What a mixed bag of swims this week! I’ve had a power swim, a thwarted swim, a therapy swim, and a social swim.
Starting with the first and coldest: the social swim. Sunday morning was my wild swim group – a small turnout, possibly due to southerlies and scattered rain. Low cloud, brisk breeze. On the beach I wore my new Passenger Robe (a Christmas gift to myself, first daytime outing) – its bright blue exterior, made of recycled bottles, cheered me up in the greyness, and its sherpa lining was snug. Only my exposed ankles and Jandaled feet felt cold (Ugg boots will fix that in winter).
As we entered the sea, the shallow water made us take several steps before a sudden drop had us ‘in’ at chest deep before we knew it. Calm, shivery water. I kept my head up and wore a woolly hat (yes, it’s still summer!).
I really like this photo, which was taken by one of our group on the beach. Three amigos, smiling in the mist (I’m in the middle), enjoying some cold water therapy during an intense week/month/decade.
Thanks to MM for the photo.
Monday’s swim was less about communing with nature and more about burning off all the frustrated/angry/anxious energy I have over local and world events. In the water, I powered up and down the coastline. Afterwards I rested on my back for a few moments, bobbing in the northerly, looking up at the cobweb clouds. Before getting out, I tried to centre myself by putting my palms on the tiny granule stones below the clear water, feeling the thousands of pieces of broken shells, sharp white confetti.
The next day, LAWA issued a warning about not swimming in central areas because of portaloo contents being tipped by occupiers into CBD stormwater drains. I didn’t swim that day, nor on Wednesday. It may have been all right on the eastern beaches, but even the thought put me right off and I really felt for all the harbour swimmers (and all the other Wellingtonians near or in the CBD).
LAWA water quality on Tuesday :(
On Thursday morning came the school alert we’d been anticipating – child a close contact, which in Phase 2 of the outbreak meant go home, stay home – but then came the government’s announcement that Phase 3 was beginning (5,000+ new cases reported per day), so things would change again the next day! Everything was really well handled by the school, but it’s still a stressful time. Oh yes, and then Russia invaded Ukraine.
At 6pm I headed to the water for a reset (LAWA results had improved), following my long shadow across the sand to the shoreline. The tide was out, the sea was still and, after three days of southerlies, a little crisp. No one else was in the water and only a handful of people were dotted across the entire beach. A cluster of small sailboats bobbed across the bay.
Thursday evening reset.
After many weeks of swimming front crawl, I opted for breaststroke and took my time. My body and mind felt drained from the constant (bad) news updates and trying to ‘keep calm and carry on’ while feeling more like the cartoon dog in the burning house.
Below the water my fingers brushed against salps and I dived under, looking at all the cushion starfish and watching my arms gently slide through the blue world. Ten minutes later I emerged feeling like a million bucks, at least for a while, and better able to face whatever comes tomorrow.
What about you? Did you manage a swim or two this week, or something else that made you feel good?
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