Almost every morning, our neighbor Roger leaves his flat at 5:30 and walks to Hyde Park (about a 30 minute stroll), where he and a group of "Serpentine Swimmers" jump in the frigid waters of the River and stroke a few laps. Among this group are Olympic swimmers, people who have swum the English Channel, owners of fruit stands, and members of the House of Commons. Roger, himself, apparently was a tourist attraction some twenty years back, when he would dress in his "swimming costume" and head down the streets of London barefoot, jump in the Serpentine, and walk back to his flat dripping wet.
But today, a few of us got to join in the fun. We didn't leave at 5:30, though, not today - for this day was a Serpentine race, which happens twice a year, as far as I can tell, and some 30 people show up hoping to win a trophy. Roger was not swimming this time and we just went along to see what was happening. It was grand - British people everywhere yelling out insults at the swimmers - "come on, Anna, you could walk faster than that!" "Walter's given up already." One of the onlookers explained to us that this was the 'slow group,' and amidst all the gleeful madness, one guy stood submerged in the freezing water with a cup of tea. "Jim, what are you doing?" "I'm injured!" he kept explaining. "Jim's acting like he's injured so he doesn't have to race," noted another.
Anyways, all said and done, three of us ended up in the water whether we planned to or not, and a pool of spectators laughed along with us while they continued to mispronounce "Alabamee." hahahaaa....goodness.
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