Ocean Swimming
I experienced my first ocean swimming Saturday, which was also my first ever open water swimming. Leaving the pool was quite the shocker, a real change from the repetitive 'back and forth, stare at the black line at the bottom of ther pool' type experience you get used to in the warm and balmy water of the gym pool.
I was fortunate enough to have my good friend Alex to brave the waters and paddle his long board along side me while I swam. We started at the famous cement ship in Aptos and headed north toward seac cliff and Capitola's Depot Hill. From this photo, you can see the general course we went.
In general, I will say I liked swimming in the ocean and would like to do it again. It was a shocker, and at first I seriously thought I would have to get out of the water, mainly because of the temperature. I.e., it was freaking COLD! We calculated that I swam about a mile, and we were in the water less than an hour.
A few things to think about for your first ocean swim.
+ It's going to be cold. Naturally, if you're going to swim in Cancun, Mexico, you'll be fine, but up in the cold waters or Northern California, you better have a wet suit, or be part seal. As soon as I got in the water, I was instantly gasping for breath as the shock of the cold zapped my body. I was wearing a wet suit shirt, long sleeve, but it was still cold cold cold. I recommend a full body suit.
+ Keep moving, but go slow as you adjust to the cold. Warm up more slowly than a regular pool. I first though that because of the cold I was not going to make it, because to swim, you need to be able to have a strong, steady breath, and the cold temperature wasn't allowing that. But, I sucked it up and started swimming. I went for a few minutes then stopped. I started up again, then stopped. I fought the negative thoughts that I was somehow failing because I wasn't kicking butt like I usually do in the pool. I assured myself that I needed to go slow and adjust. I eventually got moving.
+ Take time to see where you're going. Ideally, you want to move out beyond the waves, to the point past where the start swelling and forming. I think next time I may go out further, because only once, even though the waves were tiny that day, every once in a while, even on a small day, there's going to be that one set that gets huge. I was plenty far out but riding up and down the big swells can kind of freak you out when your head's under water.
+ Pick a point in the distance and try to aim for it. A few times I ended getting close to the beach, because for some reason I kept swimming toward the right. I think the constant swell crossing my path pointed me continuously to the right. So, I would have to force myself to aim left, and that would make me go straight.
+ Realize you are making progress. Unless you are in a rip tide, you will be moving forward, though it feels as though you're not even moving. Because of the swell and current, the entire time it felt like I was not moving at all. I felt as though I was swimming upstream and was not going anywhere. This feeling can mess with your head. Once I stopped and asked Alex if we were making progress and he said I was moving fast. I looked along the beach and noticed that indeed I was moving forward. So, trust yourself and even though it feels like you are not moving, you are.
+ Realize that you probably won't see much in the water. This is one of the biggest fear factors, the notion that you can't see much and beyond your hand, there's a universe of deep darkness and all manner of creatures and critters. Your mind can mess with you, let me tell you. I kept thinking that the blur of water moving from my hand crossing my line of sight under water was either a huge slimy jelly fish or perhaps a shark. Of course, it was neither. We did se around six sea lions, who would swim close and sort fo check me out. Once I had stopped and looked over and saw a sea lion head poking up and staring at me.
+ Trust yourself and the ocean. This is really what it comes down to. The whole experience was an exercise in overcoming fear, the fear of who knows what, but the fears loomed big at first. I guess it just feels like you are small out there, and maybe because you are face down and don’t have your usual ability to see all of your surroundings. You may encounter critters and they are probably a lot closer than you think, but that’s not going to stop you. For me, I felt a fear that’s hard to describe, but it was just this notion that there’s a huge, huge sea out to my left that felt like some unknowable void. I had to relax and make peace with the primordial sea, trust it and trust myself and not put myself in opposition to nature. If I got nervous or tired, I flipped over to my back and floated and relaxed. Then started swimming again. It was fun! It’s a cliché, but it’s true, you have to enjoy yourself.
I experienced my first ocean swimming Saturday, which was also my first ever open water swimming. Leaving the pool was quite the shocker, a real change from the repetitive 'back and forth, stare at the black line at the bottom of ther pool' type experience you get used to in the warm and balmy water of the gym pool.
I was fortunate enough to have my good friend Alex to brave the waters and paddle his long board along side me while I swam. We started at the famous cement ship in Aptos and headed north toward seac cliff and Capitola's Depot Hill. From this photo, you can see the general course we went.
In general, I will say I liked swimming in the ocean and would like to do it again. It was a shocker, and at first I seriously thought I would have to get out of the water, mainly because of the temperature. I.e., it was freaking COLD! We calculated that I swam about a mile, and we were in the water less than an hour.
A few things to think about for your first ocean swim.
+ It's going to be cold. Naturally, if you're going to swim in Cancun, Mexico, you'll be fine, but up in the cold waters or Northern California, you better have a wet suit, or be part seal. As soon as I got in the water, I was instantly gasping for breath as the shock of the cold zapped my body. I was wearing a wet suit shirt, long sleeve, but it was still cold cold cold. I recommend a full body suit.
+ Keep moving, but go slow as you adjust to the cold. Warm up more slowly than a regular pool. I first though that because of the cold I was not going to make it, because to swim, you need to be able to have a strong, steady breath, and the cold temperature wasn't allowing that. But, I sucked it up and started swimming. I went for a few minutes then stopped. I started up again, then stopped. I fought the negative thoughts that I was somehow failing because I wasn't kicking butt like I usually do in the pool. I assured myself that I needed to go slow and adjust. I eventually got moving.
+ Take time to see where you're going. Ideally, you want to move out beyond the waves, to the point past where the start swelling and forming. I think next time I may go out further, because only once, even though the waves were tiny that day, every once in a while, even on a small day, there's going to be that one set that gets huge. I was plenty far out but riding up and down the big swells can kind of freak you out when your head's under water.
+ Pick a point in the distance and try to aim for it. A few times I ended getting close to the beach, because for some reason I kept swimming toward the right. I think the constant swell crossing my path pointed me continuously to the right. So, I would have to force myself to aim left, and that would make me go straight.
+ Realize you are making progress. Unless you are in a rip tide, you will be moving forward, though it feels as though you're not even moving. Because of the swell and current, the entire time it felt like I was not moving at all. I felt as though I was swimming upstream and was not going anywhere. This feeling can mess with your head. Once I stopped and asked Alex if we were making progress and he said I was moving fast. I looked along the beach and noticed that indeed I was moving forward. So, trust yourself and even though it feels like you are not moving, you are.
+ Realize that you probably won't see much in the water. This is one of the biggest fear factors, the notion that you can't see much and beyond your hand, there's a universe of deep darkness and all manner of creatures and critters. Your mind can mess with you, let me tell you. I kept thinking that the blur of water moving from my hand crossing my line of sight under water was either a huge slimy jelly fish or perhaps a shark. Of course, it was neither. We did se around six sea lions, who would swim close and sort fo check me out. Once I had stopped and looked over and saw a sea lion head poking up and staring at me.
+ Trust yourself and the ocean. This is really what it comes down to. The whole experience was an exercise in overcoming fear, the fear of who knows what, but the fears loomed big at first. I guess it just feels like you are small out there, and maybe because you are face down and don’t have your usual ability to see all of your surroundings. You may encounter critters and they are probably a lot closer than you think, but that’s not going to stop you. For me, I felt a fear that’s hard to describe, but it was just this notion that there’s a huge, huge sea out to my left that felt like some unknowable void. I had to relax and make peace with the primordial sea, trust it and trust myself and not put myself in opposition to nature. If I got nervous or tired, I flipped over to my back and floated and relaxed. Then started swimming again. It was fun! It’s a cliché, but it’s true, you have to enjoy yourself.
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