Spare your blushes and swim – the water’s lovely

Ever since I was little, I have equated a really supremely good time with whether or not I have been swimming. As a child I was keen on lakes and the sea. Even when air and water were freezing cold and everyone else was sitting gingerly on the shore, there I was, busy pretending I was a mermaid or a seal, diving and hand-standing and riding the waves and generally flopping around in delight.

Possibly my number one choice for a good time, though, was a private swimming pool – occasionally,

I found myself in houses with these, and this meant a top-notch barbecue or other delightful culinary experience to go with it. This was bliss: but deduct the swimming, and it would only have been OK.

Of course, growing up on the coast of New England, in an area famous for beaches and beach clubs, and wealthy people with swimming pools, it was pretty normal to spend one’s entire summer swimming. My friends and I all took swimming lessons. Many learnt to sail as well.

But you don’t need all this to enjoy the water. So I was shocked and quite sad on behalf of my fellow Brits to read last week that three in 10 adults haven’t been swimming in over a decade.

Even if they know how to stay afloat, a skill everyone should have, they let silly fears stop them from the joys of submersion.

The most common obstacle to a good splash about was body self-consciousness: people feeling sub-par in their swimsuits and not wanting to deal with changing rooms.

Then there was the usual excuse: lack of “time”.

As someone who has a chronic lack of time generally, but who still swims year round in the ladies pond on Hampstead Heath, all I can say to these people is: man or woman up. You’re missing out on one of life’s great pleasures in the service of your blushes.