JB and Dawn on a 13-degree rainy day in Wollongong post-Conti swim.
Ted Hinge and JB at the Conti on a sunny Wollongong afternoon.
I can hardly believe I swam all through winter with the likes of JB.
JB is a Wollongong Continental Pool stalwart who I met on a 13-degree gusty Tuesday afternoon in winter.
He was the one and only person in the smaller of the Conti pools that day. The water was 15 degrees.
I was so excited to see another crazy swimmer that I called out to him, he waved, we hi-fived, exchanged names and became mates straight away.
The top photo marks the day.
The picture below is JB and his mate, Ted Hinge, who features in the story to follow.
JB stands for John Brennan, an Irish name, although he says his grandfather was Greek.
Pool locals describe him “as a bit of a legend”, and I can see why.
He’s a fast-talker who laughs easily, and like me loves the pool even when it is pouring with rain and blowing a gale.
“We are a family here,” he says.
“We all seem to love the water and we all communicate with each other so well.
There’s a lot of jokes going on, banter and stirring.”
JB says no matter the weather, he gets to the pool every day.
“We all know we’ve just got to get down here and get in. Once we do that we all know we have been through it all, you know what I mean, how cold it is. It’s good. It’s very special.”
Yoga teacher, skydiver, martial artist and journalist. Yoga keeps her centred and reinforces her core belief that the greatest gift to each of us is ourselves. When Dawn isn’t teaching yoga, she works as a skydive camerawoman, grapples with her mates at Gracie Barra Shellharbour, and does media and promotions for stuff she loves.
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