Found in the Waves

10/09/2026

What a difference between a wet, grey Tuesday and an etherial Thursday morning. The one consistent thing has been the jellyfish larvae - argggggghhhh. Each time I’ve been swimming, I’ve had a few more ‘stings’.

On Sunday I was so irritated by the stings that I bailed on another dose. The previous Tuesday and Saturday had delivered so many to my torso that I was one blobby, stingy, itchy irritation. However, I still went home from work and celebrated Sunday with a large pancake breakfast though. 😁🥞

By Tuesday I’d convinced myself to be bolder, and I'd missed the sea! So bikini time to try to limit the areas for entrapment. I had a lovely brief swim but still added to the body decoration. It was raining for most of the swim but what’s not to love about the gentle rain tapping on your head! No in water pics though as it’s hard to fight the blobs on the images.

Wednesday was training morning so an hour and a half in the pool to work on my pace. Thursday was a great bonus swim and what a morning. Flat calm seas, a good swim with a challenging swim partner to chase. I did opt for the wetsuit though. I was partly trying to avoid scooping up more larvae but also because I have an event at the end of September where I’ll be wearing the wetsuit.

Whilst the swim was delightful, the wetsuit was not. My wetsuit fits well but I just find them so restrictive. Despite pull it up my arms and loosening it across my chest, I could hear my breathing being squeezed immediately. I had to work to relax into the stroke and expand my chest sufficiently. Once that settled I then started to feel too warm and wanted to hang out in the cold patches! I also love the feel of water when I swim skins and you lose so much of that in a wetsuit. Swimming then becomes much more of a training exercise and less of an all round sensory experience.

However, one thing was awesome. After an hour of swimming I was warm. My hands didn’t go white or lose sensation at all. I didn’t get afterdrop and I didn’t need layers to rewarm. For that, wetsuits, I salute you. Still won’t get me in one often though!

05/09/2026

A week of many weathers, lots of itches and different conditions.

The week started with my beautiful swim Tuesday morning. Then it was off to the pool to teach - a quiet first week but lovely to meet the new classes. Once I got home I found myself itching - checked my skin over and found the telltale signs of jellyfish larvae. They’re distinctive as they don’t usually become itchy immediately but usually after a few hours. They then look a bit like chickenpox, red raised dots in all the areas where your costume was. As such it’s less of an issue for those in speedos or wetsuits but those of us in swimming costumes get the torso itch. The larvae get stuck in your costume and then the nematocysts release their toxin which causes the raised red bumps and then itching.

Advice is to apply topical soothers such as calamine lotion, take painkillers and anti-histamines if appropriate. Apparently some people can feel nauseous and react more, in which case do seek medical advice. Don’t forget to wash your costume too as it can harbour larvae even when dried.

So 4 days later the itching has reduced and it’s all improving. I’m itching now though, writing about it!

I then had a week of intensive lessons for one client who had travelled to the area to get more practice and work on their skills in the sea. As is typical, the week was initially looking super calm and delightful but 24 hours before our first lesson, the wind got up. My client was used to the sea so we had our first session in the gently building waves, getting to know each other and studying her technique. We then had to move to a more sheltered area for the next two lessons and found some lovely calm waters to work on rotation and arm recovery. This morning though the wind had dropped considerably and it was back to Branksome Chine for more work on the pull and rotation.

I even managed a lovely swim with a friend afterwards - now, I am itching again, is it because I’m writing about them or did I scoop up some more this morning!! 😳

05/09/2026

01/09/2026

What a beautiful morning!

Calm seas, low tide and easy relaxed swimming. The only downside was the cool air temp. My car showed 12˚C and it meant that after 55 mins my hands were getting cold. With afterdrop they soon went white and my Raynauds had come back after being largely absent all summer. So definitely thinking about layering up again, post swims and making sure I have hot liquids to warm me from the inside.

Now, where are those gloves and hats? 😊

30/08/2026

Now that was fun.

29/08/2026

Such variety from one week!

This week has been a whirlwind of variety. From sunny skies and a gentle gust on Saturday when I was kayaking with a small group to wild seas on Monday and then calm again today with more wild to come tomorrow.

Saturday saw me taking a small group from along the coast towards Alum Chine. These swimmers are usually pool swimmers so it was great to show them the fun of the sea.

Then on Monday daughter and I snuck in an extra swim. She'd come over for a long weekend and we had to find some time to get in the sea. We were hoping for a long calm swim to remind her how wonderful the sea is. The weather thought otherwise and we had a strong wind pushing us around and fabulous waves to play in. So much laughter it was restorative and quite wonderful. The sea however was a bit of a bully - it had beaten up the sea floor so it was soft underfoot and the pull towards Poole was incredible. So much so that we had to keep walking back up the coast and get in again and again to play. With the sea so warm it was hard to leave but mum and Arne was calling so off we went to see the Curlews. 🥰

By midweek the wind had dropped again and coaching was back on. I was working with one client on their technique so that they could join an Open Water swim group. Some Eureka moments that made such a difference to my clients confidence.

Lastly today we had potential troublesome gusts but they didn't materialise so we managed to work on my clients shoulders, focusing on how to change their stroke to take the pressure off the shoulder joint. Great to be back in the 'office'.🏊🌊🌊

26/08/2026

Gorgeous conditions for coaching today.

19/08/2026

The seasons, they are a-changin.

After so many dry, dry weeks it was lovely to get some rain this morning. The downside is that the sea will no longer be a calm playground and I have to brace myself for colder weather. No great hardship but it's always this time of year when you wonder - how do I get into the sea when it's cold, mid-winter and dark? It sounds trite but we just do. Friendship and laughter help enormously too.

Anyway, I'm not writing off this summer yet and as the sun rises later we're starting to get some lovely early morning skies. We've had calm seas with the odd cheeky easterly, then yesterday the wind got up a little and I was impressed to see one of my newer clients give swimming in that sea a go. When you swim so much in the sea, it's important to recognise that conditions can feel intimidating to newer swimmers. Suddenly breathing in front crawl is more challenging - maybe you have to breathe to your less dominant side, maybe you take in a mouthful of salty water. Your arms don't always clear the water as a wave may come and move it's entry position. It's a whole other water game. It's the variability of the sea that I love and sometimes you have to throw out your lesson plan and just change up what you're doing. Tuesday was an example of that. No point focusing on arm recovery with those waves so we worked on confidence and comfort in the water - finding a way to relax in an alien environment.

Every day, every lesson, every client is different - what a fantastic job I have.

11/08/2026

Dreamy seas, make for happy coaches and swimmers. 😁🥰🏊

11/08/2026

Such calm seas make it easy to build up the distance.