Back in the early 80’s, I took this picture of the men’s swimming & diving team in the changing rooms at the University of Houston…

.. which includes many of the guys that I have stayed in touch with over the years – thanks mainly to Mike Collins (who was on the Track & Field team) as he suggested a number of years ago that we all become “Friends” on Facebook.
Which in turn then naturally lead me to open ‘The Box’ which contains all the prints and negative I had taken back then – as well as newspaper cutting, scrapbooks and lots of other stuff from around that time in my life too… which I would refer to as “My swimming years”.
Anyway, after years of saying I would love to meet up with all of these guys again, this year I finally made a start at making that wish come true.
Tom Cook, who can be seen here on the pool deck at the Universtiy of Houston…

.. is definitely one of the guys on that list – and so when he contacted me to say that his wife, Lisa, and son, GreySun, were coming over to Ireland for a few days, the answer was “Yes, I would love to meet them” even before he had to ask
And so it was, as you can see at the Old Bushmills Distillery…

.. in County Antrim.
“Bushmills Irish Whiskey is made at Ireland’s oldest working distillery in County Antrim, Northern Ireland on the beautiful North Coast. Our original grant to distil was signed in 1608 by King James 1st and there has been distillation on this site since then, using the unique water from our own stream and Irish barley.”
Plus, at the Giant’s Causeway…

.. “Shaka Brah!” Tom.
“Flanked by the wild North Atlantic Ocean and a landscape of dramatic cliffs, for centuries the Giant’s Causeway has inspired artists, stirred scientific debate and captured the imagination of all who see it. Is it the handiwork of legendary giant Finn McCool or the result of volcanic fury millions of years ago?”
Ashley Morrison: It was an honor and a pleasure, Tom – just wish you could have been with them.
So time to work on Plan H… which I will keep you all posted on 🙂
Lisa Tanner Cook: … And maybe Plan C 😎🌊🏄♂️
Tom Cook: Plan C – California Cook’s
Time to make another wish come true 