The Champagne Lane, in an ocean swimming pool – a metaphor for living in 2024

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In my hometown of Sydney, Australia most of the beaches have a (rock)pool at the north or south end of the beach that separates the ocean from the ‘pool’ with a simple cement structure. Perhaps the best-known ocean pool is the Bondi Icebergs – a collaboration between mother nature and the engineering visionaries of 1929 Sydney. This is a picture I took of it in November of 2023. That day the swell was big. In such conditions the waves break into the pool, creating the Champagne Lane. A space where the water crashes into the pool and the swimmers in the said lane. The magnificent surprise is immediate and at times disconcerting. The water washes you and all those swimming towards the other side of the pool, the foam builds, the distinctive sound of water-on-water rings in your ears, the bubbles surge beneath the waterline. To me it is pure heaven, the state and place I dream of, the spot I rush towards every time I go home, hoping the conditions are ripe to create the Champagne Lane. The power of the water, the delight of surprise filling your space and the shift you need make to your stroke to accommodate the new conditions ensures all senses are heightened and anticipation is keen.

I want to swim every day in the Champagne Lane. I live in NYC, so my swimming is confined to indoor pools but my spirit either while swimming or not, lives in the headspace of the Champagne Lane.

Walking through life, taking delight in the unexpected, shifting for the conditions, moving so that others can go by, holding your breath, keeping your eyes wide open, listening hard and with intention and always dreaming of what might be. Not being thrown off track; knowing the new path will be a rich one with challenges and opportunities never previously imagined has become my mantra.

Swimming in the Champagne Lane is a state of mind. A poised readiness for what is ahead. It is how I am choosing to move into 2024.