What Would You Do?

[grendel]

I learned to swim in Ashfords Outdoor Pool, this was fed from the adjacent river water. we would swim until we had turned blue, then it was out and changed, and a scalding hot cup of chocolate from the vending machine, we would start weekly swimming (with my father) just after easter and carry on until october.

My main problem with swimming is that i have negative bouyancy, I swim very well at the bottom of the pool, to dive to the bottom of a 12 foot depth all I have to do is breath out. at school I came within a metre of the previous school record of 55m underwater (my excuse was that the record was held by someone with the surname Salmon).

[Wildfuzz]

That reminds me of the old Colchester outdoor pool, again fed by the local river Colne. The manager Fred SMITH was a good friend of my late Pop, and we often had a posh "cubicle" to change in as opposed to the communal concrete changing room. Looking back the diving board was around 15` high, the water only 10`, often hit bottom if you were not careful.

Got all my swimming badges there over the years, now been built around and is a canoe venue (pond). Happy summer holidays spent queuing to get in and watching the bikini clad girls from school from the tiered steps around the pool, glass of coke and a Mr Whippy to finish. lol Picture early seventies...... my time there.

[Wildfuzz]

I think my swimming shorts were those old knitted things which used to expand like an old nappy so you had to hang on tight when diving.....

[Bound2Please]

48 minutes ago, Wildfuzz said:

Looking back the diving board was around 15` high, the water only 10`, often hit bottom if you were not careful.

Remember it quite well, and Maldon, that is all weeded up these days sadly.