I said right at the
start of this blog that the main thing wrong with it is that time spent swimming elsewhere
is time that could be spent swimming at Tooting Lido.
I ♥ Tooting Lido. Some people who live in my house think I go on about it too much, but I don’t
care. I ♥ it in winter and in summer and in all the bits in between. And the bits in
between this year have dragged on, and on, and on. The water was stuck for
weeks at 10 degrees. Which is fine, but I’m not some kind of idiot, I don’t
want cold cold all year round. I love winter swimming, in winter. I do NOT love
winter swimming in the middle of May.
And in winter, I can do
a dip in Tooting, then a proper swim elsewhere. May and June are usually GLORIOUS, water heating up, those of us acclimatised gradually upping our lengths. But now it's blazing hot? Now I shall avoid it like the plague until a small cloud creeps across the sky and the masses run away. Now - it's for everyone else. So now, I magnanimously give you the creamy warm water, the dodging between lilos and people chatting as they go and grrrrr, the triathletes with no pool etiquette. Other people's children. Instead, shall I tube for hours across the wastelands of London to slog up and
down some shitty dive and be caustic about the cleanliness? Nah. I'll rig up an outdoor shower in my garden and dream about an empty pool in the summer rain.
Go in the rain. Go under the cloud. The added peace is worth it. The crisp wash of cold water against
your skin, the bliss of a long length, the flash of sun in your goggles. I’m
not a hippy (fuck it, I am) but there is zen-like transcendence about getting lost
in your thoughts while your arms mechanically churn over and over. Go for a
swim, sort a problem out; now that is magic. I know people who say ‘I can’t
swim in cold water’ meaning, I’m made of more delicate material than you, you
great clodding peasant. But give it a go. Yes, it’ll feel cold when you get in,
even/especially on a hot day. But if you get out at that point, you’re just
doing the hard bit. Stay in. Do the first length slowly, breaststroke. Put your
face in gradually. Don’t fight it. Relax. You'll enjoy it, I absolutely promise, or I'll give you all the money you've spent on my blog back.
Here are our outdoor London pools, almost in order of my preference. Try
Tooting or nearby Brockwell, a surprisingly nice pool at Uxbridge or the steely cold bliss of Parliament Hill. Try Crouch End Lido, even, or
for the nature try Hampstead Ponds or the Serpentine. If you need your water warm (which I understand less and less as the air heats up) try
London Fields or Hampton Court. The lido at Charlton is heated minimally, and while it may be surrounded by a building site, the pool is lovely. Richmond Pool and the Oasis both have outdoor bits, the first cold, the latter positively hot.
Also, breaking the self-imposed boundaries of my own blog, there is a pool within
daytrip distance that I highly recommend. Pells Pool in Lewes (all the info is here) is spring-fed, and sometimes manages
to be warmer than other places (don’t ask me, it’s physics, innit. Or, er, chemistry, I don't flippin know). It’s a very appealing space, as mellow and warm as the old high brick wall down one side of it; and a nice big pool so
room for all sorts, whether you’re a triathlete or 5. (Are you 5? Wow. You're gifted, but wasting your childhood reading this. Go and do Lego.) Lots of sunbathing space,
too and some history, and there’s a lovely homemade chocolate shop by Lewes
station.
We also have Arundel, which I haven't tested so can't endorse, and Saltdean Lido, currently shut. Saltdean has a different
vibe. A potentially beautiful Art Deco building right by the coast, it’s less cosy than Pells; there’s a bit of the ‘blasted heath’ feel to it. Sometimes the sea can blow a salty unkind wind across, cutting through the harshest of suns. And here, campaigners have fought the cold wind of destruction, and having cleared the first hurdle, now wait for permissions etc to move into the next phase - being open. They had a terrible fight with the previous owner who we
shall refer to as ‘some arsehole’, and who wanted to demolish this listed treasure and
put up flats. The arsehole didn't look after the pool, in the hope, I suspect, that it might spontaneously fall down. But regardless of some arsehole, the pool is substantial, and very nice for a proper trainy kind of cold swim, with kid pools and a picnic lawn if you have to bring small people along. There is a brilliant campaign (here) that we should all support, in gratitude for a group of people who worked extremely hard. I wish them happy swimming, eventually. And I'll shout, when the gates open again.
And if after any one of
those you don’t prefer swimming outdoors, you cannot say I haven't tried.
* PS If you see me at
Tooting Lido, please say hello. I’m the one in tinted goggles and with a hunch
(costume too short).
* If you have any other
suggestions in easy day trip distance, let us know, via the comments section below, PLEASE!
