As an ocean swimmer, I try not to think of sharks, but we all know that this is their territory

‘Any time we enter the ocean we are in the shark’s environment, their domain, and we ought to be the ones taking precautions,’ writes Eleanor Limprecht after the shark attack at Coogee. Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters

After nearly a year’s break, I started ocean swimming again this May, delighting in the clarity of the water and the quieter beaches of Sydney’s winter. I’d stopped because of an injury but then found that the longer I was out of the water the harder it was to get back in.

It only took that first return swim, however, to remember the absolute euphoria of winter ocean swimming. Part of it is the cold water, how alive it makes you feel, and part is the wildness of it: seeing the variety of underwater marine life, the distant spray of a migratory whale. It is utterly different from swimming laps in a pool.