Phew!

I'm feeling good today. My doctor's signed my medical form, confirming that I'm fit to swim the Channel. Yeah!

I had blood tests and an ECG yesterday, and the results show that I'm a fit guy. My blood pressure's a tad on the high side, but my doctor says that it's not a Channel swim stopper (although I do need to take some medication, and I have a blood pressure monitor winging its way through the post to me).

So, back to some serious training (and Steve and Andy, our reserves, can breathe a sigh of relief). Mind you, the rest of the team still need to have their medicals too!.

Medicals

We're going through mounds of Channel Swim Association paperwork at the moment. It all needs to be submitted by the end of March, which isn't that far away.

We all need medicals and certificates of fitness from our GPs. I keep reminding myself that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have swum the Channel.

Today, I had my medical. Sadly, it didn't go quite as I'd hoped, and my GP has kept my medical form and certificate and refused to sign them for the moment. High blood pressure. He's prescribed me some tablets, and lined me up for an ECG and some blood tests. He'll see me again in a couple of weeks. But, if my blood pressure doesn't come down to what he regards as a safe level, it will be no swim for me.

So, a little disappointing. On a positive note, it's good to find these things out and deal with them before they cause a problem. And everything else about me is okay.

I hope Steve and Andy (our reserves) have been training hard ...

Honoured

Well, I'm honoured. I guess the dalek hat was an even bigger hit than I thought. Brockwell Lido is holding its first ever swimming gala this Sunday, and I've been asked to kick the whole thing off with a celebratory length in my "wonderful dalek hat" (as the organiser put it).

So, more opportunities for photos, and more opportunities for PR for Rosemead.

Some of our Channel Swim team will be meeting up for a swim in the Lido on Saturday morning (and a coffee in the cafe by the radiators afterwards), and then I'll be doing a double swim on the Sunday (a training session early in the morning, followed by the gala at 11.00am).

Entry to the gala is free for visitors. It'll be fun to watch, so do come along and see the dalek for real (and stay for some very British tea and cake afterwards).

Taking the plunge

Well I've taken the plunge. I've paid for annual membership of Brockwell Lido. I did the maths and worked out that, with the amount of swimming I'm doing in the Lido at the moment, I'll have paid my for membership in 4 months!

So, I'm the proud owner of a Brockwell Lido membership card. And I've used the card three times since paying for membership. It's less pressuring knowing that I can swim any number of times during the day and not have to pay each time (assuming I get to the stage where I want to swim more than once a day), and I don't have to worry about sticking to the off-peak times (my membership lets me swim at any time).

Yesterday was the first time I've swum in the snow. Okay, so it wasn't exactly a blanket of snow on the ground, but it was kind of surreal walking across to the water with snowflakes on my arms. I can't wait to swim with really thick snow. I'll take my camera when it happens. And that could be soon. The Met Office warning for Greater London is Yellow (early warning of snow). I can't wait.