So my mom used to call me her little dolphin because I spent all my time on our holidays porpoising in the sea. She said all she could see from the shore was my 3 year old, 4 year old, 5 year old, 6 year old etc butt facing the sky as I plunged into the water following my two clasped hands, diving in and out, splashing about for hours on end. I grew up living 12 hours from the sea, in big sky country, Alberta, but we swam daily in the English Channel in the summertimes where we stayed with my granny Betty Brooke. Always a mad keen swimmer I longed to live by the sea all year around. Back on the prairie for many years I listened to a tape of ocean sounds/wave music every night and hoped my toes would web. For over seven years now I have been living in watery Ireland. You can never get more than an hour and a half from the sea on this blustery island. I have moved recently from the Irish Riviera on the south east coast up to Dublin. Though I was surrounded by beaches before, I find I’m doing more sea swims than ever since hitting the big smoke. I’m aiming to be an all-seasons swimmer and an all-seasons writer…

Dublin 2011