I’d like to talk about a floating obstacle course session I took part in a couple of summers ago. It took place at a historic open-air lido in a coastal town in the south of England during an unusually hot bank holiday weekend.
I went there with a group of close friends from university. We had originally just planned to lounge by the water and cool off, but when we arrived, we noticed that the centre had set up a massive inflatable assault course across the deep end of the main 50-metre pool. It looked hilarious, so we decided to buy tickets on a whim and give it a go.
The activity involved scrambling over giant rubber hurdles, balancing across slippery beams, and climbing up a steep inflatable tower before sliding into the water. Because the surface was soaking wet, staying upright was practically impossible. Within minutes, every single one of us had slipped and plummeted into the pool, which set off non-stop fits of laughter.
What made it so memorable was the light-hearted competitiveness of it all. We tried to race each other from one end to the other, but nobody managed to complete the course without wiping out at least once. It was a proper workout, yet it didn't feel like exercise because we were having so much fun. It really brought back that carefree, childlike joy of mucking about in the water on a sunny afternoon. It completely made the trip for us.