Sneaky Alfonso

It just doesn't pay off to play a "fast one" on Alex !!

Alfonso dithering around ... for ages ...

before ...even putting his goggles on ... he blamed his 10 day stay in Morocco

for delaying him - Also he was sneakily waiting for Alex to come back down to the shallow end ...

Peter Ra doing his best to hold off fast approaching Alex ...

No chance ... Alex has already tumble turned and is off again

before Peter reaches the end of his length!

baffled by it all ,Peter stopped and asked "Who is this? he swims like the speed of light"

That's Alex!

still no sign of Alfonso making his move ... he is still waiting !

Jane feeling the cold, specially in her hands

nothing that a hot shower or a stint in the sauna can't help with!

... from where Tricky (after having swam his mile)

has just emerged from before jumping back into the pool

(with a big splash!)

What's happening here?

Alfonso is about to (finally) jump in, to get a head start on Alex who is tumble turning

and Gus is just pushing off for his mile

Alfonso spear heading off ... ahead of Alex

Tricky draped in "stars and stripes"

Vince arrived with his children - Laurie happy to be at the Lido too

now the stars and stripes have shifted ...

Alfonso may have had a head start on Alex ... not for long though...

Alex worked hard to catch up ... and catch up he did ...

in fact he is now leading coming into their tumble turns!

... where Alfonso grabs his advantage ...

a strong push off gave him a slight lead ...

on the straight there is no mistaking who swims faster though : Alex is always the winner!

Vince submerged in one of his dreams again ..

Gus at about length 14 ... of a total of 18 lengths

there was a lot of chatting going on this morning between Chris and Sue R.

almost ready ...

and push off!

Sue, long, stretched out and gliding is already gaining pace

Kate and Carl came a bit later this morning ..

Carl had been to the physio who concluded after having taken a good look at Carl that all his muscles are hard and tired ... his order: to take it "easy" which Carl interpreted as "only staying in 9C water for 30 minutes" instead of 1 hour which he had planned on doing :)

Kate taking a short rest after her first length - her hands were already cold before she got in ...

She was quick to push off again though!

And knowing Kate she probably went on to swim at least 1 kilometre if not a mile

- there simply is no stopping her!

Ode To The Fountain

It was a bit dull this morning ... overcast and windy ... which is (maybe) why I noticed the brilliance of the new look, refurbished, repainted fountain outside the cafe?! The water cascading out of the centre of the fountain was beautifully clear where as before the refurbe it looked rather yellow and murky due to the colour of the ageing fountain itself ...

light blue background makes for crystal clear water!

The water coming out of the fountain feeds the pool ...

and yet the water in the pool looked less clear due to what the bottom of the pool reflects ...

Nicky happy after her swim

Good to see Vince back after a few days away (over Easter)

Clare in a hurry reaching for the line ...

enjoying her swim before jetting off to Belfast

reverse shot of the gushing fountain ... this time looking back towards the coloured doors

no real break in the sky yet ... clouds still looming overhead ..

will we be in for "April Showers"?

What Day is It?

Tuesday? ... I wasn't too sure when getting up this morning ... the day certainly felt like a Monday (to me) ... after this Easter Bank Holiday!

When I arrived Alex was already in the pool ... I was on my last length when he took underwater shots today -he caught a fab photo of Nick, Sue R and Chris swimming "over him"

not sure who I've managed to scare here ?!

This is Ian ... when I arrived he asked me whether I would be joining the wetsuit brigade today?

No, not today ... I thought of swimming 10 lengths without and make a it a PB swim:

10 lengths @ 10C was a goal I had set myself for this cold water swimming season ..

and I did do just that ...

actually word in the sauna had it that the water felt colder than 10C so on my way out I checked .. it was 9C :)

Clare was in her shiny blue cosy this morning

(she has a green and a red one!)

Nick and Sue R. battling it out on their last length -

this shot shows Nick's amazing reach!

Sue swam 18 while Nick joined her for her last 10 lengths...

no wonder he "just, but only just pipped her at the post"

Ian - head down- a total of 18 lengths for him too

Nick and Sue R "already discussing tactics"

- while Chris cruising in (in the background)

Perfect Wetsuit Condition ...!?!

Martin's advise was to resist wearing the wetsuit again today ... because it may turn into a habit .... ?! ohh but I have to see if I really like wearing it and if I could feel more comfortable in it today than I did yesterday, was my answer to that ... ! So, I took it with me to the Lido again today ... and yes, I succumbed ... well, the weather forced me to ... windy, cold and "perfect getting used to wetsuit conditions" :) For those of you who have never worn a wetsuit (and never will!), let me say that water does get in to the wetsuit ... but of course it gets warmed up a bit ... it's quite funny actually when getting out of the water, all the water which had entered (specially during pushing off the wall) does run down your legs and out by your ankles - a lovely feeling! :)

I swam 10 lengths again ... still struggling with stamina and fingers spreading after 8 lengths ... most swimmers were saying that the water temperature had gone down ... but with David on holiday and no "official water temperature keeper" on site ... we will never be "100% sure" ...

I did get back in after the sauna and swam a couple of widths to remind my body of the "real experience!"

Sue R. came a bit earlier than Chris to get a few lengths in before Chris joined her ...

Sue had 1 mile in mind and did do just that!

I'm a bit far away of the action heading towards me ...

it's Alex (on the left - who had been lurking under water to take a photo of Sue and Chris)

catching up fast with Sue and Chris

Clare seems to (always) get in the water just as I'm about to get out ...

Nick setting off at full speed -

he has a theory of creating more pull

by spreading his fingers and grabbing the water as much as he can ...

ahhh but Alex is still faster ... and Nick is not ready yet to have an "official head to head" with Alex ...

Nick did however get ahead of Sue R and Chris quite quickly ...

with all the swimmers heading to the deep

there was just time for one "doodle shot"

the wavy water surface distorted the black line

Wetsuit

I swam in my wetsuit this morning - 1st time in about 3plus years ... the reason: I'm getting a touch frustrated with a lack of stamina and cold water resistance and just wanted to check back in with my body to see what it's like to swim in a wetsuit again ... well, apart from feeling a bit restricted in my arm movement - the suit catches me under my armpits - I (only) swam 2 more lengths with it ... i.e I swam 10 lengths with my wetsuit ... the dilemma of my fingers spreading uncontrollably after 8 lengths set in all the same! This means swimming becomes rather uncomfortable and not as enjoyable as it could/should be :)

On one of my lengths, reflecting on the different swimming experience the wetsuit brings, I suddenly saw Alex "lying low"at the bottom of the pool pointing his camera up towards me ... I'll have to check out his blog later!

But what wearing the wetsuit allowed me to do, was to stay in the water for another 10 minutes or so after my swim and play around taking photos!

Here they are:)

I alway enjoy seeing all the micro bubbles Fred manages to create while swimming -

we discussed the phenomenon in the sauna ...

Fred took the discussion as a criticism .. when really it is rather lovely to see those bubbles under water as one is swimming along and they catch ones eye ...

Gus was quick to point out that what is missing when bubbles form is the glide ... which of course is true!

But hey, Alex the fastest man in the pool also know as "Mr. Bubbles" ... need I say it :

creates a lot of bubbles too!

wearing the wetsuit made me more buoyant and I was pushed up to the surface

sooner than I intended to resurface

swimmers were still too far away!

along came Gus who is benefitting from a later swim thanx to the easter school holidays

the same applied for Kate - school holidays are bliss!

This time, I managed to stay under water long enough to take Sue R. and Chris

before the wetsuit pushed me back up ...

More of Kate

up the deep end amongst the waves ...

... waited for a calmer moment to catch the reflections

as well as lovely shapes

and "fog" merging with the water

back to a dance of light

Kate was still swimming up ...

... and down!

"Bubbleless Hilary"

making my way back from the deep end ...

spot the newly painted fountain catching the sun

would you believe it ... Kate was still in the pool ... I think she must have swam a mile ...

"1KM doesn't do it for me anymore, I need more exercise!"

Way to go Kate!

that's it for me ... into the flip flops, a struggle (!) out of the wetsuit and into the sauna!

oh wait ... Clare is just starting off on her swim