Wednesday 6 July 2016

Wet, wet, wet



You might have sat comfortably during the 2012 Olympics and gazed at the pictures on your telly of the Zaha Hadid-designed London Aquatics Centre and wondered whether it was as impressive in real life as it was as seen through the  lens of a TV camera. Let me answer that question. Yes. Yes. Yes.

And it’s not just a stunner on the outside. Despite the modifications that took place before its 2014 opening to the public, the huge interior is a dream just to walk around, even before your nose catches a whiff of chlorine. The views of the 50m tournament race pool and 25m diving pool recall instantly memories of the moments that took your breath away during those glory days in the summer of 2012 (was this when Michael Phelps officially became ‘the greatest swimmer that ever lived?). The overall effect is somehow magic, and even the signs to the changing rooms start to look full of grace, visual harmony and touched by the hand of triumph.

Now, here we were, a willing contingent from Headway East London, itching to see if getting wet could do anything for brain injury.

My own post-injury experience in the shallow end is meaningful - to me at least. Shortly after discharge from hospital following a hemorrhagic stroke, I was assigned to a therapy team from London's Homerton hospital. A physio and OT visited me at home and devised various exercises and routines that might aid my recovery. On one such visit we went for a swim in my local pool. The OT was at first concerned how I would manage getting in and out of the pool. Her worry was short-lived as I pre-empted any practical what-have-you by simply throwing myself in. 

Hitting the water and being bathed instantly in its warm, forgiving embrace was a moment of sensuality words cannot do justice to. Four months of deprivation in a hospital bed might well be the psychologist's explanation, but ‘bliss’ is as close as I can get to describe the sublime feeling.

I'd like to say that in that single moment swimming became an essential post-stroke exercise for me. That would be a lie. But what I did find on our group visit to the Aquatics Centre, in between some infantile splashing of my fellow Headway members, was a new way to use a swimming pool. Some of the yoga and tai-chi routines that Headway Therapy Team offers regularly to its members are given a whole new dimension when tried in a pool. The soft resistance of the water slows the movements and provides weight support for those with balance problems. Falling over in a swimming pool is no biggie. It's fun, actually.

So, expect to see me in swimming pools more often from now on. The legacy of London 2012 is alive and kicking, despite all those doomy predictions. It was shortly after attending events at the Games that the stroke hit, leaving me for dead. I can’t be sure, but I like think that the courage, determination and sheer strength of will I saw in the athletes helped things turn out differently for me, so if anyone ever tells you those Games were a waste of money, tie a brick to their foot and throw them in the deep end.