Sea, swim and sun! What’s not to love about Lanzarote? Amazing lunar landscapes, harsh nature with fascinating scenes, limpid open water, the locals’ hospitality… and the 50 m fish bowl at Club La Santa!

Anyone close to me will know I’m not keen on swimming in a pool. For me, it’s nothing but hitting walls, rushing forth and back in the same lane in a desperate attempt to break free from the chlorinated water. You might as well call me Willy. But you know what… When I arrived last night, I realized I’d been missing the fish bowl these last couple of weeks when I was back home in Denmark. And that’s a first! I guess all this mental work (read: my very own home-made psychotherapy) is finally paying off. And who knows? I might actually end up enjoying it one day!

So here I am again for a couple of weeks of intensive training. This time Martin is with me for one week and it’s such a relief (and pleasure) to see him getting tortured by Paul from the pool side. It’s much easier to suffer when you know your pain is shared.

The programme for the next few weeks is quite packed with lots of stretching and relaxing between the swims. And probably a bit of running too in honour of my running team back home.But most of all I’m looking forward to two weeks of “non-stop” swimming. I love the mindset I get into during these camps. A 100% focus – it’s like living in a bubble where I can keep on pushing myself and feel I’m growing with my training. That’s also why I’m looking forward to going back to the same bay where I had a panic attack back in January. It’s definitely THE big challenge for me during this training camp. 50% thrill, 50% fear. But I know I can do it – and I WILL do it!

Yet, in the meantime, I’m off to the fish bowl!

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