From the Adriatic Sea to Scotthall Leisure Centre
A couple of weeks ago, Silverback and I swam in the Adriatic Sea in Rimini, Italy. Stephen didn't swim- he was busy testing one of the proper Italian sun loungers, for Rimini is a very traditional Italian resort.
You have to pay a daily fee to use all the beach's facilities. That system in Italy has clearly been going for quite a while as beaches like that are what I remember from childhood holidays in Italy.
It was slightly out of season and hence the beach was fairly empty, though it was a hot, beautifully sunny day.
And the waves were huge! You can't really tell on this photo but the sea was shallow and the waves were coming with so much force that you had to be very careful to avoid being knocked over.
The sea was warm and clear and blue and I loved it. It was wonderful. I think Silverback enjoyed it too.
Back to reality.
Today I woke up at six - - wide awake, I wondered what to do and I thought - - it's too early to start work: what shall I do? I know - I'll go swimming.
I want to do the Great North Swim next year. It involves swimming a mile across beautiful Windermere in the Lake District, which is England's largest lake.
I know it will be quite different from swimming in a warm pool or even a warm sea such as the Adriatic. It'll be Very Cold Indeed.
But actually, I've swum in cold seas all my life. My mother, who is 85, is currently staying in Tenby, South Wales for ten days, and she has swum in the sea, by herself, almost every day. Not just a bit of splashing about - - she'll have done backstroke for half an hour or so. She loves it, and so do I.
But I wanted to see if I could still swim the distance I generally used to do, which was forty lengths of our local pool, which is a kilometre.
I got out of the habit of going when the Communist got ill and I was just too busy, so I want to start again.
So at eight o'clock this morning I was in the water.
It wasn't quite the Adriatic, though it was very warm. The changing rooms were really grubby and unpleasant and in fact the pool is going to be closed for twenty weeks from mid-November whilst they're all refurbished.
I managed to do my old time - which is a length a minute: I did forty-two lengths in forty-two minutes. I always do an extra couple in case I've counted wrong. Non-swimmers are always impressed by a length a minute but it's not fast for a proper swimmer: just not too bad for a Woman the Wrong Side of Forty. Oh, all right then, the Wrong Side of Fifty, damn it.
I swim a slowish breast stroke but I do have a pretty good style. You may remember, because I've written about it before, that I had an excellent swimming teacher on childhood holidays in Tenby.
You may also remember that his name was Ivor Fish. Brilliant, eh?
It wasn't quite the Adriatic, this morning. But I did enjoy it: I could have kept on going a lot further and it made me think - - yes, I can do the Great North Swim.
I have preregistered for when the applications open, and I'm going to apply. And next time I wake up too early, I'm going to go swimming.
You have to pay a daily fee to use all the beach's facilities. That system in Italy has clearly been going for quite a while as beaches like that are what I remember from childhood holidays in Italy.It was slightly out of season and hence the beach was fairly empty, though it was a hot, beautifully sunny day.
And the waves were huge! You can't really tell on this photo but the sea was shallow and the waves were coming with so much force that you had to be very careful to avoid being knocked over.
The sea was warm and clear and blue and I loved it. It was wonderful. I think Silverback enjoyed it too.
Back to reality.Today I woke up at six - - wide awake, I wondered what to do and I thought - - it's too early to start work: what shall I do? I know - I'll go swimming.
I want to do the Great North Swim next year. It involves swimming a mile across beautiful Windermere in the Lake District, which is England's largest lake.
I know it will be quite different from swimming in a warm pool or even a warm sea such as the Adriatic. It'll be Very Cold Indeed.
But actually, I've swum in cold seas all my life. My mother, who is 85, is currently staying in Tenby, South Wales for ten days, and she has swum in the sea, by herself, almost every day. Not just a bit of splashing about - - she'll have done backstroke for half an hour or so. She loves it, and so do I.
But I wanted to see if I could still swim the distance I generally used to do, which was forty lengths of our local pool, which is a kilometre.
I got out of the habit of going when the Communist got ill and I was just too busy, so I want to start again.
So at eight o'clock this morning I was in the water.
It wasn't quite the Adriatic, though it was very warm. The changing rooms were really grubby and unpleasant and in fact the pool is going to be closed for twenty weeks from mid-November whilst they're all refurbished.
I managed to do my old time - which is a length a minute: I did forty-two lengths in forty-two minutes. I always do an extra couple in case I've counted wrong. Non-swimmers are always impressed by a length a minute but it's not fast for a proper swimmer: just not too bad for a Woman the Wrong Side of Forty. Oh, all right then, the Wrong Side of Fifty, damn it.
I swim a slowish breast stroke but I do have a pretty good style. You may remember, because I've written about it before, that I had an excellent swimming teacher on childhood holidays in Tenby.
You may also remember that his name was Ivor Fish. Brilliant, eh?
It wasn't quite the Adriatic, this morning. But I did enjoy it: I could have kept on going a lot further and it made me think - - yes, I can do the Great North Swim.
I have preregistered for when the applications open, and I'm going to apply. And next time I wake up too early, I'm going to go swimming.
posted by Daphne at 7:35 pm
5 Comments:
Well done on 42 lengths in 42 minutes. I am impressed, not so much with the number of lengths or that it was a length a minute, more that the pool was warm.
The local pool where I have a regular swimming session each Tuesday evening is bloomin' cold and if you don't swim at a brisk rate you are in danger of developing hypothermia.
As I have been ill, I can't swim as fast or as far as I used to (like you normally 40 lengths). After a while I have to get out and move to the learners' pool which is gorgeously warm but still not as temperate as the sea at Rimini (or the Blackpool of Italy as an Italian friend described it to me). I wish I could be back there now.
I never learned to swim. I never learned to ride a bicycle. I never learned to roller skate well. I have never been to Italy.
I am a poor excuse for a human being.
Or not.
Ruth - - well I see your friend's comparison between Blackpool and Rimini - - but Rimini was less brash and with far bluer skies.
RWP - - a shame about the cycling and the roller skating - - but not being able to swim is sad, just because it's such fun. It's never too late to learn - - very good exercise too! My mum would teach you if we lived a bit nearer - she's a very good teacher!
OK you've inspired me to actually swim in the pool here. I just float about on my noodle and chat. I promise, hand on my coffee cup as there's no Bible around, that today I will swim 2 full lengths of the pool if the weather permits me to get in.
I do solemnly swear.
I wish I could achieve such results in swimming, thanks for sharing your experience on the Adriatic coast with us.
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