Downstream

to Swindon. I’m anxious
about a few things: mainly if
I will be able to cover the
whole five miles. I’m a fair-
weather swimmer; for me it’s
a solitary activity done for
pleasure. I’ve always swum
outdoors, starting as a toddler
at the unheated lido on
Hampstead Heath in north
London and then as a
teenager in the Heath’s
bathing ponds. But cold water
has become more of a