Sunday sun at Brockwell lido

Hooray - sunshine at Brockwell lido for the bank holiday weekend! And about time after a decidedly wintry feel to the water of late. (Yes I swam in the snow in January - but that was January! And therefore entirely normal and acceptable).

Still though, just over 14 degrees so not quite bath temperature yet. Today Candy (who featured in my previous post) was borrowing a wetsuit in order to build up some nautical mileage without contracting hypothermia. Wetsuits are by nature mischievous and uncooperative entities, a distant cousin of the erratic supermarket trolley, and this one proved no exception. While I have been known to stick my leg into my wetsuit arm, Candy fell victim to the full inside-out motif:

 

No sooner had Candy triumphed over adversity than another, much more serious development ensued. SHOCK HORROR the return of the spider to the girls' changing room!!! [Warning: the following video contains mild peril and is PG rated]

 

 

I beat a hasty retreat to the poolside, accompanied by my friend Hannah who dabbled in cold water swimming last year but is by no means acclimatized. At just over 14 degrees the water does retain a 'bracing' or 'invigorating' edge, shall we say, requiring an element of pluck for the initial plunge. Kitted out in inspirational Team GB togs, brave Hannah wasted little time in setting off with a confident breast-stroke, completing a triumphant 4 lengths in style (which unfort I almost completely missed owing to poor camera skills - sorry Hannah).

 

And hallo, who do we have here?

And now for some aquabatics: Rachel executing a flawless tumbleturn while keeping perfect time with the closing bars of Schubert's piano trio in E flat major:

 

All rounded off with some excellent Sunday baking offerings of raspberry bakewell cake (Peter) and rhubarb crumble (Candy) washed down with the wonderful Lido Cafe coffee.