Downstream

bacon, ‘which must have
been difficult to eat in the
water!’, ham sandwiches,
fried fish, ‘a raw egg drink
that was supposed to be
nutritious’ – Doloranda pulls
a face – ‘Bovril, Ovaltine,
grapes, and on one or two
occasions roast duck’. I ask if
her mother was aware of the
swimmers who had come
before her, the women who
also broke records in the
Thames going back to