Ella and Ruth at the Ladies Pond
Many swimming stories are not really about swimming at all, they are about our lives around the water. The people we meet, the fears we face, lessons hard learnt and victories we achieve. Most victories are more personal and private – not winning the race or getting the best time – but surviving and letting swimming guide us through the choppy waters of life.
Ruth Fitzmaurice’s new book, I Found My Tribe isn’t really about swimming; it is about how her relationship with the water has enriched her relationship with herself and how it has helped her navigate life with five children, a grumpy Basset Hound and her husband Simon, who has Motor Neurone Disease (MND). “I call myself a dipper,” says Ruth. “On a good day in the summer I will have a three dip day. Diving off of rocks, circling around and diving in again. I don’t have the mass or muscles for serious swimming – I am just happy dipping.”