Today’s sea swim was different – the swell was a challenge. Breathing only to the left I found I was rotating further or lifting my head almost as if was playing waterpolo; breathing to the left it could feel as if someone was rolling me out of bed. The answer was bilateral breathing with an elbow higher than I felt was comfortable (though may well have been technically better). However I’m not yet good at controlling my breath in the ever soslightly chilly Channel water. Nonetheless I went out to one bouy, along to a second, then back again.

I take a kicker float and my flipflops with me attached to a bungee – the kickerfloat for arms only, legs only and as bouyancy when I want to rest (it’s a wise safety measure too), the flipflops so that I can get in and out if the sea across the Brighton pebbles with some kind of decorum.

I loathe gettinng in with a vengeance but know that wading in and submerging sooner rather than later at least narrows the period of discomfort. This week, in the sea every weekday lunchtime, I have gone from tentative drop and fiddling about to the more purposeful wading in – I still have to get the flipflops off and a Bolen tied to keep them attached. In a small way they must be acting as a drogue, creating resistance so making it harder work. In due course I will ditch fliflops and float on the beach.