A few months ago I came across the Outdoor Swimming Society on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/outdoorswimmingsociety

I read their manifesto

* We believe swimmers have too long been held in chlorined captivity! Everyone with a set of bathers should be set free to immerse themselves in nature
* We support all those keeping lidos open and lakes and rivers clean
* We promise to enlarge and celebrate the beauty of every day we can by going for a nice outdoor swim
* We pledge to take our friends with us so they can join
* We embrace the rejuvenating effects of cold water and undertake to strip and dip wherever we can

I devoured the members’ posts daily.  I was captivated by the beauty of the locations and inspired by the accounts of early morning swims with seals in the Scottish Isles, moonlight gatherings to swim together at the coast and the restorative qualities of cake and cocoa .   I was reading daily about people of all ages, shapes and sizes who not only loved the same things I have loved since childhood but,  more importantly,  WENT OUT AND DID IT.

The one thing I couldn’t figure out was why on earth they would trek to a location,  go to the bother of getting changed out of warm clothes and into swimwear to spend just five minutes splashing about in freezing water.

Well,  today I found out why.

Spurred on by the need to acclimatize for the Henley Mile I had my first wild open water swim of the year.  I felt so happy to be back swimming amongst the ducks and the broken tree branches with the coolness of the water reminding me how alive I am.    I managed six minutes before I realized that there was a creeping numbness in my hands and feet and it was time to get on to dry land.    But everything about those six minutes made my heart sing – from overcoming the first challenge of lowering myself slowly into the lake as my system became used to the chill to taking a last minute open-eyed plunge under the surface to get the fully immersed experience.

As the water temperature rises I will be able to spend more time in the water,  which is fortunate really because at the moment my current swim speed is One Henley Mile per 90 minutes!