Stood on the coastal promenade of Playa Paraiso at 5am with ITV Daybreak reporter Jonathan Swain and live saving hero Adam Cramer I was a trifle cold in just shorts and Armada Sur t shirt. An afternoon call had shifted me from Las Vistas beach but I only found out en route up west that ITV were putting me in the Grand Hotel Callao overnight. I felt guilty for feeling cold stood next to an incredibly brave man who had dived in the wild sea to save a young girl, sadly two female British doctors died, hence the media frenzy.
Back down south I expected the rest of the week to be calmer but how different it turned out. There is a constant stream of British swimmers to Arona to train at the municipal outdoor pool and they all stay at Hotel Paradise Park just along the road from me. I ran into the Camden Swiss Cottage swimming club and of course arranged to do some interviews and photos about their visit. What a smashing bunch they were, young people don’t just grunt at the world from their sealed introverted cyber landscape, these 31 swimmers between 14 and 19 years were dedicated, ambitious, and loving every moment of life.
The Camden club is one of the biggest in the UK, they have 3,500 people in their programme, there are 40 clubs in London, and many more throughout the country, that’s a whole bunch of hope and inspiration for the next generation. Packing in two hour training sessions twice a day, setting aside three hours study time each day, and paying their own way to come to Tenerife this was a great example of how sport can make lives better. I have been known to knock Arona council when it is deserved but their sports facilities are wonderful and a magnet to other countries. At my final early morning visit Helsinki swimming club were just taking over the lanes from our London friends, and the pool is well used by local schools and the public.
If you think I push Hotel Paradise Park a lot it could be because I write their blog for them so I got a heads up for a mini concert on Thursday night. Three singers from La Voz (Spain’s The Voice) were in Tenerife for a mini tour and doing a promotional gig in the Yaiza bar, I was there like a shot. The three rising stars were Tina Riobo from Santa Cruz, Ainhoa Aguilar from Adeje, and semi finalist Damon Robinson originally from California but long term settled in Granada. Even at this fledgling stage of their careers they aroused plenty of interest, people were eager to get their photos taken with them on the red carpet. Many of the audience were Brit holiday makers with no real idea of what they were getting but the trio won them over with some rousing soul, Motown and pop classics mainly in English.
As the Easter school holidays had begun in the UK, there were lots of young children encroaching onto the edge of the dance floor, the singers may not get many future audiences with so many tiny tots scribbling, playing, and bopping but they did well and should all make good careers for themselves. I have to say Damon was by far the best, he interacted more with the audience and oozed cool confidence, his version of Stuck On You, the Lionel Richie classic, was his big hit on La Voz and went down a storm here as well. I thought I might get called up to at least add some doo waps but maybe they have heard my singing at football.