Swimmers unite!

DD completed her swim in 40 minutes! [Proud Mum Emoticon]

Well I did my usual 80 (1600 metres = mile) in the sunshine this morning.
It was lovely and my tan is coming along nicely.

I used to love sea swimming, but my Raynauds has got worse as I get older so I cannot swim off the UK any more.
Luckily I'm off to Turkey at Easter so will do some proper distance there

Dizzy
Its funny how some people do not like to split lanes - I always try to as then both people can do their own thing in peace

DD is taking part in the Swimathon tonight. She will be swimming 1.5k (60 lengths).

Hello swimmers! Think I was on the thread earlier but only just catching up.

I was very brave a couple of weeks ago and tried the advanced swim club at the gym . I've been doing the intermediate one since January . I've survived two so far but have a feeling that one week I will get caught out! Also still trying to perfect tumble turns - slowly getting there. Mostly just having fun. The swim clubs have given me loads of ideas of how to vary my swims and different drills to practice.

Lovely to see what other swimmers are up to - in awe of the long distances!

That's so frustrating dizzy - did they not have a fast/slow lane?

Well done on still managing 100 lengths though

I have just taken delivery of a new pair of goggles and am ridiculously excited about trying them out in the pool tomorrow

Another 100 lengths today - my last session before the Swimathon on Sunday

It was a Women's Only session I went to and I won't be going back! There was a 3 lanes width section of the pool roped off and they were doing aqua-aerobics in the other section. I was first in so I started swimming up and down against the wall, until I was reprimanded by another lady who told me they swim round and round!

So, as they were all head up breaststrokers and I was front crawling I ended up having to swim up and down the middle but at each end either I had to wait for others to go past or they had to stop and wait for me to turn round. I was just a bit awkward for everybody involved when it could all have been avoided if I could have just stuck beside the wall!

I know it sounds like I wanted a separate lane to myself but in all honesty it wouldn't have affected their swimming if there had been one as there was only 4 or 5 other swimmers who would still have had 2 lanes to use. The evening women's session has separate lanes but a lot more frontcrawlers go!

Badger

Caterina99 posted this a couple of pages ago:

*I just wanted to say that I got a waterproof MP3 player for Christmas. It took me a few attempts to get it to work for me because the earphones kept falling out , and wearing a swim hat (which I hate) didn't really help as it just rode up over my ears.

I bought an ear band-it (I'm in the US, so apologies if they are impossible to find in the UK). It's a neoprene head band basically that covers your ears and stops the earphones falling out. I love it and now I can listen to music the whole time and no itchy hat!*

Twice a week swimmer here: (I cycle to work during the week and then go for a swim -50-60 lengths- at the weekends).

Just wondering if anyone used one of those underwater MP3 players? Are they any good? I like the idea but don't want to spend half by swine fiddling with one! Also, I don't use goggles and reading reviews some of the players seem to rely on being clipped onto the goggle strap.

I think so, as it's pretty local to me. Not sure about the price though and it's a week after the Scilly isles swim challenge. Last year was my first year in open water and I got really fed up by September of looking down into murkyish water and lifting my bloody arms over my head. At least with running you get a better view (don't miss the injuries though)

The River Dart 10k is on my to-do list although not this year. I will be venturing into open water for the first time this year and need to build up to some long distance swims .

It sounds wonderful though.

Kaizen - you doing it this year?

Pootle I have PM'd you!

Magimedi that photo looks lovely - whereabouts is it in Turkey?

Swimathon early next Sunday for me too - at the London Aquatic Centre used for the Olympics. It will be the first time I've been and am quite excited!

Also thrilled our local 50m outdoor pool re-opened for the summer last weekend. Had a lovely swim there yesterday morning and last weekend....swimming under blue sky definitely beats indoors. And good to swim in a 50m pool rather than 25m too.

Just a quickie- Registration for the River Dart 10k swim opens on Tuesday at 7am - I think it's September 10th. It sells out very quickly so if anyone fancies it it's £75. Great atmosphere and organisation, and you swim with the tide to the sea so not as tough as it sounds. Food stops too and loads of support on the way.

Beautiful iconic swim in Devon

I'm off to get my long swim done, and I have a feeling it will be like yours dizzy - I've never been early on Sunday before....

As I am doing the Swimathon at 7am next Sunday I thought I best see what is was like to swim that early today!

The lanes were busy and I had to wait at the ends a lot for the guy in front to get far enough up the length before I got close to him! And it was good practice on the breathing front too for when the water is choppy. I certainly got a mouthful a couple of times!

Managed 90 lengths in the hour so didn't think that too bad in the circumstances

400 lengths kaizen?

I grew up by the sea too! I don't really like pools, but I currently live way, way inland :( I always go on holiday somewhere I can swim in the sea, perishing or not.

Magi, sea water it is, I used to like the Derby Baths in Blackpool...although I have a penchant for the smell of chlorine! I'm weird like that.

All the swimmers I know swim hard and play hard so serving men is an absolute must! Lol

Ludways - I'll be there - but I sincerely hope it's a sea water pool! So much easier to swim in!

And will you have handsome peeps serving us gin & handing us towels as we get out?

You know what you mean about being a true water baby, I've always been a swimmer and my whole youth was spent in a pool, along with siblings and cousins. The only time I'm ever graceful is in water, lol.

When I win the lottery, you're all welcome to my new pool! It won't be a funky shape, it'll be 25m, lane lines and lines on the bottom, lol!! It's the first thing I'd buy!

Thanks magi. We can all have gin just for being swimmers. I'm on whiskey and ginger wine now. My swimming goals are based on rewards - so if I swim 400 lengths, I can have a kebab on the way home (last weekend). So now now I am probably the fittest I've ever been (and the happiest) but I'm pretty hefty due to my 'reward' system

Respect! Kaizen You've earnt that G & T!

My sister lives in Devon & swims in the sea every single morning. Her only concession to the cold is a pair of diver's gloves in the winter as her hands get too cold. She shares a little hut with a bunch of others who do the same!

As a child I swum from March until October in the sea.

I've just been in the sea in Devon and can confirm that it is absolutely bloody perishing I only stayed in about ten minutes but I'm supposed to be having cold showers and getting ready for colder swims in Mallorca in April.

Instead I am mostly lounging in a heated pool and sitting in a jacuzzi . Anyway, I've done what I achieved (getting in) and am having a gin n tonic as a reward.

Beast I've never used a nose clip & I am sure you'll master the breathing quite quickly.

I know exactly what you mean about being born to be in the water - I was bought up very close to the sea & I truly can not remember not being able to swim. I love being in water and above all the sea. I am not at all 'woo' but when I am in the sea I do wonder if I was marine in another life!

Loving the weather & looking longingly at the sea today - just aching for it to get abit warmer so I can go in! It's currently 9C & I usually go in when it hits 16/17 - which probably won't be till June (Sussex coast).

I want to swim again. I do love it, I was born I think to be in water. Really I just need to find some slots when I can go and do it.

I am trying hard to be good at front crawl but I have a disaster nose. Clips just ping right off, it is squat and slippery. So I have had to learn to breathe out underwater and keep it clear that way.

Hello two and magi! And welcome!
two, that's fab about the swimatron! Good times too!
magi, I totally understand about the clear head. That's the main reason why I swim!
I've had a bad few weeks, but from next week I am back in the pool! I missed it.
Hope you are all enjoying the beautiful weather!