Level 2: back into the pool

One of the thrills of Level 2 was that the WCC pools reopened. To safeguard swimmers, the lanes were all double-width, and only eight swimmers were permitted per lane. There were also limits placed on the number of patrons who could use the facility at any time, and we were discouraged from using the changing rooms unless absolutely necessary. Likewise the cubbyholes and lockers. Some pools changed their entry/exit points to avoid clumps of people gathering, and the staff were very busy cleaning. Luckily, not all that many people flocked back to the pools immediately. A lot of administration was necessary, especially to facilitate the different user groups (clubs, squads etc) to ensure that they got some training time while observing social distancing.  I'm secretary for the Harbour Capital Masters swimming club, and became ad hoc Health and Safety Officer as well, drafting an updated H&S plan for the club which WCC needed to approve before we could resume our bookings. The club is usually pretty free-and-easy, but to make sure that we followed the regulations I set up sign-up sheets for each session, and had to keep an attendance register for contact-tracing. It involved a lot of paperwork, a lot of emails, and a number of very beautiful GoogleSheets, but everything worked. 

Starting back at morning swim squad was pretty exciting, but also felt somewhat clandestine, being in a group with so many people. Quite overwhelming! Depending on our lockdown activities, everybody was at a different level of fitness. My almost-daily swims in the sea during Level 3 and the start of Level 2 had been pretty useful, and cycling during Level 4 had maintained some degree of aerobic fitness, so I wasn't in as bad a shape as I'd anticipated. We started fairly slowly, reminding ourselves how bodies function in water. 

In addition to squad sessions, I did quite a few pool swims on my own, alternating these with Worser Bay trips with Eliza, and the resumption of harbour swims with a group. As the winds became noticeably chillier, the experience of dressing on the beach and pedalling home also became more somewhat gruelling. A certain amount of satisfaction could be derived from the gruellingness though. Moreover, it was highly satisfying to see the distances in my spreadsheets start to add up, moving towards the goal of 20km weeks.