I think it’s safe to say I’m not a
natural sportsperson.
I’m uncoordinated, boss-eyed and
klutzy. I once generated a huge round of applause in PE at school when,
unexpectedly, I caught a ball.
Due to some quirky developmental
difficulties, I didn’t start walking until ... well, quite late for a small child. And yet,
now as an adult, I love long-distance power-walking (see:
this post).
Likewise, I didn’t learn to swim
until I was six or seven. However, I had a thing
for pretending to be a deep-sea diver in the bath and submerging myself beneath
the bubbles and the water whenever the opportunity arose.
After I’d mastered the rudiments of
swimming, I took lessons in the local pool every week – though in retrospect I
think this was more for my mother’s benefit than mine (the instructor was a
dish). But I love to swim.
I love the water. Always have done.
(For what it’s worth, I’m a water sign.) I love pools. I love the open sea.
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| {via Pinterest} |
Admittedly I can’t do much more
than a sporadic breast stroke, and I still have trouble co-ordinating a) arms
and legs and b) my breathing, though I’ve found that nose clips help me focus my
breathing through my mouth.
Nowhere is more peaceful to me than
beneath the water. I love the glimpse of the waterline as I drop down beneath
the surface.
I love the scale patterns of the
light through the water on the bottom of the pool, or on the sea floor through
a clear patch of water.
When I swim I love the movement of bubbles around me,
and around the other swimmers. I love the other-worldliness
beneath the water.
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| {Photo by Jvdas Berra | via Pinterest} |
After all the excitement and
build-up of the MoonWalk, I stopped distance-walking regularly – then I got to
a point where I realised I needed to get back into some form of exercise. My
metabolism ain’t what it used to be. That said…
Ten years ago I was a complete
swim-fanatic, swimming before work or during my lunch hour.
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| {another one from the annals!} |
See how proud I was to clock up
those lengths? So proud. Yay 25-year-old
me.
Fast-forward 10 years.
Give or take a year’s grace, I’d almost forgotten how much I loved to
swim, to clock up length after length, and that resistance of the water against
me (though not so much the waves of water from other swimmers that sweep into
my nose and mouth, and the splashes of inelegant front-crawlers…!).
So I started swimming, once or
twice a week. Then three times. And so it has been since the beginning of July
(with a two-week leave of absence when the Powers that Be at my local pool saw
fit to undertake essential maintenance during the hottest period of the summer).
Back then I was clocking up just 30
lengths of the 25-metre pool, sometimes even just 20 if I’d had a particularly
exhausting day.
Then, for my birthday in mid-July,
my best friend bought me a waterproof MP3 player and it has truly revolutionised my
swim. It’s this model:
It attaches to your goggles and the
earphones fit in your ears much like ear plugs. The sound especially beneath
the water is superb. There is a risk of losing some of your swimmerly
mindfulness but provided you wear decent goggles and keep your eye on the lane
then you should have no problems.
Last night I clocked up 72 lengths. That's over a mile, y'all. Then I got foot cramp. And some girl decided to change the lane direction so I kept getting other people's waves in my face. *complainarama*
In terms of kit, I’m currently
sporting Speedo Pacific Storm goggles:
though I preferred my previous Zoggs
Athena goggles which I accidentally
tumble-dried… The thinner strap was far easier to attach the MP3 player to:
I'm also rocking a Zoggs cap:
...Speedo Endurance swimming costume (though without the excessive make-up...)
… and Speedo noseclips! Foxy.
What more could a girl need in the
water…?
Currently,
my top 5 swimming tunes are:
In the Deep | Bird York
Seaside
Woman | Paul McCartney
Full of Grace
| Sarah McLachlan
Long Hot Summer | Keith
Urban
Underwater Love | Smoke
City
This is changeable however,
depending on what comes up on the shuffle.
When I'm swimming, for the most part my mind goes elsewhere. Sometimes I'm consciously counting the lengths. Sometimes I'm singing along in my head to the music. Sometimes I'm working up storylines and untangling plot holes in my own writing.
Next thing I know, I'm up to 50, 60, 70 lengths. Whoa.
Do check out: - my 'Swimspiration' playlist on
Spotify
here
- my ‘Swimspiration’ Pinterest board
here
- and my 'Beside the Seaside' board
here
Meanwhile, I'll leave you with zis little gem:
