signed up for the 2012 Great Manchester Swim in July, and would like to have another go at the RNLI Sblash Llandudno Sea Swim in June after missing it this year. And as well as thinking about another Swimtrek trip, after talking to Tara I'm also seriously considering the OSS Dart 10K (which previously I'd thought just sounded a bit mad). So we'll see what happens.
In the meantime let me wish you a great 2012, and hope it goes swimmingly - whatever you're doing, Happy New Year!
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.
The start of the year seems like a good time to look back at the last 12 months and think about the things that I would have blogged about at the time. Some of the nonsense that I got up to included cycling 90 miles across the Pennines from Warrington to Chesterfield with my friends Ronan and Charles, and driving 140 miles to Cardigan Bay in Wales to take swimming classes with Swimming Without Stress. As a result of the swimming classes, which are based on the Shaw Technique, I also started taking lessons in the Alexander Technique. Aside from that I went swimming outdoors for the first time (if you don't count the sea): two swims in Hatchmere Lake in Cheshire (the first in May involved a 26-mile round-trip cycle ride from my house and back, the second in September was with a friend and the water was chilly to say the least). I also made a trip out to Nantwich's outdoor brine swimming pool at the end of the summer, and watched the demolition of the Tinsley cooling towers near Sheffield.
And of course, I have this great opportunity to make an extended visit to New Jersey to spend time with Kyle, which has been really fantastic and which included our two-week vacation in Hawaii (which, um, I have still failed to blog about, although some pictures are available if you're interested). It has been and continues to be great to be able to spend so much time together. That adventure goes on!
Of course as well as looking back, New Year is also a time for making resolutions and setting goals for the next 12 months. I don't usually bother with any of that stuff, but over the last few days I thought about a few changes that I'd like to make in life. Many of them are quite simple and small but I think that they could make a big difference to me if I keep them up. They include resolving to talk to people at the swimming pool when they join my lane and then start swimming around apparently at random. I'd also like to stay more focused on finishing projects that I start (sort of "doing less with more"), and remember that saying yes to one thing often means saying no to something else. I'd also like to cut down on my consumption (I was particularly inspired last year by Kyle's last year resolution to reduce her bottled water consumption).
There are some other things that are a bit more specific. I'd like to find ways to enjoy my swimming more again, and to get back to practising my Alexander Technique exercises more regularly (as well as taking the lessons again). I want to answer my emails more promptly (already doing ok with that) and be more spontaneous with my blog postings (that last one's going to be tough I'll admit - this post has already taken seven days to write). I'd also like to try boxing (but more the training than actually fighting with another person) and to finish and deploy the web application that I'm (sporadically) working on right now.
I realise that most of these aren't really tangible goals yet with, y'know, real deadlines and stuff. But then this is life and not project management. And I know that research indicates that both writing things down and publicising your resolutions makes it more likely that you'll stick to them. And since one of my resolutions is to blog more spontaneously, I'm going to end there for now - and simply wish you all the best in your own attempts to make the world a better place in 2009.
Good luck!
