Wild Swimming - Blog Posts

jbheffernan

11 years ago

Open Water Swimming along The Esplanade, Greenock - 7 January 2014

Happy New Year!

This is my first Blog of the year. I am working at home today to try to get some marking done. I have done a reasonable job but there is still lots of marking to do.

Seeing as I was at home I decided to go for an Open Water Swim in The Clyde. As normal I swam from the Royal West of Scotland Amateur Boat Club (RWSABC).

The last time I was in was in December. Today's weather was fairly mild with with the temperature around 9 degree C. It was overcast with lite winds.

I went in around 15:45 and stayed in 15 minutes. High tide today was at 16:41 so the water was well in. I much prefer to be swimming around high tide if possible. The main reason is probably that you are walking over sand to get in the water. Going in at a low tide means that you are walking over cobbles and larger stones to get in the water. I am guessing I swam about 400m. I never did put my face in and mostly swam side stroke. After coming out I went into the boat club a took a nice hot shower. I was still a bit shivery after the shower.

Having said that I am still on a bit of high from the swim. It was great.

I didn't take a picture today but here is one from early December when the conditions were much the same as today.

Open Water Swimming Along The Esplanade, Greenock - 7 January 2014

I have spoken to a few people who tell me stories about people they know who made it a habit to swim in The Clyde every day. I certainly believe them now. Today's swim means that I have had at least one swim in The Clyde every month since April 2013. I expect that to continue. I would like to get in once per week but I'm not sure if my schedule will allow this.

Happy swimming!