Friday 7.30pm - Brockwell Lido

Brockwell Lido shut at 8pm and although we had contacted the Lido to tell them about our challenge they were the only Lido to offer us no support of any kind. If we missed the 7.30pm deadline for last entries we knew we wouldn’t be able to swim in Brockwell and the risk of failure due to the deadline had been hanging over us all day.

In the end we arrived at the Lido at 7.27pm and once through the gate we able to relax for the first time since the Northern Line threw us off schedule earlier in the day.For some reason Libi had assumed Brockwell was another heated pool and the discovery that it was another 17’C dip this time with no clean fluffy towel at the end of it hit her hard. While Pete and Chris jumped in as if Mr T was still on their case she lurked at the edge and came close to giving up before finally easing herself into the pool with the rest. Once again we discovered that however hard it is to get into cold water once the cold shock is over the feeling is truly amazing. Brockwell Lido is another Grade II listed building and probably the most beautiful of the manmade pools we swam as part of the challenge. In the evening twilight we all felt like we’d been transported back to the 1930’s. Sadly a twin to Brockwell Lido was also built in Victoria Park but it has long since been demolished along with countless other London Lidos.

After the anticlimax of getting to Brockwell just in time none of us wanted to head home although we knew we had a long day ahead of us.

We’d seen the fairy lights of the Lido café as wed swum and despite ourselves we knew we were all thinking about the rumours of Champagne that Dabbie at Hampton Court had related. We had to investigate. If Brockwell Lido had been slightly chilly in more ways than one the Lido café was the absolute opposite. The food was amazing, the manager was welcoming making space for us even though he was fully booked and there was even champagne!

Unfortunately Broackwell Lido did not provide any support to the challenge and we were unable to add any more to the sponsorship pot but despite the chilly 17’C we managed to swim 1300m.