Thirty Two Lengths

One Tuesday when I was about
ten
I swam thirty-two lengths
which is one mile.
And when I climbed out of the
water
I felt like a big, fat lump of jelly
and my legs were like rubber
and there was this huge man
there
with tremendous muscles all
over him
and I went up to him and said,
‘I’ve just swum a mile.’
and he said,
‘How many lengths was that
then?’
‘Thirty-two,’ I said.
And the man looked into the
water and said,
‘I’ve got a lad here who can
do ninety.’

Copyright: from Quick let's get out of here! (Puffin, 2015), © Michael Rosen, used by permission of the author.

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Michael Rosen was born and brought up in London. He says his parents were people who loved jokes, stories and songs. His father used to ...

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