I woke up to a text from Angie asking if I could go for an early swim and so I got straight into my bathing suit and filled my bottle full of hot water and my to-go cup full of coffee.

Light was barely seeping into the sky when we arrived at the Albany Bulb, but the circle was full of swimmers. The 7 o’clockers were just heading into the water and Isaac and Meredith were just getting out. Isaac was laughing joyously; infected with the euphoria of cold water swimming. He should be the poster boy for the mental health benefits of wild swimming, I thought. 

The water was 59 degrees and it took us some time to get ourselves in. It was slightly choppy, but not wildly so. The sky got pinker as we swam along and though my intention was to swim solidly, I kept having to stop and take another picture.

Sunrise swims are a spectacle of changing color and light. I was glad to get another one in before the time change makes sunrise so much earlier.