You know you’re an open water swimmer when…

You see these types of lists circulating on Facebook from time to time; “you know you’re a whatever when…” There’s probably one out there already for open water swimmers but I haven’t seen it yet so I thought I’d write one. It’s meant for fun so please don’t take it seriously but do send us any other suggestions.

• You think cake is a recovery food and you can always say yes to a second portion
• You always want the heating in your office turned down
• You can’t pass a body of water without wondering if you can swim in it
• You carry your swimming kit everywhere, just in case…
• Your partner, or a guest in your house, has screamed when they encountered your wetsuit hanging above the bath to dry
• You’ve eaten your lunch by 10 in the morning and your afternoon snack by midday
• You think leaving your cosy warm bed at five in the morning to jump into a cold lake is a normal, rational and fun thing to do
• You think changing robes are fashionable
• You’re comfortable being seen in public with next to no clothes on (or wearing a tight-fitting rubber suit)
• You’ve learnt not to judge a swimmer’s ability by the shape of their body
• You read H2Open Magazine cover to cover (and if you haven’t got one already you should take out a subscription today!)

(Added 23/9/09) And here are a few more sent in by readers:
 

• You’ve invested in your own tube of neoprene wet suit repair adhesive (Dianne Parrish)
• You eagerly scan web sites for bargains on extra warm clothes (Rod Newing)
• You get dizzy in a pool (Liz Tarr)
• You are more socialable than a triathlete (Adrian Ward)
• Your car seems to accumulate un-identified, permanently wet and moldy pieces of kit (Nic Defillion)