In the zone

Sandsend 40+ years ago

Maybe it's in the genes. Maybe it's in the blood. But, I've always loved swimming in cold water (especially the sea). So here I am, ramping up to swim across the Channel.

40 plus years ago, I was swimming in a sea-water filled pool on the beach at Sandsend. I had one of those (now banned) swimming masks with an in-built snorkel protruding from the top and a ping-pong ball in the end to stop water coming in.

I would literally swim all day. All Mum and Dad could see was a snorkel moving around the pool. Occasionally it would disappear and reappear, and eventually it would surface for food or for the journey home. I can't remember ever getting cold or having wrinkly skin. I just enjoyed the sense of isolation and the sense of being in another world - being in the zone.

Well, I'll be in that zone again tomorrow. No snorkel this time, but I will be swimming for a long time when I do the Marie Curie Cancer Care swimathon. 6.25km starting at 6.30am in Brockwell Lido - 1.25km swimming for Tim Sutton's Brockwell Swimmers team, followed by 5km swimming for myself. If you'd like to sponsor me in Tim's team, there's still time! sponsor my team