In mid-July 2021, after the horro of the freezing waters at Murray Rose Pool, we moved our swimming to Clovelly. I had been hesitant to go there as I thought it would be too crowded. Usually, however, it was only croded early morning and around lunchtime. Most people seemed to just come down for a quick dip then warmed up on the concrete and left.

Conditions varied but we usually completed 50-60 minutes with most of us wearing wetsuits. When we started the water temperature was usually 17-18 degrees Celsius, but it was very cold in the shallows

Initially we stayed within the confines of the long bay at Clovelly, doing what was basically a triangular circuit of the swimmable area a number of times (see map below). I had been describing Malabar as “Big Clovelly” because they’re pretty similar in form. They’re both ideal locations for swim training and there’s the added benefit of varying conditions. We all found it very enjoyable.

After a while we started to notice a few swimmers coming into the bay from Tom Caddy Point which is to the far right of the image above. They looked to have swum around the car park on the headland, from Gordons Bay or perhaps even from Coogee to the south. Then we saw some people swimming around in front of the car park so that seeded the thought for us …

On some days it looked a bit rough to get out beyond the rock wall at Clovelly so we stayed put for a few more days. We did, however, eventually venture out towards Gordons Bay one day when conditions looked ideal.

To find out what happened when we did venture out, you’ll have to wait until my next post.