We've had some truly wonderful autumnal swims at Brockwell lido the past few weeks, glorious morning sunshine illuminating suspended leaves, scattering golden patterns of light across the bottom, with water temps inching steadily, thrillingly down (12.5-13 degrees at the moment).
The latest craze, instigated by Peter and subsequently championed by David, is the
dry dive - i.e. diving as a means of initial entry to the water (for definitions of other lido terminology, see David's
blog post), which can be something of a shock to the system even for the most hardened Icicle (the dive I mean, not David's blog).
I'm quite a fan of the mid-swim wet dive with maximum run-up before launch - whoosh! - so I gave its dry cousin a go at 13.8 degrees and it was quite exhilarating, although more of a bonedry bellyflop in my case as my subconscious tried to put its foot down. 1 week (and 1 degree) later I had firmly hung up my dry-dive hat, leaving me free to capture this exclusive footage of fellow Icicles in action:
In case you blinked and missed it, here are a couple of stills:
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| Dry... |
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| ...dive! |
Following the thrill of the dive, the ripples dissipate, the heart regains sinus rhythm and what remains is a shoal of Brockwell Icicles gliding about in a calm, crisp, sun-drenched box of cold watery heaven. Just to prove I'm not exaggerating:
See?!
All followed, of course, by piles of cake and lashings of the best coffee in town.
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| An unsuspecting Liz takes her eye off Candy for one second... |
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| ...Candy I think she may have rumbled you |
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| The Lido Cafe: sanctuary for bewildered Icicles |
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| Polar Bear basks in the sun |
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| The three bears and their porridge |
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| ...Goldilocks finds sustenance elsewhere |
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