Society Focus: The Trinity Hall Cold Water Swimming Society (Orcas)

Gabi said: “That was quite a challenge but I really enjoyed it and when I came back I suggested outdoor swimming to a few friends.

“A small group of us started going to the lido on Jesus Green. It’s such a great little community. You meet people from outside the university bubble and have some great conversations.”

Vice-Chair Isobel agrees: “I had been open-water swimming over the summer. That experience was something I wanted to bring back to College with me.

“The other swimmer in the lido are, like us, perhaps a bit mad, but you get so much out of it. The staff there are also fantastic.”

The attractions are obvious says Gabi, despite the fact there are sometimes icicles on the pool steps.

“You are, when swimming, completely in that moment and your brain cannot focus on anything else. I rowed which is a bit like that but I found that my brain could still be distracted back to work. When in the water you have to concentrate on your breathing, on whether you can stay in the water a little longer or whether it’s time to get out and afterwards that sense of your own body and looking after it lingers.”

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