Swimming

Some pictures of unusual pools:

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2020/jul/24/worlds-wildest-swimming-pools-in-pictures

Shadwell Lido not featured.

I was perplexed by that omission too. Got told off by the polis for swimming there again last week - time wasters weren’t there when someone was stealing my bike.

^ Mind how you swim.

Here's a picture of Manchester Aquatics Centre with its giant caretaker:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/jul/25/coronavirus-live-news-close-watch-on-victoria-australia-and-record-infections-globally

Helsinki wouldn't be a terrible addition either, imo.

I was out in Het Twiske again last night. It is so so lovely.
I"m very new to this. Got about 400m and suddenly near to me there was a loud noise like someone had dropped something the size of a breeze block into the water. I wondered if a bird had dived in (but if it had it did't come up). I wondered if my swimming buoy had popped (it hadn't). Wondered if Crocodiles like in the Netherlands. I /guess/ it must have been a fish coming up to look at me and breaking the surface. It had me turning around and swimming back until I realised I was being ridiculous and went back to enjoying my swim. Is this a regular occurence with swimming outside?

Not something I encounter regularly in the UK, but had it with devil rays in Costa Rica, which is the coolest thing ever.

It really startled me
People also dive in the lake, I suppose it is /possible/ that it was a bubble from them, but I think it is more constant if it is from them.
I completely lose track of time, I guess I just need to do it more

It was obviously someone dropping a breeze block into the water. You just couldn't see it any more because it sank so quickly.

#noimagination

You've never dropped a breeze block in the water before, have you?

I just found my dog playing with my swimming goggles. Needless to say they aren't much use to me any more, any recommendations as to what to get next?
I've stuck with the same model for years, but they aren't great in open water, I have a bit of trouble seeing very far when my head is above the water, especially when the sun is shining. So recommendations for open water preferred.

Aqua Sphere Vista work for me.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004LOSGRA/

Zogg's Predator for me. Used to use Aqua Sphere Seal when I was getting used to open water. Both have tinted options.

Erm, cough, well, I do it all the time, really, so definitely know what I'm talking about. :)

Great idea, start calling yourself @breezeblockdropperintothewater.

You know breeze blocks float?

Well, that was kind of the joke. :)

I’ve been in Brittany sea swimming and the water is so much warmer than previous years circa 20 degrees .. lovely .
I haven’t really needed the wetsuit ( I used sleeveless for the Transbaie swim ) but I have bought and for the first time used buoyancy shorts .About £30 from Zone 3 , all the assistance needed to keep my hips up and no faff of full suit .Plus the extra confidence of the increased buoyancy .. a sort of neoprene ‘spanks’
A revelation.. anyone else using them ?

Lovely swimming here.
I know everyone has a horror story of Brittany weather , but when it’s good and the sea calm the swims are fabulous, honest

2 Attachments

ah,Im just about to buy a wetsuit, I thought maybe the shorts went underneath,,, glad you have cleared that up

No, but having this weekend swum open water without a wetsuit i've really noticed the difference. Don't suppose you have a link for the shorts at that price? I can only find them around 45-50 quid.

I’ve looked and I can’t either , pretty sure it was direct from zone 3 and they’re £59 on there now .... must have been a sale

Local (council run) leisure centre opens up on Wednesday. Have my first swim since March booked in already.

Will see how far I can go in 45 minutes, happy with a mile (and associated rests), unlikely to bash out 2k or more.

My local pool opened a few days back, and has 40 minute bookable sessions. I was amazed at how hard I could go for 40 minutes, and last night they let me have an extra 40 minutes as there were few people booked in for the next session. That blew my poor little arms! I could hardly get dressed after.

Well that was better than expected. Did 1600m in the end at about 2:00/100m. First 20 strokes felt great but then reality of no swimming for 5 months hit and arms/shoulders let me know I had no stamina.

Never seen the pool so clean. Staff were great. One way system worked well. 3 big wide lanes, about 20 people in total and only 4 of us in the fast lane and overtaking was easy when necessary.

Will look at my plan/calendar and book a load more sessions.

Had booked a gym slot afterwards and did a ramp test on one of the Wattbikes. Yet to look at the results but I don't think it'll be much different to pre-lockdown (I've done 6km of riding since March), which shows how shit my fitness was back then too.

Oh, and the wrist based HR sensor on my 945 seemed to work quite well when swimming:-

(and see how quickly the fatigue set in...)

1 Attachment