This afternoon Poppy and I went swimming at our local pool. I haven’t been for ages and it was a bit of an experiment, inspired by my brief swim in Cornwall a few months ago.

The lifeguard was amazingly helpful. Poppy asked her for a hand while I got ready and both of them helped me get safely to the edge of the pool. I’d been worried about this for a while before we got there.

Getting in was easy and I managed to swim much better than I thought. The great thing about swimming is the support the water gives my body. When I tic it doesn’t take long to sort myself out, unlike running, for example, where dropping to the floor instantly ruins my rhythm. It did involve swallowing half the pool though, because my vocal tics didn’t stop when I was under water.

I swam close to the edge with Poppy alongside me. She said, “The only bit that makes me nervous is when your head goes under.” And she was quick to provide help when I head-butted the water.

Keeping moving took a lot of concentration and I got tired quickly but it was very invigorating. Nobody seemed at all bothered by my noisy swimming style. Every so often I helpfully shouted, “I’m not drowning!”