article_snippet.sent: I wobble over the sharp shingle, into the waves, until Imyself waist-deep.
article_snippet.sent: I’ve swum through them all, wherever I can find open water.
article_snippet.sent: Most of the time this means municipal pools from which I emerge reeking of chlorine and praying I’ve avoided verrucas.
article_snippet.sent: The water was so black and deep, my thoughts would turn black and ominous too, imagining drowning and wondering how many rats were lurking in the murky shadows.
article_snippet.sent: But one day, the local indoor pool I used was unexpectedly closed.
article_snippet.sent: I felt I was swimming through silk.
article_snippet.sent: I never knew water could be so soft and I forgot about the rats and the unknown depths.
article_snippet.sent: But the problem, for me, is the indignity of actually getting in and out of the sea.
article_snippet.sent: But, unless it is unusually calm, there’s not a hope of emerging from the surf with the composure of bikini-clad Ursula Andress in the Bond film
article_snippet.sent: As I get out, the waves can be so pebble-filled-heavy
article_snippet.sent: But the humiliation of looking like a seal heaving itself onto dry land is worth dry land for the joy of that swim.