Wild swimming

I’ve been secretly swimming in an old gravel pit near my home for quite a while now. It’s a 40 minute walk from home, and although it’s popular with fisherfolk there are never many people there.

It’s also an interesting game of subterfuge, I like to leave as little evidence of me being there as I can. I sometimes go early morning and sometimes under a full moon. The water is cold, and I’ve come to embrace that, and if I haven’t been in for a few days I miss it.

Some days it is so cold that is in itself the challenge. Sometimes it freezes over and I have to break through to get in.

I’m not alone, the wild swimming thing has really taken off in recent years and it has motivated me to swim much more than I used to. I’ve always enjoyed it but the stakes raised by other swimmers who swim all year round have made me challenge myself with colder dips.

The rise in popularity has raised the stakes in water quality. Anglers have been quietly observing the decline but now swimmers have joined them in an unlikely alliance it’s become much more of an issue.

I’m kind of lucky my dog hates the water. She’s more than happy to sit on the bank and that’s means I can leave my clothes safely, I know they’ll be there when I get back. I think that was one of my bigger fears, finding my clothes gone when I get out!

Now with the onset of spring the place becomes alive with birds, geese calling, grebes dancing, swans fighting. Soon swallows will be back and will swoop low over the water. The pretty little mandarin ducks will nest in the holes in the trees around the pool.

I’ve never seen another soul there, other than a couple of friends who have joined me for a dip