CharlotteCooper.net - Pool

If you ever have a swim at Hereford Baths, you will probably be swimming amongst some molecules and atoms of me. Between the ages of ten and thirteen there was no place, aside from my own bed, where I spent more of my life.

The main focus of my pool time was my involvement with Hereford's synchronised swimming group. Every week our coach would talk a small group of us girls through new moves and routines in the diving pool, which was deep enough for us to do our underwater manoevres. I was never very good but I made up for it with enough enthusiasm to gain a Grade 2 badge for my swimsuit. I went with my best friend Mary Anne, who was better than me, as she was in most things thanks to a pushy mother who wanted to see her transcend their baseline poverty. One time we both went to a synchro camp in Bedford, about which all I can remember is the feeling of drowning. On other occasions we would take part in competitions around the country. I never ranked, but I'd do my moves and swim in the team events - I was a pre-teen chorusgirl, really.

The biggest event I can remember was the Water Pantomime. Our synchro group had a couple of swimmers who were pretty good, and they were old enough to look pretty sexy in a swimsuit too. Someone had the idea of staging a show in which they would star. I can't remember if it was Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty, but the story was a hook on which to hang a number of group, solo and duo routines, plus a bit of poolside slapstick.

I appeared in two numbers. The first involved swimming around and holding aloft hoops covered in plastic flowers. The second was more memorable: about 20 of us swam in formation to the song When You Wish Upon a Star, which was terribly distorted in the unkind acoustics of the swimming pool area. The lights had been dimmed and all of us little ones wore customised headgear, in the form of upside-down margarine-tubs, strapped to our heads. On top of each tub was a tiny batter-powered lightbulb. We looked like twinkling stars bobbing around, making up new constellations. I'm not sure that I heard all the mums and dads weeping with the beauty of it all, but I wouldn't have been surprised if they had.

When not at synchro I would still come to the pool. My brother liked to swim lengths for endurance and I'd keep him company, swimming through his legs and mucking about. I'd also pester the rest of my family to come. I love swimming, innit. I'd also come to the pool alone, hoping to see a friend peeping through the big windows that surrounded the complex.

It's a long time since I lived in Hereford but Kay and I returned there a few years ago. Part of the trip involved an outing to the baths because their existence feels so frail and I'm sure that their redevelopment is never very far away. I wanted a last swim before my past became only a memory.

I haven't said anything about the diving boards. Today it's rare to find a new pool in the UK with a special diving area, let alone a swimming complex that has its own diving pool. Most pools are shallow and are built to discourage diving because it can be dangerous. Hereford had a low springboard, a higher one, and a vertiginous diving platform from which anyone was allowed to plummit. There's no way I would ever leap from that, nobody in their right mind would, although I've climbed up and peeped over the edge enough times.

The second board is another matter. As a kid I'd seen my brothers jump off the edge, boasting about how scared they were, but I'd never had the courage to do so myself. It was a younger sister of two brothers thing, I'm sure. This time, however, being with my timid girlfriend somehow emboldened me. I climbed up the tower, feeling my legs wobbling all the way. There was no one else in the diving pool, it was a weekday afternoon and all the usual contenders would have been stuck in school. I stepped up onto the board and inched towards the edge. The water seemed like a long way away and the board shook and bowed with my weight. I knew that I would regret it if I backed out, so I didn't think about it too much and I jumped. The board went poinnngg! behind me. I had an idea that I would float down into the water, or hang in mid-air for a moment, like a cartoon character, I was really unprepared for the reality which was an unforgettable feeling of plummeting down, faster than I can describe. I think my legs made a comedy running motion as I hit the water with a gigantic sploosh, and surfaced to see everybody staring at me in alarm.