Sea Swimming Blog #61

Day 100 Sea Swimming.

#61 of the blog.

In some ways this was a day like any other… not that different from any of the other days really.

And yet it is a day like no other (thus far!)

Us humans attach meaning and significance to events in our lives and as such, successfully reaching 100 consecutive days in-a-row of sea swimming holds that extra symbolic meaning… a bit more than 99 did, or than 101 will.

It’s not so much the ‘achievement’ of plunging into the sea each and everyday for these past months - regardless of the weather or the conditions - though perhaps there is some satisfaction to take from seeing what the human body can endure(!)

It’s more about looking deeper and analysing the symbolic nature of it… doing any voluntary action for 100 days is a commitment… and I think that’s what I’ll take from it… as I mentioned when both Jason and Will hit the 200 milestone the other day, there are plenty of people out there with far greater numbers over far greater number of years…

There are also people who are doing far more worthy things than just getting in the sea!

We’re all well aware of who those people are in these past 18 months or so, so no one is asking for medals here (although I did appreciate my little 100 cardboard cut out that the Bluebelles provided for me - up cycled of course).

100 days ago I’d not met any of these fine ladies… 18 months ago I’d have probably laughed if you’d told me I’d be the only 30-something swimming in the sea on a daily basis with (I hope they don’t mind me saying) a group of more ‘mature’ older women.

But ‘in these strange times’ (that’s a sentence I’m so sick of hearing… not because it’s not true… but because it is), there is something about the sea, the cold, being in nature, finding a shared interest, community and more than I can eloquently express, that has brought us all together.

And it’s not just these ladies, it’s the Salty Sea PUPS, it’s Melissa, Nicola and their friends, the Swim Smart Team and the other groups I’ve photographed so far… all sharing this barely explainable need for the sea and a joy that resonates from it.

And it’s free!

I can’t believe it took a global pandemic for me to realise what we have on our shore step…

I don’t know how or why I never really noticed it before, but now it’s a part of me and of them, and I look forward to 100 days more… and more.

“Whatever your goals in life,

the quality of the journey has to become more important than reaching your destination.

You have spent your entire life seeking to arrive someplace…

What if this is it?

Actually, this is it”

- Sam Harris