And it's all in aid of charidee

You don't have to have an excuse to dress up and make a fool of yourself on a British beach in March, but it helps.  I'd been asked by Sport Relief to put on an eye-catching wild swim to raise awareness of the cause, and so came up with the idea of recreating one of Agatha Christie's favourite childhood dips.  The famous author grew up in Torquay and used to like swimming off Meadfoot Beach out to Shag Rock, a small island a few hundred metres off the coast.   So ten of us dressed up in vintage swim gear, Steph brought a wind-up gramophone, and we generally cavorted around on the beach before changing into more suitable attire for the actual swim.  The telly came, the papers loved it, and we all had an absolutely spiffing time.   The swim itself was amazing; clear blue sea, bright sunshine like a spotlight on the island, and a sense of achievement as it actually felt like quite a distance after the short swims of the winter.