“It was like trying to get tickets for Glastonbury!” said John Roberts, waving a paper ticket. It was his birthday and he and wife, Susanna, were palpably excited to be on their way for a swim in the mixed pond at Hampstead Heath for the first time in months.
Having spent lockdown working from their third-floor flat in Belsize Park without access to a garden, the couple, who are expecting their first baby, had been eagerly anticipating the government’s announcement on Thursday that outdoor swimming facilities would be reopening.
The ponds are managed by the City of London Corporation, which confirmed they would be reopening on Saturday for a select number of test swims with enhanced cleaning, signage and physical distancing measures in place.
Swimmers had to book in advance for one of two 60-minute morning slots. Names were checked on arrival, hands were sanitised, and a one-way, clockwise swimming system was in place. People did not seem deterred by the limited capacity and the fact that the online booking system kept crashing on Friday.
“We were super-excited. It was like going back to the year 2000,” John said. “I was literally tracking the reopening and hitting refresh to make sure we got a slot.”
Asked how safe they felt going for a swim, the sense of a return to normality was at the forefront of their minds. “Oh, it’s really safe. I mean, if the water’s cold, you can just get out.” I waited. “Oh wait, you mean corona-safe? Oh yeah, we feel really safe! It’s so open here.”
It was a breezy, cloudless morning, and many passersby paused on their run or dog walk to take in the return of the swimmers, one of whom was Jacky Klein. After having recurring coronavirus symptoms for nearly three months, she had been up with the sparrows to get in a convalescent 7am dip.
“It was completely amazing, completely blissful, beautiful,” she said, beaming as she gazed at the water. “I already want to go back in.”
Klein said she had struggled with recovering from the virus and not being able to swim during lockdown. “It’s all very well that we could go for a run or a walk, but I’m a swimmer, and it was really difficult not being able to do what you need to feel better, to be in the water.”
Later in the morning, at the larger men’s pond on the Highgate side of the heath, Jonathan Percival had just done a half-hour swim. The 19C water was “heaven, pure heaven”, he grinned.
Percival would normally have started swimming in April, but the pandemic was in full swing by then and the country was in lockdown. “It’s been absolute torture running past it every day and not being able to go in,” he said.
After contracting Covid-19 in April, it had been a long wait for the pond to reopen, he said, and being back in the water felt “amazing”.
“I’m turning 54 on Tuesday and I’m determined to come for a swim as a birthday treat to myself,” he said, pulling out a flask of tea he had prepared in anticipation of the cold.
“It’s a wonderful privilege, swimming here, and I really appreciate it so much more after being deprived of it all these months. I will never, ever take it for granted again.”
Clearing up after the swimmers had left and the first trial sessions had been declared a success, one worker struck a more sombre tone. While it had been good to have people swimming again, things were so far removed from normality that she couldn’t help but feel a little melancholy. “It’s so nice seeing all the old faces, our regulars, we’re like a big family, but it’s nothing like what we’re used to, everything is so different.”
It will be a long time before things return to normal in this tranquil corner of London, which for many serves as an escape from city life. “Hopefully we’ll be back to ‘normal’ by next year,” she added. “In this brave new world.”
Source: TheGuardian
