Natural water has always held the magical power to cure. Somehow or other, it transmits its own self-regenerating powers to swimmers. I can dive in with a long face and what feels like a terminal case of depression, and come out a whistling idiot.
-Roger Deakin, in “Swimming”
2010-2013 – it was cycling,
2015-2016 – it was running,
and for most of 2017, my favoured antidote to depression was swimming.
I would wake up knackered after 6 hours of sleep, and head to the pool for a pre-dawn swim. I’d go in cursing, tired, frowning, at war with the world.
An hour later, I’d come out smiling, with a spring in my step, ready to get cracking with the day.
It appears I wasn’t alone.
I felt better after leaving the pool than before getting in.
– Tim Ferriss, in Total Immersion: How I Learned to Swim Effortlessly in 10 Days and You Can Too
