Many times during the winter I've sat in my flat, bundled in jumpers and blankets, feet in slippers and socks, and looked out the window at the dark and cold and thought that last summer seemed a million miles away. When the thought of being even generally warm seems hard to imagine, the thought of swimming in the sea for hours on end seems even further away. Was that really something I once did? Will I do it again? It seems so implausible.
But spring is a fantastic time of year for the cold water or winter swimmer.
This is the third winter which, partly in preparation for the open water swimming season, I have swum all year round outdoors. Winter swimming is wild and invigorating and brutal and shocking, in the best possible way. Of course it hurts, but it is also great fun. A friend says "it's like banging your head against a brick wall - it's great when it stops". Sometimes in the winter I stand at water's edge at the lido where I swim all year round and I'm anxious about how much it will hurt. It's crazy and hilarious, I wonder what the hell I'm doing. During the width race that my winter swimming club organise every Sunday my face hurts, I struggle to get my breathe, swimming like the clappers to reach the other side. When I get out my feet and hands hurt so much it's like they've been beaten by a sledgehammer. I hobble to find the comfort of wooly socks.
But then, sometime in March, the water gets a little warmer, a little more bearable. Instead of only being able to think of swimming for 30 seconds, you can venture a couple of minutes, soon a few minutes more.
Suddenly, the water reaches 50 degrees F (or 10 degrees C) and this is the point that most people agree that swimming turns from being an ordeal (albeit an ordeal which we embrace) into something pleasant or relaxing. Hooray! When the water temperature reaches 50F at Tooting Bec lido, the First Spring Mile is swum.
A couple of weekends ago I went to Parliament Hill Lido on Hampstead Heath in North London, a beautiful outdoor pool with a sparkling stainless steel lining. The water was 48F or about 9C. I managed to swim about 700m, but it was still hard. My face hurt like hell in the water, a real ice cream headache for the first few lengths. I forced myself to stay in. When I got out I was shaking with the cold.
This weekend I went down to my usual haunt of Tooting Bec Lido and the water had reached 52F. I planned to do my first mile of the year outdoors. Saturday had been beautiful and sunny. I was working all day. Sunday turned out to be colder and drizzly as I made my way to the lido for 8.30 am to do my first mile.
...I'm quite nervous as I arrive. I know it's 52F and therefore quite do-able but I haven't been swimming much outdoors since my flu and am worried that I've become a bit soft. When I get to the lido there are several people already in the water doing lengths of the 90m pool. They look relaxed.
Getting in is always a bit shocking but it doesn't take much time to get used to the water. It's beautiful swimming outdoors at any time, but now there are leaves on the trees as well. There are also still plenty of leaves from last autumn on the bottom of the pool to contemplate as I swim down the length of the pool - passing a couple of guys in wetsuits. My head doesn't hurt, it's fine. I can tumble turn without discomfort, which I found quite hard this time last year as I stiffened with the cold. Tooting Bec lido is so long that you only have to do 17 lengths to swim a mile. I manage to relax easily. I realise that my toes are warmer in the water than they are when they break the surface to kick. This makes me chuckle. I try to kick with my toes staying under the surface, staying cosy, which occupies the time. The swim is lovely.
And of course this first spring mile makes me realise that all that swimming I did last summer wasn't just a one off - it's going to happen again. It's perfectly possible. And just as well because this weekend approaching is the start of the Dover outdoor training season. From now on in the serious distance training and acclimatisation begins in earnest.
To round off the day's swimming activities, I travel up to Crystal Palace 50m pool to do a long swim - I realise that this time last year I'd already done a 10k (3hrs 45mins) pool swim and want to do something roughly equivalent while I still have enough time. I manage to do a 2hrs 45 mins swim in Crystal Palace Pool before giving in to the boredom and general weariness and dehydration caused by swimming for a long time in a heated pool. It's enjoyable on and off though and I'm pleased I've made the effort. No pain in the arms the next day, which is good. I'm ready to kick off the new season.