I’m really lucky. I live in a beautiful part of the country with the ever delightful River Cam just nearby that meanders on for ages and is just ripe for swimming in. On the last full moon I went with a couple of friends to go for a gentle amble up the river as the full moon began to battle its way through the clouds. Whatever happened to flaming June??

The training for the Henley Mile has been progressing at zero miles an hour as I have developed a frozen shoulder. There’s not much I can do about it in time for the 11th July but that doesn’t stop me getting in the river several times a week and proper belly laughing with friends. There are many articles written about the benefits of cold water swimming, about swimming in nature rather than the pool. There are endless lists of advice about what to wear, what not to wear, how to get the best out of your swim. How to swim faster, stay in the cold water for longer and loads of really useful advice about how to stay safe and be careful with the cold. All of it is hugely appreciated. A little bit of knowledge can help us stay safe which is never to be underestimated.

However, the real thing that I think most open water swimmers will talk about is the laughter and the companionship of being in a freezing cold river with friends. It’s like having your drink spiked with joy. You don’t have to be able to swim miles to benefit from throwing yourself into a cold river. You don’t have to be an elite athlete. You do have to be able to laugh, that is pretty much essential, and the health benefits of laughter almost outweigh the benefits of the exercise itself. Laughter is known to lower blood pressure, reduce pain, burn calories, strengthen the immune system, reduce tension, increase energy, relive feelings of anger and frustration and, most importantly, inspires hope and joy. I must have burned loads of calories on our moon river swim as our laughter carried across Grantchester Meadows. Some people out walking threw their clothes off and jumped in the river, wanting to get a bit of whatever it was that we were having. And that’s the thing, open water swimming is contagious. I may not be able to swim very far, at the moment, but the thought of how many others have been inspired to swim in the river by seeing us having fun, that makes me smile. On one really cold morning, two mums approached us. They asked how they could start doing river swimming and we talked them through it and invited them to join us the following week. They said ‘We saw your faces before you got in the water and we saw your faces when you got out of the water. We want to feel like how your face looked when you got out of the water.’ That pretty much sums it up I think. It’s a reboot, a joy bringer, it reshuffles molecules back into the right order, it’s an anti mad world medicine. I can’t recommend it highly enough. It does help, for other people anyway, that my dog Tom has a habit of stealing my clothes and towel, as I am getting out of the river, and charges off with them. Seeing me running up the river side in my cossie, shouting and cursing, after a very very fast dog, brings a smile to many onlookers and the world definitely needs more smiles.