Cold Days at Coogee

A dreadful week to begin the winter holidays. Usually, at this time of year, it's crisp and cool but also sunny and bright. Not this year - we've had days of grey skies, drizzly rain and cold, damp winds. I could almost be back in Lancashire. The air temperature has been well below average too.

I've managed to go for a swim at Wylies Baths every day of the holidays so far. It's been a different winter swimming experience from my usual one. Still, the seawater has stayed at seventeen to eighteen degrees most days (warmer than the air), so still no need for the swimcap.

Winter Solstice (or thereabouts) Swimming

I haven't posted on this site for weeks now. I've been swimming on Saturday and Sunday every weekend, but nothing remarkable seems to have happened. The weather is fine and sunny and very cold at the moment. The ocean temperature is still 18 degrees Celsius. I don't even need to wear a swim cap yet.

 I went swimming again last Sunday and took a couple of photos with my phone. The air temperature was only 14 degrees. A bit chilly walking up the steps from the pool to the showers.

First Swim Of Winter

A cool, overcast and drizzly day for my first winter swim. Winter officially starts on the first of June in Australia, so last weekend's dip was still in Autumn. Today's air temperature was just 13 degrees C, but the seawater is still 20 degrees. So, no need for a swim cap yet.

Wild Weekend at Wylies

Sorry about the alliteration overload, but I couldn't resist it. Last weekend saw huge swells along the Sydney coastline. On the Saturday, I had a look at Wylies at low tide to see if a swim was possible. The waves were still crashing into the pool, and the surge was still spilling over the concrete deck behind the pool. Nobody was in the water, and I decided that I wasn't going to lead the way in that regard.

On Sunday the swell had eased, but was still rough enough that warnings were being posted and all of  Sydney's ocean beaches were closed. At low tide, there were only a few waves breaking into Wylies Baths, so in I went.

Three Weeks Until Winter

A gorgeous day in late Autumn. The morning was about 11 degrees Celsius, but was due to warm up to 22. Wylies Baths is perfect on a day like today. It's out of the cold winds and in the warm sun most of the day.

Walking down to Wylies

I swam a lazy 15 lengths in amongst the fish

 

Still no need for a hot shower

When I first started this blog, I only really intended to use it to record my progress in my (admittedly daft) attempt to swim the Sydney coastline using tidal baths and ocean pools. However, I got a bit carried away, and wrote a sort of a swim diary over the course of a year. I enjoyed doing this, but also wanted to tidy up the entries concerning the swim trek and try to present them sequentially. To that end, I've started a website concerned only with that swim. It needs a good deal of revision, as it's pretty much copied and pasted straight from this blog. Also, 10 pools/ enclosures (at least) still remain.  The website is at: http://sites.google.com/site/thelazyswimmer/