Tanya Evans - Sydney, Australia

I sat in that pool for many hours, plucking up the courage to slip my hands off the sides.

“It took a trip to Lake Tahoe, California, for me to learn to swim, despite growing up in the harbour town of Littlehampton, on the Sussex coast of Southern England.

“I was ten years old when we moved briefly to Tahoe to live with our father who was trying his hand at motel-ownership in this famous lakeside resort in the mountains - a place you could ski all day and gamble all night. Casinos would ferry tourists from the slopes to their gambling vortex. 

“With not one lesson under my belt, my father bribed me with five dollars to swim a width of his pool and ten dollars if I swam a length. I sat in that pool for many hours before plucking up the courage to slip my hands off the sides. The bribe worked, sort of. By the end of the summer I was happily doing backward dives into that pool, but my stroke technique ‘sucked’, as my children would have said when younger.

“In fact, I didn’t learn good swimming technique until I was an adult and had stroke correction lessons. This enabled me to enjoy my swimming more and gave me the confidence and know-how to participate in the many outdoor swimming activities Sydney offered.”

From occasional swimmer to ocean eventer

 “In my younger days, I usually only swam on holiday . . . once a year. 

“During my teenage years I became more conscientious about exercising regularly, which had me predominately playing team sports (hockey, netball, volleyball, athletics) with the occasional swim of a few laps at the Leisure Centre in Littlehampton - swimming was only a small part of my life. But I windsurfed and my ability to swim was critical to feeling safe and competent on a board in the English Channel.

“From an early age, literature fuelled my imagination and I fantasised that one day I might become Darrell in Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers, proving my mental and physical prowess in an ocean pool. 

“Truth be told, it was one of the reasons I moved to Sydney many years later.

“Married, with a young family, we arrived in Sydney in 2008. I became addicted to the water and the sight of the amazing landscape of sea that surrounds the edge of Sydney. We swam throughout the year, including with the Bold and Beautiful group who swim each day (365 days a year) at 7 am from the main beach at Manly across to Cabbage Tree Bay and back, a round trip of 1500m. In the winter months, we wore wetsuits to keep off the early morning chill.

“We also competed in a few ocean races, but I hated the rough and tumble of the starts.”

Spit Club Swimming

“We joined Balmoral’s Spit Club in North Sydney , a community club, founded in 1917 whose members meet every Saturday morning in the summers months, from October to April, for an eclectic series of swimming races in an netted sea area known as The Balmoral Baths.

“I swam regularly throughout the season, delighting in being part of this weekly event come rain or shine.

“I also often joined my children in the water on Sundays when they were involved in The Balmoral Nippers”.

Sydney is a special place to swim

“Every time I disembarked from a plane on my return to the city from abroad, I headed straight to the beach to jump off the boardwalk, to drown the onset of jetlag and to remind me of what I’d missed. 

“On many days throughout the year the water is clear, calm and the brightest of blues in the sky and water. It makes the whole aquatic environment highly attractive. I would dive into the water with glee, and even if it was cold and murky with the wind howling around me, I delighted in the restorative power of Sydney’s seawater.

“I think there is no better way to see, think and reflect about oneself and the world.” 

Always a waterside resident, but no longer a committed swimmer

“In 2017, I stopped swimming regularly and took up other forms of exercise. I joined a gym, ran harder and faster and was introduced to Cross Fit by my partner. 

“I get my exercise kicks in other ways, but I still delight in the water and always intend to live next to it. 

“I enjoy swimming with my daughter in the North Sydney pool and I although not swimming for fitness or health, I love to jump in the water with my Labrador at beaches when and where we can. 

“I still love floating in the water at Balmoral in the summer or bobbing in the waves at Manly after a long run but I don’t swim for exercise anymore.

“Today I watch my son and daughter swimming with awe. It is little wonder they began to beat me in races before they made it into double digits. Taught to swim as infants, first in a raised, indoor pool in the bowels of a South London industrial estate, followed by the coaching they received to refine and develop their techniques in the ocean after we migrated to Australia in 2008.  For many years they relished competitive swimming, cheerfully training three to four times a week. Their enjoyment and swimming achievements were fostered at the Spit Swimming Club, and then continued as they represented their schools and club with pride. Now they are teenagers (16 and 13), it takes a lot of persuasion to get them to the beach for a 9am swim start on a Saturday during the season. I now look forward to coaxing my four-year-old step son to take delight in the same water for the next few years.”

I became a swimming historian and author

“My interest in swimming, especially on the history of the Spit Swimming club and female champions in swimming, developed to the point that I wrote the book ‘Swimming with the Spit: 100 years of the Spit Amateur Swimming Club’ (released in 2016).

“The book celebrates the illustrious swimming club located on one of the most beautiful spots on Sydney Harbour, as well as the joy of swimming. The book encourages readers and swimmers, young and old, to think about their ambles down to the beach, their invigorating morning swims and refreshing afternoon dips on sultry Sydney-summer days, with an eye on the history of the Balmoral beach swim club.

“I hoped that my working on the history of the swimming club and writing about its female champions would encourage my daughter to learn about the history of the sport and to admire the women who, decades before, dived from the same platform as her.”

Tanya’s non-swimming life 

“I am an Associate Professor of history at Macquarie University in Sydney. I am passionate about my work and encouraging people to engage with the history on their doorstep. Many people love swimming and sport, but they often fail to look at it in a historical context. I wrote Swimming with the Spit hoping to persuade readers to don their cossies, dive into the ocean and involve themselves with dynamic community organisations like the Spit Swimming Club. 

“I love my new blended family, cooking, eating, exercising and travelling the world with my loved ones.”

And in finishing up Tanya, the places you recommend others to swim?

The Manly to Shelly beach swim through the middle of the marine reserve is a must when visiting the northern beaches of Sydney

Gordons Bay (Sydney eastern beaches) when the weather is perfect.

And for pure relaxation – the Caribbean – nothing beats that gorgeous, clear, warm water.

Connect with Tanya:  @TanyaEvans14