Am I mad/ crazy/ bonkers? Am I brave?

Many of you swimmers out there will field the age old comments.

"You must be mad!". Probably.

"Bonkers". I hope so.

"You are so brave!". This one really gets my goat for some reason.

And my favourite especially in January: "Is it cold?!?!. Well of course it's bloody cold. But every single one is completely missing the point. I don't do this because I'm mad, or bonkers or brave, and I certainly don't do it because it's cold. I swim because it makes me feel alive. It makes every single fibre of my being smile. No matter how utterly hideous the past day/ week/ minutes have been since my last swim, 30 seconds in that water and I'm laughing and smiling again.

There is more and more scientific evidence that claims that cold water immersion is good for us. Both short and long term. I'm no scientist and I don't really give the science much thought. I think that I started swimming regularly (although we always used to as kids) because it was a little bit risky and quite a bit silly. It takes your breath away and gives you something to talk about.

There are a few swims over the past years that have been particularly memorable - the osprey catching a fish next to me, the oyster catcher keeping up with me so that every time I took a breath I saw it by me, and the kingfishers on my local river. Then there are the long swims - the time I swam round the island at home and back again (my longest swim at that point), the covid changed swimrun event that meant that we suddenly had 6km of swimming rather than the trained for 3.5km, or the length of Coniston with 600 other people. I've had new swimmers with me, seasoned and those who have grown with me. I have swum in events with hundreds of others and swum alone. I've swum in lochs, waterfalls, rivers, lakes and the sea.

And swimming in the rain! Those who know, know. Just try it. Nothing makes me giggle with sheer pleasure more. Back to nature, as it should be. Blue mind and Green mind sorted for the day.

I am more healthy that I've ever been and Im a better person. So I may be mad, bonkers and brave, and yes it's cold and sometimes pretty hideous, but I love it.

After every swim I'm reset. New. Fresh. At one with nature. Living dangerously. Ready to take on the world. And I don't care what people think.