The winter swimming season is over and Spring is here. The first warm evening of the year coincided with a late opening at Charlton Lido and I managed to squeeze in a swim before dinner (fueled – as recommended by all the top sports nutritionists – by a white Magnum, eaten in the garden straight after work). The Good Times Are Here (if we ignore this govt, Trump, climate change, etc, etc).

It’s been an odd winter for swimming: never particularly cold, but it did seem to drag on for a long time. I’d trade any amount of 8 or 9 degrees grey weather for a just-above-freezing frosty and bright swim; there have been many more days of the former than the latter this year.

But we’re here now in May, and Charlton Lido has got through a winter with reasonably decent opening hours and – presumably – enough custom to keep going (despite their almost non-existent efforts at promotion and customer communication). Here’s to Spring and Summer swimming.