We’re in Cornwall! Waaaaa!
Long drive down but good to be in the gorgeous Falmouth! Although today’s swim was with a lovely lady called Ella who lives in Penzance took me to the infamous Battery Rocks to swim, just tucked away behind the outside Jubilee Pool.
If it wasn’t for Ella’s bubbly, patient, and caring personality, I think I would’ve taken one look at that sea and reconsidered getting in it! But also knowing Ella was a qualified sea swimming instructor I felt reassured I was in the right hands!
I am not a strong swimmer, but I am also very aware of how precarious sea swimming is, and the water today was very choppy and the swell fairly large!
And it’s not like we were entering on a calm sandy beach! We undressed on the warm concrete, by the graffitied wall and then entered the sea via steps which dropped straight in. I felt the most apprehensive about entering water I think I’ve ever felt in my life! I’ve entered many a rough water in reservoirs, lakes, or tarns, but for me, the sea holds an unknown quality which sometimes frightens me at its sheer power and ability to change!
I was reassured watching a couple of teenage girls who had just come down to mess around in their wetsuits, this being their after-school routine, but they tended to cling to the sides, like the barnacles dotted about.
Anyhow, enough of me! This swim was about Ella and engaging in her swim world, and she graciously was aware of guiding me into the swell she unveiled some of the reasons she started taking her swimming more seriously. Ella is from Penzance and following alongside a career in music took her swimming up a level following having a child. Ella did her lifeguard training and now also runs a sea swimming course company called Wild Edge Swim. I think people like this are so important! Helping us understand the waters better, enabling us to enjoy them at their best.
Whilst we were swimming out, Ella told me how she spotted a minke whale in the summer where we were swimming…I at that point convinced myself I saw a white fin (😆) turns out to be the arm of a swimmer who was doing lengths back and forth. I am in awe of swimmers like this! I’d love to be able to swim like that. And almost to prove the point, Ella did a handstand under the water as we got out and a dive and a tumble turn. Pffftt easy haha!
What an intro back into the sea today!
Check Ella’s company out for courses if you’re ever in Cornwall: Wild Edge Swim
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