Nasty wind

As inviting as the water may have looked this morning, it was bitterly cold! Possibly due to the nasty northerly winds that were blowing?! Yes that must have been it! Nothing to do with the water itself :) just that horrible wind! It got one as soon as one took off ones first layer of clothes not to speak of how one felt being whipped by the wind wearing nothing but ones swimming gear ...:) once in the water it was fine ...:) well for 2 widths that is ... cause that's all I did ... @ 1.6 Celcius!

Marianne feeling good and happy in her new cosy!

Fazlar running past on one of his warming up laps wondering what all the fuss is about ;)

Marianne all in blue reaching for the steps

A hint of sun

Was that a hint of blue sky I saw this morning?! Did you catch it too? The night had been cold, b..... cold in fact! Just when we thought the really cold spell was over ... Some puddles on the common were even frozen ... the lido fountain was thankfully working well which meant the water had enough movement for it not to produce a layer of ice but, make no mistake, the water was still cold, b..... cold!

However, Vince was still setting records - 2 lengths and 2 widths - yesterday he had actually swam even more : 2 lengths and 3 widths! He usually sets a bench mark that some follow and others try to beat ... :) But today he was well in front ... on his own! even the hardened Chris and Sue "only" swam 2 lengths! Hey, Vince : You've done it! No one matched your "crazy" work out today! I'm just having a laugh because we all know that Vince doesn't do it to prove anything or to be a "hero" But of course he is a "hero" :)

Not having enjoyed my length as much as I normally do (probably had an off day yesterday) I decided to go for 2 widths with a tumble turn instead today :) and really enjoyed it - which of course is the name of the game -enjoyment! Like Nick already commented in the summer : "It cant be like work!" So it was time to reflect, listen to my body and keep clear of the danger of making a wonderfully exhilarating morning practice into a routine that could lead to over dosing!

Tooting Bec Lido's Trademark

Eddy enjoying his two widths while the sun was trying to make an appearance which made for lovely reflections on the water

All about style

Swimming alone is not enough (anymore) - This morning Chris and Nick were having a match of ... not quite sure what they call it actually?! hand tennis?! Anyway, they are almost (or maybe even more) passionate about hitting a tennis ball with their hand against a wall as they are about swimming. Specially Chris who is demonstrating his faculties in real style! I'm not quite sure how the scoring works .. nor what the rules are, but be careful on your way to the sauna as you may very well walk through their court (as I inadvertently did) and get told off!

I'm glad somebody was still swimming and in style too! Louise on her semi circle in the deep end after the sauna...

... and in a rush to put her robe on again - (watched by Nicky)

Louise's friend Taina did her splish in the shallow end

Rising to the challenge

An overly happy Wendy greeted me this morning announcing that inspired by my sharing of my personals bests on the blog, she had clocked up her own PB today!

"Two lengths at 3 degrees Celsius!"

"That's great!"

And here I was in a bit of a rush as I has to get to a Buddhist meeting thinking that I was quickly going to swim two widths and be off again.

Time to think again! How could I possibly "chicken out" when I inspire my "avid blog readers" :) to challenge themselves?!

No, of course I had to raise to the challenge and swim two lengths too! No time for mental preparation... "just do it" I thought!

cold hands after my two lengths...

...and warming my hands on Veronique who still has it all to do :)

Wendy savouring her well deserved hot drink after clocking up her Personal Best (PB) of the season, two lengths of the pool at 3 Degrees Celsius - Veronique looking on and getting ready for her swim

Smiles all round

It was all smiles at the Lido this morning.

Olivia Palmer with her and Stuart's daughter Freda Pepper had an early morning outing at the Lido before heading back to their new home in Devon

John Barker, barely back from Bled he's already excited about going to Latvia in two years time!

Mark stopped for a chat with John before his swim

What a reception

That is the reception I got from Brian for not getting to the pool at my usual time ;)

At least I got to see John a 12 o'clock regular - seeing John brought back memories from three winters ago (my first winter swimming at the Lido) when I used to go over lunch. It seems so long ago ... and my cold water swimming habits were definitely different then ... I wore gloves, I certainly didn't swim a length at 1 degree Celsius and had to spend at least 10 min. sitting on the radiator in the caf clutching a cup of hot water having a natter with John and Bridget before heading back home ... :) How things an changed and have change! It's actually amazing how my body has acclimatised to these, let's face it, rather extreme swimming conditions! Since last year when swimming in the cold water champs we held here at the Lido I haven't put on gloves and am doing surprisingly well ... I have also enjoyed pushing my boundaries and am happy to have clocked up a few PBs over the last few months! All down to having the sauna at the end of the icy tunnel!

Bob's wife enjoying time away from the horses

Birthday boy

The ice has all gone (again) and I wonder whether it will come back before the end of the winter?! Anyway, for today it was back to swimming lengths.

what's at the end of David's string?...

... it can only be the thermometer :) which showed 1.6 Celsius today

who is the birthday boy then?

non other than Batch who put on a lovely breakfast for "the usual suspects" as he calls us regulars! Head chef was Chris though who cooked scrambled eggs with salmon

Doreen having a laugh after realising that she thought the scrambled eggs were with bacon and not salmon:)

Faces

Surprisingly there was still ice in the shallow end and we were discouraged from swimming lengths -a quick dive in felt magical .. so did swimming to the other side and back - the sauna seamed miles away though :) luckily the air temperature was relatively mild and yet I made sure to take a brisk walk down the side of the pool, along the cubicles and past the fountain so to get warmed up ... in time to jump in again ....which makes perfect sense ... does it not?! :)

David after his swim and before is daily ritual of taking the water temperature

Alison looking rather refreshed after her second dip

in contrast, "Hoody man" Jonathan before his workout...

... and getting fit before his swim

Catching the magic

Today it was even colder than on Saturday. The sun was out again and the pool looked magnificent. It was partly frozen (which it wasn't on Saturday) so we could only swim in the top third of the pool. Two widths at zero Celsius did the trick for me :)

The pool looking as great as it did, you'd be forgiven for wanting to come for a spot of shopping to take some of the magic home :)

Looking remarkably spotty in places where the sprinkle of snow began to melt on the ice layer

view from under the ice

ice level view

A sprinkle of snow

What a glorious day! Not quite sure how many days we haven't been blessed with the sun... but one thing is for sure : it's was far too long! Also I'm sure if it hadn't been for the sun I would not have attempted to swim one length in 1.6 Celsius :) It was amazing and plenty!

The early hours of this morning brought us a sprinkle of snow and with the sun being out, sitting around the pool one could even bask in the sun, clutching a hot drink, mind you, as the air temperature was still rather chilly!

Richard dunking a biscuit before his dunk ... I mean dip :)

"Unleashed": Egg, Lucy, Margy, Olivia, Stuart, Richard and Sophie

Lucy doing more than just a dip

Sarah contemplating her next move (which was getting in the pool!)

Peter had a go too ... not for long though :)

Pip swam a length with a little help (of gloves)

Upstairs

Today saw the arrival of a, some what different, SLSC member. It was a little 4 legged very lively creature called Molly :)

Molly parading past the cubicles ...

... Toying with the idea of possibly taking a plunge?

but opting against it!

Well, with the water temperature still only at 2.7 Celsius ... who would hold it against the newcomer :)

But, who knows, with daily training she could eventually get there...

Speaking of which, I'm proud :) to announce that I have managed to swim two lengths today! and you know what, it wasn't as hard as I had imagined ... don't get me wrong, the last third of lap two was getting a touch painful :). What I have proven to myself yet again though, is, that setting oneself challenges is firstly well worth it and secondly how so much depends on ones mental approach to the challenge.

Today, I really came to the pool with my mind set on swimming two lengths. Admittedly, when Vince announced that he was "only" going to swim one length and maybe a width, depending on how he felt, I had a nano second of thinking "well, maybe it's still too cold to do two". Luckily, this thought didn't last long at all. I remembered immediately that I had come with the intention of swimming two lengths and I was going to stick to it!

So yes, I did and - I may have mentioned that earlier ) - I did feel very good about accomplishing my challenge! Winning over what happens "upstairs" (in ones mind) is definitely the best win! I'm aware that this was only a small achievement but, hey , small steps are sure to lead to bigger things!

Of course the likes of Sue and Chris swam not only two lengths but did a whole circuit of the pool (2 widths and 2 lengths)!

On a high

Ann back from competing in Bled and still on hight! To right too as she came back with the gold medal in her category - (age group 60-65 breaststroke) "Bled was amazing and it was great to win a gold medal, specially as it was the first gold of many we (SLSC members) won - and I was really celebrated!"

Another day, another country another pool and Hilary is ready to go ...

.. and stretching out across the pool

The ice had melted (since yesterday), the temperature was at 2 celsius and I was back on one length - itching to find out if I can truly swim 2 lengths ... tomorrow?!

Routines

This morning the shallow end of the pool was bearing an ever so slight and thin layer of ice which disrupted most people's swimming routines - swimming lengths was out and creative swimming was the name of the game - starting by swimming a width followed by keeping to the edge of the following three sides of the pool was an option the die hards like Vince, Sue and Chris opted for ... Fazlar clocked up a few widths ... Margy and I stuck to two widths... mind you I did (at least) dive in which none of the others did ... :)

Fazlar's contemplating his swimming options while performing his usual exercise routine before getting in ...

... and Fazlar in full action

Michael's routine starts with a hot drink

Mystery man's coat... he too was well into his usual skipping routine before ...

... cooling down to complete his routine - "Mr Egg" ran and jumped so fast that the camera couldn't quite keep up with him .. hence it's all a bit blurred :)

Vince on the lookout for a new route avoiding the ice and yet keeping up the distance - perfect solution a because one could leave ones flip flops in the same spot too!