Ever thought about what it might have been like to swim in the River Thames in 1875? Perhaps thinking about what it would have tasted like, if there would have been a lot of boats and if they would have got in the way? No? It is just this sort of thing that fuels the imagination of swimmer and writer Caitlin Davies. “This is what intrigues me,” says Caitlin. “Taking a real story, a real person and then filling gaps with my imagination.”
Caitlin is talking to me about her new book, Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World. We are sat on one of the wooden benches overlooking the Mixed Bathing Pond on Hampstead Heath. It is still warm out, but it’s been raining all morning and I can feel the whisper of autumn in the breeze. Caitlin writhes in frustration beside me as the sun comes out from a blanket of thick cloud. “I can’t bear being by the water and not being able to get into it,” says Caitlin.