No need for penguin insulation in Salford

I think I'll start at the end of the day and then move back.

It was an exciting evening as it was my first open water swim of the year. There was a big booming welcome from Dave Quartermaine, the head honcho and coach of Uswim, a company that does open-water swimming sessions in and around Manchester. "Good to see you" he said in his customary manner. I've worked with a few top swimming coaches, but Dave's technically precise demonstration of freestyle is by far the best I've seen.

I chatted with Andy a coach and massage therapist from the Tri-Club on how my big toes were in tension and arranged a massage for the weekend to sort them out. Then I headed into the changing tent...comedy time. There was a guy looking pretty white, the blood having drained away from his skin to keep him alive. "Cold" was all he said. I had been reliably informed that it was 10?C; information which had come from Dave...I say reliably because Dave can be relied on to increase water temp by 2?C from what has actually been measured!

Then a wee man with a moustache entered the tent. "Ohh fooking freezing" he said in a Mediterranean accent. He started wrestling with himself, trying to get out his wetsuit. "Gimme a hand will you mate?" he asked politely. I did and nearly dragged him out of his chair. This resulted in a few laughs around the tent. He then put his t-shirt on and I think it said "Mick the Mad Greek" or something like that on the front. Bonkers indeed.

Once in my wetsuit, I headed out and gingerly got in the water. This isn't because I'm a woose. Last Oct/Nov I dived straight in the sea at Portobello in my sharkskin speedos ...nearly going into shock. Rosemary then warned me that it was dangerous to do so because "you could have gone into shock". No shit Sherlock! This time though, it was fine as I was resplendent in my new neoprene booties and fluro yellow skullcap.

The water wasn't bad at all after the initial 5 minutes. It may surprise many but the water in Salford Quays is pristine and I saw quite a few wee fish swimming around. Even when swimming in the Quays, there's a wonderful sense of freedom that you don't get in a chlorinated pool. The water makes you feel totally alive and your senses are heightened because it's difficult to see. When I competed previously, pool swimming was always a chore. The 4:45am alarm, cycling through Edinburgh for a 6am start in December were killer!

When I started going out with Rosemary, she was on the end of much protestation for many months before convincing me to get back in the pool. I had been psychologically damaged! But then I headed to Salford for one of Dave's sessions and now you can't get me out the water. I love it.

After 1600m, I was starting to get cold so it was time to get out. A few girls were just getting in with only their swimming costumes on! Hmmm, may take me a while to try that again after last year's experience in Portobello.

It was a good day at work. I had arranged a call with an old colleague, Barry, who is a physiologist with athletics at the EIS. His claim to fame is that he helped Mo Farah to gold at the Olympics.... I think his greater skill is his ability to prosper in the challenging environment of elite sport. Anyway, he was a great help, especially as he re-affirmed what I was thinking... Before that, Michael and I met with one of the podium coaches and that was insightful too. Such insights are great until one has to write up the extensive notes afterwards!

I woke up early this morning and was awake enough to listen to The Life Scientific on Iplayer. Nancy Rothwell the neuroscientist was on. She was talking about how she found her main area of expertise almost by accident.... a surprising finding from her research. I can't remember what she said exactly but she was suggesting that not been an expert and even being naive in an area can be advantageous. Sometimes it enables you to see what an expert may not. I agree. Experts can be useful but they can also be dogmatic and overly bias or constrained by their specific discipline. I thought of Michelangelo and how he may have been if he was born now!