Take Two Or Even Three

Take two of the diving belles and beaux happened today around 8.30am - The format was slightly different : those who turned up for the dive didn't all dive in together but, still standing in a line at the top end to the pool, we all dived in one by one - Sangeeta had set up her camera again ... this time from the other side of the pool so to have the famous coloured doors in the background... sadly the camera didn't go off :) not to worry, Sangeeta asked us to all dive in again! what fun - not one dive but two dives .. and I thought I'd missed out yesterday by choosing to report rather than to dive :) What started off as take two actually became take 3! I don't have any photos to document the dive ... I may receive some later and will post if and when I have received some.

Further (good) news - the sauna was reopened today! I went in twice ... had some catching up to do, you see! 2 dives, 2 swims, 2 saunas - that can't be bad for a saturday morning!

Also, the traditional ( 1st saturday of the month) breakfast took place -

technically speaking I passed on that ... well not entirely as I was allowed to have one of Wendy's homemade lemon curd muffins ... :)

Alison brought her amazing homemade cup cakes

before getting out after my second swim I took a few shots - here Tom Hudson

and a guy from South Africa, (whose name I didn't retain when I et him briefly in the sauna ...)

who had his first swim in cold water

I caught Tom again - this time from close range

Giles, the newly appointed SLSC president, at close range too

The Lido Diving Belles and Beaux + Vandalism Update

The Lido Diving Belles and Beaux - I was inspired to choose that name on the day as the group formed in front of my very eyes - celebrated April Fools Day 2011 at the Lido with a huge group dive. The mastermind behind this idea was no other than diving enthusiast Sangeeta. She came up with the idea of having as many people as possible dive in the deep end of the pool on April 1st to mark the beginning of the SLSC members new swimming season.

The turn out was amazing and the splash that was created was just as impressive! The event took place as planned at 7.05am - Sangeeta was aware that some keen divers were not able to make it on the day ... shame ... but let me assure you, not all is lost - the good news is that Sangeeta scheduled a second group dive for tomorrow, Saturday, April 2nd at 8.30am ... Everybody is welcome to join in! and as it is the first Saturday of the month, group breakfast will follow - so bring a dish for after your splish!

Here some photos of this inaugurate event - Sangeeta also brought her husbands camera and tripod which we set up - Veronique kindly offered to release the shutter on that camera.

I placed my camera under water for a spectacular shot as well as recording the atmosphere, the post reactions and the massive splash for the boo.

ready ...

steady ...

go ... and ...

Splish

and off for a proper swim

Maureen even had time for a quick wave

as she swam past where I was standing

Gail looked a bit disoriented or bewildered

by the sheer number of divers/swimmer around her

Maureen made it safely to the other end of the pool

After his dive, Egg went to inspect the state of the vandalised sauna door

and told me what he thought

By the way, lifeguard Antony told me that the damage to the sauna door was not (like reported yesterday) the work of a group of kids but one single man (was caught on CCTV) - Fortunately he didn't actually manage to get into the sauna ... who knows what damage he would have carried out if he had got in ...

You can listen to all three audio clips by going to the lidosounds boo

After reporting on the group dive in and once the water had calmed down again, around 7.45am I finally got in myself and swam 6 glorious lengths - I had the pool all to myself before the next lot of swimmers ( the 8am brigade!) arrived.

A Touch of Vandalism & A Splash Of Colour

Coming to the Lido this morning you couldn't stop but to feel disappointed by the news that youngsters had (yet again) left their (negative) mark by vandalising some areas around the pool.

Worst hit was the sauna that the youngsters tried to break into - they must have been armed with crowbars or some kind of heavy tools as they managed to rip off the architrave and parts of the insulation of the door to the sauna...

According to lifeguard Brian they were caught on CCTV and are quite young of age ... The police was to come around later in the morning to assess the situation.

The good news, however, was that the pool was open for business and we could swim to our hearts content .. well, swim as many lengths or stay in as long as 10 Celsius allows one to stay in, knowing that there was no sauna at the end of the swim! For some, like Alex it was 12 lengths! Sue swam 10 .. Vince and I swam 4.

It was the most gorgeous swim I have had in a long time! The water felt so soft albeit a bit cloudier than usual. As I was coming down my 4th length I felt the purest sensation of total bliss - the combination of gliding through the water, feeling 10C water on my body, relaxing more with each stroke and extending my body as much as I could, I experienced 100% enjoyment and total happiness. It may just have been for a fleeting moment but I was very aware of it and I am still treasuring the moment. I could have stayed in for at least another 2 lengths but I wanted to keep it at that and finish on a real high! Besides I also anted to avoid getting chilled right to the bone.

Not having the sauna truly brings back this "pure" feeling of cold water swimming. The sauna definitely adds another dimension to the whole cold water swimming experience, specially if one gets back into the pool after a good "cooking" in the sauna. Not having that luxury on the other hand represents nothing but a simple variation to the wonderful exposure of cold water swimming.

But before even going over the sauna to inspect and record the amount of vandalism that took place I spotted more Lido Art which caught my eye!

A bewildered and upset John Barker

inspecting the damage to door of the sauna

more damage to the side window

Lido Art

Bertie, The Dapper Duck

What a lovely sight. Bertie, the dapper duck is back. Apparently (according to Brian) he has already been before this year ... it must have been at a different time ... cause I haven't seen him ... I missed not seeing Bertie and his entourage or more like harem until now ... he is normally accompanied by Gertie and sometimes even Flirty! Today, however, he was on his own, sleeping at the edge of the pool (railway side of the Lido) when I arrived. The pool was empty and the surface of the water beautifully flat ... very enticing indeed!

I had to creep up ever so slowly and softly to catch him having a snooze ...

I managed on the first shot ...

... wanting to get Bertie more full frame he inevitably woke up .... looked around...

... got closer to the pool's edge ....

and went for his early morning swim too -

not sure for how many lengths he stayed in? :)

probably for not as many as Alex did :)

Alex as always powering up and down for a total of 12 lengths ...

Mr Bubbles cut back from his mile (in march) so he could take photos too and not run out of time

Batch standing tall, sizing up the competition -

he and Sue had already been for a run around the common

Batch may be the faster runner .. which I'm actually not sure about as Sue seems to be an all-rounder... but faster swimmer than Batch she definitely is! She even plays hand tennis with Jonathan, Nick and Chris and has been known to "thrash" them :)

Sue on her first stroke after having pushed off ... again ...

she swam a total of 12 lengths today

Come on Batch catch her ... if you can...

The Dive Of The Day

The water temperature is certainly moving in the right direction and creeping up quite nicely. The lifeguards measured it at 10C - Can that be a trusted source of information though ..?! where is David? oh yes, he's in Madeira ... must be much warmer there, I'm sure ... but what is the water temperature REALLY here at the Lido?! Let's say it's between 9C and possibly 10C and just get on with it, is what I told myself. Specially as when I arrived around 9.30am the pool was heaving with swimmers! Up and down, up and down the length of the pool they swam ... I set myself the goal to swim 10 lengths in March - But was it going to me today? I only swam 6 lengths yesterday and then stayed in longer as I was also taking underwater shots. I simply can't resist not taking pictures ...! Anyway, today I was going to see how I felt ... I ended up swimming 8 lengths and (again) taking photos, followed by a good time in the sauna and jumping back in for a further 2 lengths. So 10 lengths it was albeit with a welcome interruption :) But I did help Batch make it to his mile! He told me that I pulled him along on his last two lengths and that he couldn't have done it if it wasn't for me ... It's funny because as I was about to push off on my 3rd length I saw someone push off just ahead of me and cross over to "my lane" which meant I had to delay my push off and redirect further left .. I soon overtook that swimmer who turned out to be no other than Batch (I recognised the float he has between his legs!) - All is well, I helped Batch which is great - you are welcome Batch and gratulations on your Mile in March!

As I was leaving Egg was getting ready for his dive ... which I caught spot on

Along came James Cash ... who also performed a great dive ...

but the best dive was yet to come ...

... I asked James to stay in the water and for Egg to dive over him

which undoubtedly made for the dive of the day!

April 1st "Diving Belles" take note!

James is apparently training to row the channel with another bloke

towards the end of my swim I had the pool almost entirely to myself

so I ended up taking pictures of myself

I love the bubbles!

and then there was Jonathan ...

... who soon stopped!

and then there was this lady

(whose name I sadly haven't remembered when we met a few weeks ago... sorry)

she swam widths

in a bikini!

Here Comes The Sun and Other Things

The sun brings hibernating cold water swimmers such as Bettie and Dr. Andy back to the Lido -and how lovely is that!

I was just lining up my camera to take a head on under water shot of Margy swimming towards the shallow end .. when she suddenly stopped! She got in the deep end and swam her first length of 2011 - She's still not feeling 100% after a nasty cold.

Nick who got in with Margy up the top end

decided to play and float on his back for his second length

The sun brought Bettie back to the Lido -

Betty is simply amazing and a true inspiration!

Mark geting in hoping to swim 6 lengths...

or maybe even 8 lengths - he started off pretty dynamically

I was behind the ladies changing rooms door lining up a photo through the glass when Lucy suddenly appeared (perfectly framed) just as I released the trigger :)

Life's a beach ... well, so is the Lido!

I had fun catching some arty reflections ...

and other bits and bobs...

... floating around