Skins 
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Absolutely bloody loved it.
2km, 30 minutes.
(Rubbish cyclist tho 
)
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Weather looking dodgy later in the week so Im down for Haysden, Tonbridge on Monday afternoon.
Quite a trek just for a swim, but its been a few years since I swam there 
Im still trying to decide whether its worth a weekly swim, Im 16 weeks out from Barcelona if its happeningā¦
wouldn,t start packing for it just yet !!!
First lakeswim without a wetsuit yesterday, a balmy 19.5Ā°C!
Id like to say it was markedly different in some way, but apart from avoiding the hassle of getting the damn thing on and off, I cant say I really noticed.
Actually I did race Hever once without a wetsuit though.
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Excellent. Much prefer swimming and racing without a wetsuit.
Is Barcelona non-wetsuit? (if it goes ahead 
)
Havenāt really thought about it - its the mediterranean in October - donāt think itāll be cold, but not so warm for wetsuit bans either.
Hmmā¦
No, I couldnāt risk the slower swim split, its my only source of pride!
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Hahaha!
I think itās usually in the optional range, but very few go without.
You did it the same year as me. Flipping hot as far as I remember. And FB was the TO
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Ah yes, great race. And by great I mean, cooked alive and walked off in T2 for my only DNF so far 
ā¦If only I had known that conditions would be even worse for the same event in the autumn, but at the other end of the spectrumā¦š¤¦š»
if that was FoE in July then you would have come out of the water like a boiled lobster - it was 26C at 5am when I checked it! and the air temp got to over 30C that day. certainly was a warm one!
I still smile at the female athlete who came up to me after we banned wetsuits, pleading to wear one. she was insistent that she HAD to wear one but I kept saying no. eventually I find out that she was planning to be naked under the wettie and put dry kit on in the T1 change tent and she had nothng else to wear for the swim. I suggested she head off to the expo and buy some kit - she rocked up at the swim start in a very nice swimsuit and gave me a big thumbs up!
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Thatās the one. I finishedā¦barely. That 13.1m is going to be my PW for a long, long time.
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Distinct change in caution being shown by London Docks last night. The first time I went, the first week of opening, the person scanning you in was in full PPE, with clear full face visor, mouth and nose mask underneath, gloves, etc.
Last night, the person doing the scanning was wearing nothing!
All the other bits were still in place, so queuing 2m apart, separate 2m square areas to leave your bag. One way water entry/exit. etc. But that initial part was reflective of the general sense Iām getting of people in London that people think this thing has already spread widely through the populace.
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Seeing that in a lot of places, the local Tesco has been like that for weeks and a few other places. They limit people going in but other than waiting for the tills the rest is a free for all.
This is the case in most places, but businesses and councils have to at least show they are following the rules.
You do get the odd person who is distancing by their body language and if they do Iāll respect that and do my bit, but most just seem to have accepted it, or at least the ones where I go.
Back on track, hoping to get in the river again this week if it stays dry. The flow was really strong a few days ago because of the rain we had.
When I can be bothered to swim a bit further I might go to the lake but itās Ā£5 and Iām barely doing 1k, and itās also about a 90 minute round trip.
Do you have anything to train for? Not sure Iād bother with a 90 minute round trip unless I had.
Is your river quite a small one? That may seem like a silly question, but I have the Thames at the bottom of my road. When I was looking around for somewhere to swim a few weeks ago I explored that option but put it down to a very bad idea.
I joined a FB group for that purpose, but its members are mainly head-up breaststrokers who have a natter then eat lots of cake. I am not knocking that at all, but it isnāt my thing. And the endless (mostly unflattering) selfies are clogging up my feed. 
I have done a lot of organised swim races in the Thames, but to go it alone I would be concerned about currents, and also motor boats are back out now, and rowers who face backwards!
Sounds like you have a nice set-up. Do you swim alone?
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Preaching to the choir with that one. The Outdoor Swimming Society may as well rename as the Outdoor Selfie Society!
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I am in that group too!! Haha
Anyone swimming at Haysden Lake, Tonbridge? Im there early this evening.