Early morning swim in Clacton

Once a month I attend an excellent three hour Chi Kung workshop at the Tai Chi Studio in Little Bentley. The owner of this great facility is Dave Allen who has been my Tai Chi and Chi Kung instructor since I first started at his studio in Wivenhoe around 22 years ago. I love these monthly sessions as they just go deeper and allow a more thorough exploration of these two fascinating arts.

Unfortunately this month’s workshop clashed with the high tide in Brightlingsea meaning that I was unable to make my usual Brightlingsea swim. Instead, I was able to make a dawn swim with my very good friend Sagaradevi. We headed down to Clacton and after successfully making our way through the sunbathing crowds (!) we had a lovely swim in the sea just past the pier.

The temperature was 5.5 degrees and although we stayed in for around 11 minutes I wasn’t swimming in my usual focused way, so will only be claiming the minimum distance of 250m.

However it was good to know that whatever the state of the tide the sea is always reachable at Clacton, so if I struggle to get the required swims in during February or March, for whatever reason, I will be able to head to Clacton.