It has been a minute, well 245,100 minutes actually, but my computer was so old I couldn't upload photos, and though I was swimming up a storm, all my words were funnelled into novel writing, and kids' book writing and then the fall happened and transitioning Kid #1 to kindergarten was much more exhausting than I anticipated...Excuses, excuses. I have been writing blog posts in my head every time I swim and now that I've got a fancy new computer, it's time to write them onto a computer.

I don't know if it's the grey skies and the slushy puddles, but I've been dreaming of  last summer's exceptional swims – three of them primarily: a road trip swim date with my oldest kid at this lovely swimming hole, a dip off Hanlan's Point in August with my tow float from my UK mermaid pals...



...and our first tear-free family lake swim even later in August. I was worried the water would be cold as the morning's clocked in at a chilly 8 degrees, but the water was so warm. There was a mama bear spotting at the point I usually swam to, so I switched up my route and stayed closer to the cottage after realizing that swimming bear encounters are my ultimate fear.


Over the Christmas holidays, my not-always-into-swimming kid declared he wanted to go swimming, so of COURSE I dropped everything, dug out our suits and flew up to the pool for a morning family dip. The family swim times don't always jive with kid naps, but we found a morning slot and had so much fun! On our winter fun list is more family swims!

And with this renewed collective love of swimming, I started plotting summer swims. We're renting a new cottage this summer (on THIS lake, that I grew up swimming in!), and I've already put our Island swim/picnic adventure into the calendar.

To summer swimming, even if it is still February!

It's 27 degrees out and the sun is blazing and there's no better place than the middle of a deep end, staring up at the blue sky and even though it's been two weeks, I'm still in deep denial that the outdoor pools are closed. But alas, they are closed and some mornings require sleeves and I am NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.

It's still summer.

I think this might've been the best swimming summer I've had since I was eight. The railings in our backyard were always filled with drying towels, and I was constantly putting on a slightly damp suit, which feels gross, but is a sure sign of LOTS of swimming. My kiddos both fell in love with the water and we spent every weekend swimming, trying out new pools, tacking on picnics to afternoon dips, meeting friends and swimming swimming swimming, it was just the greatest.


Though I didn't get to swim with my swimmers, we managed to have docktails (well, rocktails as the docks were full of boating enthusiasts) and we traded summer swimming highlights.

It was hard for me to pick just one, but my highlight reel includes:
- Swimming on the Island (and not just going in for a dunk, but swim-swimming for 45 minutes!)
- My roadtrip to the Elora Quarry
- Lake swimming with loons (and with both of my kids!)
- A swim at Smythe Park pool late in August, where I had the entire 50m pool TO MYSELF for 45 minutes (!)
- And the (re)discovery of the Giovanni Caboto oasis, once on a Sunday at noon with my kiddos, where it was so empty and lanerope-less that I borrowed a pair of goggles from the lost and found and swam some impromptu lengths, and then for the rare unicorn that is a mid-week morning swim. It was my baby girl's first day of daycare and I celebrated with an entire fast lane to myself, while dragonflies flew over the turquoise blue. It was a wonderful start to a late August day and a perfect reclamation of time and headspace after a childcare-less summer.
- AND hearing about/seeing all the amazing swims people have gone on on Instagram and Twitter!


I have since put away the mountain of towels, suits, swim diapers, flip-flops, bucket hats and plastic floating zebra that has lived by the front door for the last two and a half months. It's now just my indoor pool gear—a boring one-piece, a flutterboard, shampoo, googles. It looks empty, that corner and makes me inordinately sad. (Maybe I should stick a pumpkin there?)

To fill the void, I'm reading Kerry Clare's beautiful ode to swimming and making plans for next summer including actually making it out to the east end for pool and lake swimming, more roadtrip swims, and, hopefully a trip to my favourite river.

In the meantime, if anyone has a pool/access to a hotel pool, holler! My suit is waiting by the door.

I grew up a short bike ride from Lake Ontario and we'd go to the Island every summer. We were swimmers, my whole family, but never once did we venture into the lake. Growing up, we were told you'd grow an extra leg if you ever set foot in Lake Ontario.


BUT the water quality has totally changed since the 80s and there are the most beautiful blue flag beaches, and so, with tips from Toronto walker/swimmer/ Shawn Micallef, my family took the Hanlan's Point ferry, then walked and walked (and somehow got the baby to sleep), following the signs for the clothing optional beach. We ducked under a beautiful wooden arbour, then dragged the stroller through the sand (stroller was great for hauling all of our stuff and for doubling as a crib for the baby, but not ideal in the sand!). I had no idea there were dunes on the west side of the island, but there we were, in thick rolling sand. It felt like Sandbanks-lite. And then, poof, a lake that looked like an ocean, clear and blue, and stretching on for forever.



It was actually breathtaking. I had the seize the moment (the sleeping baby moment) and I hopped in. There wasn't much shade, so we set the baby up under the shadow of the lifeguard tower and got to work: my fella was skipping stones, the kiddo was looking for perfect rocks and I went swimming.

There's a huge sandbar so I swam out to the buoys and could still stand (!) and I swam and I swam – stroke-stroke-CN Tower, stroke-stroke-neverending ocean-like horizon. It still astounds me. It was hands down the best swim I've ever had in Toronto. The beach was nearly empty. We were right on the line between the clothing optional beach and the clothing mandatory beach and there were maaaaaaybe five people for as far as we could see.


I swam and swam, then laid on a towel and the kid piled rocks on me. When the baby woke up, we wandered over to Gibraltor Point for a picnic and let her get her feet wet, 'cause the only person who loves swimming more than me is Claire.

We then walked to Centreville and took the kids on their first amusement park ride – a twirl on the 112-year-old carousel! The kiddo named his lion "Nana Ruth" and the toddler hopped on a pig and was the happiest I've ever seen her (roller coasters, watch out!)


Some tips:
- Pack chips. We didn't. I still regret it.
- We took the UP train and walked from Union Station - it was a DREAM compared to the last time I did a trip to the Island with a stroller that involved a bus, two subways, and LRT, a ferry and too many stairs/broken elevators to count...
- If you can, go mid-week.
- If you're sans little kids, rent one of the multi-person bikes!
- A pal noted the water taxis are amazing if you have kids who can't handle lines (or if you're the kid who can't handle lines, no judgment!)
- If you do take the ferry (which I LOVE - the orange ceiling of stuffed-together life jackets, the view of the CN Tower from the upper deck, the sunscreen coated kids, etc etc), make sure you hop on Jack Layton's tandem bike. Makes me happy-teary every time.
- The walk from the Hanlan's Point ferry terminal is a bit far for young kids – it's about 1km, worth it, but I'm glad we brought the back pack carrier for the kiddo and the stroller for the toddler. I've heard there's a great swimmable beach really close to the Ward's Island ferry terminal - I'm going to try it next time!


I can't wait till the kids are old enough to get the four-person bikes!