Last week I struggled to find the motivation to swim. In order to help get me into the right headspace for heading off to the pool at silly o’clock tomorrow morning, I thought I’d write about the two things I most enjoy about swimming.

1. People. Swimming brings people together. Every morning I share the pool with a variety of others: a priest, librarian, tree surgeon, handyman and teacher… And those are just the ones I know about. There’s something about being in the water together that means we forget about what’s going on on dry land. Instead, we get on with our own thing, united by a mutual enjoyment of starting the day with a swim.
2. Eating. I love food. This blog post is powered by takeaway pizza and a bottle of beer. Swimming enables me to eat what I want, when I want. Before I started swimming, I found that pixies were coming into my house at night and holding sewing parties in my wardrobe. In the morning, I’d put my trousers on and find that the pixies had taken the waists in! Since I took up swimming, the pixies work has been undone. Perhaps the permanent smell of chlorine on my skin is what keeps them at bay?

Woohoo! Roll on tomorrow – I’m looking forward to the sheer feeling of freedom and independence that comes from being in the water.