Yesterday, Nick, Sakura, and Mark (who I will be crossing Gibraltar with next weekend) took me out for a swim in the Thames River. The beautiful swim was with a slight current, past gorgeous scenery, many swans, and ending swimming into the view of Windsor Castle. It was a great swim and nice to practice all swimming together, which we did well at an even pace all side-by-side. If only Gibraltar were going to be as flat as the Thames!

This was only the fourth river I’ve ever swam in (so before NY I’d never swum in a river). I was surprised with how little we could see, although I had a sense it was not very deep. Towards the end we could see the bottom very close, which typically unnerves me, but I felt okay sandwiched between friends. We passed several boats and keep peeking behind us to make sure we did not get run over. Swimming with and past swans was so amazing. Luckily Sakura brought her waterproof camera; I’ll post pictures soon. At one point we saw a swan with two cute grey baby swans. Near the finish there were at least 20 of them, which we fed with stale bread to encourage them to come closer. It was a bit scary, because even if attacked by a swan, it is unlawful to harm them, as every swan in England is property of the Queen.