sizzle season over

29 Apr

the back way in

The sauna closes today. For a long while. People will miss it. Last year the water was well into double figures. Today it was below 10 degrees C. And for the nth day in a row, it was raining. Hard. Pools of pink were surrounding trees on the way over, heralding the natural marriage of wind, water and gravity. The birds, sparrows in particular, are having a feeding frenzy. Bugs out, snails chomping, birds feasting. And everything is so lush. Except my goddamn shoulder. Aching, aching, aching. Not sharp, but dull and persistent. The change in stroke has made some difference. I’m swimming slower, and with less effort (except the mental one of remembering what I’ve learnt) and the time is the same. So that’s good. That’s encouraging. But it still aches. Another series of physio appointments are booked in, but I feel more impatient that I have in the past. I know this is because I am going to swimdeathcamp in five weeks time, but I do not have to swim everyday and in all Ned’s ways. I can remember that I don’t have to be maniacal until 2014. I can watch, assist, affirm and comfort – both myself and others.

Meanwhile Mrs Ape’s cakes are going down well, Shane did an amazing ten miles yesterday (176 lengths), Pip won the sprints, we all came in the back way, Stephanie’s still cracking out length after length, the Aussie bloke is still swimming consistent 75 second lengths for mile after mile (how?), Nicky’s as chatty as ever, Doreen would rather someone else did the membership cards and the cafe is a very crowded place on a Sunday morning.

Ape – Saturday 1200 yards, Sunday 1800 yards. Mrs Ape – Saturday 1200 yards, Sunday 1000 yards. 9.5 degrees C.

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Swim Canary Wharf

24 Apr

After a recommendation by Stephanie Voss (and vicariously, Neil Morton) I booked a session with Ray Gibbs, of Swim Canary Wharf. So, some practicalities – off peak it’s £69 for an hour of instruction, feedback and practice. It’s a few minutes walk from Canary Wharf station on the Jubilee Line. It’s a bespoke training venue, with another company offering physical therapy by Chris, a masseur that people who go to Tooting will know. And who I know because he modelled my highly commended hat at the CWSC in 2011.

You are asked about your swimming experience before getting in an endless pool and swimming for a while to let Ray analyse your stroke. He states that he won’t bamboozle you with lots of feedback, but will instead focus on one or two major issues and then work on these. He’s very clear in his exposition of concepts and ideas and both talks and demonstrates what he wants you to adapt. This is backed up with video of yourself, which is played back immediately on a screen above the water, to show the ‘flaws’ and he uses comparison footage of an elite distance swimmer.

During the session he got me to do a few drills, which worked on my profile in the water, my breathing and the rotation of my arms. Once I’d got it, my passage through the water was smoother. And at each juncture he’d explain what he’d observed, give affirmative and constructive feedback and then build on this for the next exercise.

The endless pool is not just a space saving device. It makes filming easier, but it also exacerbates ‘flaws’ in your swimming; and highlights them for analysis. All in all, money well spent and both myself and Mrs Ape have booked further sessions.

 

 

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side by side

24 Apr

Swimming along, thinking a song, side by side…it’s been a long time since I’ve swum side by side with Big C, but his returned mojo and my reduced state serendipitously brought us together for a 1000 yards. It’s now clear that my rehabilitation is going to take a little while longer than I had thought; such are the vicissitudes of life. Meanwhile Chris entertained one and all in the sauna with his Formbyesque ditty on the lido and everyone tucked into Ape bread and marmalade, Nando’s lemon muffins and Sue’s fresh brewed brew and coffee. The breakfast party swung, paused and died out as people wandered off to housework, paid work and alternate leisure pursuits.

Ape – 1200 yards, Mrs Ape – 1200 yards, 10 degrees C

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swimming in France

23 Apr

Dan Start has produced the third in his series of Wild Swimming books, and this time the focus is France. For those of you who already have the two UK books, focussing on rivers, lakes and coast, you’ll have a good idea of how user friendly and enticing the content of the book is. Dan’s made some improvements to layout; mainly by including much clearer maps of where swims are, and his photography is wonderfully engaging – the inclusion of people in many of the shots also gives a good sense of scale.

The book focusses on the more mountainous south of France, but there is a chapter on the Dordogne and surrounding region. If you were hoping for a guide to Brittany and the north, then I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. But. Why be so? The book almost invites you to book a Eurostar ticket to Avignon forthwith and be wet in a canyon within 24 hours.

Whether you are a swimmer in search of new places to jump in pots (or marmites as they say in French), rivers to horizontally canyon along (aqua randonnee) or are planning a self catering stay in the Ardeche, Provence, Pyrenees, Cevenne or Alps; this guide will show you where you can swim, jump and splash about in safety, in delight and in warm temperatures – the air that is, not the water. In short, Buy It.

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textures

23 Apr

Early start. Still taking it easy on the shoulders. Swimming mindfully and resisting the urge to surge. The 8 o’clock regulars are all down, but in the absence of tennis balls, my continuing initiation into the rites of handball have to wait for another day. Mrs Ape has taken chocolate and hazelnut cookies (thanks Dan Lepard for the recipe) and they vanish swiftly. Concurrently a production line of toast and marmalade is set up by Chris (of Stanton Cross fame) and wolfed up by all present – especially big man Batch. The sun disappears as we leave.

Ape – 1400 yards, Mrs Ape – 1200 yards, 10.5 degrees C

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sun swim sect

22 Apr

A ritual. Bathing, racing, dawdling, letting the kids run about, baking, chatting, ball games, yoga, philosophy, sauna, smiles, surprises and jewels. A Sunday at the ‘church’ of Tooting Bec Lido.

Ape – 2200 yards, Mrs Ape – 1800 yards, 10 degrees C

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gnomes

21 Apr

Pipetto the Gnome

Parts of the lido are having a spruce up, which seems also to include the installation of a life-size gnome. Doors are being painted, sinks installed, tiles scrubbed – all to make a little cubbyhole for members when the cafe is shut in the summer season. Meanwhile, rumours that Carleone had been sighted were swishing around, Pip was late for his Channel relay team meet up with Ruth and Pauline from Devon, Hilary was off to work looking stylish, Elvis was wading, Martin was driving Natalije to an eight length endeavour, Liz continued to bask in the sun, and Nando and Batch clocked up some lengths with a liberal dosing of chit, chit, chatter. Conversation in the sauna turned to the usual stroke analysis and Ian had left a large loaf for us all to have toast. Thanks.

Ape – 2200 yards, Mrs Ape – 1400 yards. 9.5 degrees C.

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