I found myself at Balmedie Beach last weekend filming some kite surfers. A blue sky day but with a warm ish wind chill. I have not done any open water swimming since the 2 mile race in Lake Berryessa, , California 2 year ago so I thought I'd give the north sea a go.
The tide was going out, the waves a bit on the rough side, well a whole lot choppier than a swimming pool, but I waded out. The water was not that deep so I got used to the cold and then that moment where the first strokes are swam. Brrrr, the cold rush, the bumpy waves, no line of sight. It was all rock n roll for a while. The first task is the get the breathing to calm down and to get some heat built up. Eventually, things seem OK, when reaching shallower water, you feel the water warm up but it is still cold really. A calmer lagoon was next up and some decent swimming was possible. Swimming in waves is real strange for a pool swimmer, you feel the need to neutralise them but you soon learn to go with the flow. It was cold, so a quick sprint with the tide to the beach and out. Core cold, I ran for half an hour to retain body temperature and my skin changed from a bright red to is usual pale white.
A pleasure pain type swim experience overall.
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