What I'm saying is I had great sleep, awesome sleep, and I couldn't wait to get down to the water and meet Viv. I can't remember when I came across her work, possibly when I was working at engage a little while ago, but I was captivated by her #30daysofswimming project. In an online world where a lot of the talk is of triathlon times and swimming great distances without a shark cage (impressive though that is!) this project really resonated with me. Just get in, every day for 30 days. Just get in, and have a swim. And if you are Viv take some really amazing photographs and put them on the internet to make me jealous.
We are early to the lake, and stand close to the edge, occasionally putting our hands in the water to test the temperature. When Viv arrives we talk logistics of where to leave the car keys (there is talk of the clothes of a local swimmer recently being taken and burned), decide an entry point, and launch in.
The water is colder than I expect, colder than the sea in Manorbier, and deep. 94ft deep, and black from the surface. I'm a river swimmer at heart, so this is not the kind of swim I would naturally throw myself in to. But it's glorious in the lake, looking back up to the Snowdonia mountain range I feel so lucky to be here. I have been to the area several times before, to ride the train, or drink coffee in one of the overpriced tea rooms, what have I been missing!? We swim out to the centre, admire the view, bob around chatting, then head to the lagoons that run alongside. While swimming up through them a kingfisher flies over our heads, dips into the pool, and back over us, proving beyond doubt the special character of swimming here.
Patched up with a tissue wrapped tightly around the cut, and my sock and shoe shoved on top, we drive to a local café for coffee and warmth; though all we really get is coffee as it's too noisy inside to do the interview, so we gently shiver on the terrace. Viv is brilliant, being an artist and having done radio before she knows what we're aiming at, and she has some great stories. She is really generous with us, and sits in the cold for a hour talking all things swimming. She doesn't even mention what a wuss I am when I have to leave the table and walk ineffectually in circles trying to get rid of a wasp that has taken a fancy to my jumper. She talks about watching the seasons change from the water, waiting in the car in heavy rain for other people to leave the lakeside before getting in, in case they think she's mad, watching and photographing a freak hail storm come across from the town, and her first time swimming the length of the lake.
Viv was the last of our interviews for the week, so it was with a touch of sadness that we dropped her home. That, and leaving this part of the world, which is so beautiful, and heading back south to my version of real life. We stop off in Dolgellau, just long enough to get round the charity shops and get a parking ticket, then wind our way back to Cardiff, and eventually my Dad's house in Hay. Falling asleep I have a massive jumble of stories and swims and people and still the feeling of the water in Lake Padarn, and somewhere in there a new understanding of why I swim. We still have more people to meet, this is really just the start, I'm just hoping our editing skills live up to the stories we've collected!
