“The morning dip is my lifeline.

If I skip it, the day just feels a bit off. I swim all through the year, even in winter. That’s when you really know you’re alive. I take a thermometer to the beach and measure the water temperature, then I write it in the sand, nice and big so everyone can read it. It’s kind of a community service. That and the stinger report afterwards, which is kind of self-evident. Some days I emerge with welts all over my face and neck and back. Sometimes right on the gob. It’s not fun, but I’m not going to let some jelly-arsed little suckers with no brains stop me from getting the best out of my day. I’m bigger than that. I’m better.”