This is Me, Carol. My Hobby is Swimming which started MANY years ago as a competitive pool swimmer with Dolphin SC in Cork. Like many teenagers life took over and swimming got put on the back burner, until after about 8 years away from the sport I found Masters Swimming and in the past few years, Open Water Swimming. I now swim with Sandycove Island SC.
I used to swim distance events as a swimmer (way back then), so the transition to Open Water hasn’t been a huge problem for the distances to be covered, the years of training never really left me. BUT the transition from a toasty 28deg pool to a cold 10-14deg sea temp has been a whole other struggle!. I went from only swimming in Summer months Jun-Sept, in a wetsuit in the sea, to now finally swimming year-round in the sea in just togs. I’m not afraid to admit it, there are days in the winter when I long for the wetsuit. But with fantastic swimming friends for company I forget the cold and swim on.
The swimmer who says, “It can’t be done” is passed by the swimmer who is doing it.