Open Water Swimming

Happy 10th anniversary to the love of my life

Note: this is cross-posted and slightly modified for brevity from Allison’s personal blog on triathlon training and racing. It is not meant to be taken seriously.

Approximately 10 years ago this week I attended my first ever swim practice in northeastern Pennsylvania the summer before I joined my high school swim team. My unfit, lazy self had decided it was time to get in shape. On my hunt for the right sport, I chose swimming because I’d always enjoyed swimming at the beach and my backyard pool, and my “best friend” at the time was on the swim team. How hard could it be? I thought. Little could I foreshadow its impact on my life 10 years later…

Swimming: at times, it’s been a love-hate relationship; we’ve struggled through injuries, rocky periods, loose flip turns, poor stroke counts, and improper breathing habits. Heck, there has even been a period of around 6 months (I think) which included NO (or almost no) swimming.

Swimming, I love you for the physical benefits you provide. Without you, I’d probably be a ginormous mass of laziness. You never fail to make my traps, biceps, lats, pecs, and deltoids feel like they’ve just been pounded with a mallet hammer. Of course, without you I wouldn’t have any traps, biceps, lats, pecs, and delts.

I am so thankful I rededicated myself to you back in January of 2006 with the lovely, boisterous group of Fairfax County Masters. Swimming, you’ve connected me with many of the most treasured people in my life, and for that I will never cease to be grateful. You’ve kept me off the streets and out of trouble. Without you, I wouldn’t have anything exciting or unique to talk about when meeting random people in social settings and would just be another boring body, lost in the crowd. I wouldn’t have an excuse to travel to fun places to do exotic races with names like Fat Salmon and Big Shoulders. What more can I ask for?

Swimming, I can’t imagine life without you. What else would I possibly rather be doing at 5:45am? And what fun would you be without the hyperchlorinated pools? Red splotches, dry itchy scaly skin, goggle marks, cap lines, suit hickeys. You really know how to make one look sexy. Despite all this, swimming, I love you. Open water swimming, I love you even more. For the challenge, for that exhilarating feeling you get when you’re trying to beat another swimmer clobbering away at you. For turning my pretty, brightly-colored swimsuits black. For the privilege of swimming in the Potomac River, where fish are known to change sexes. For the opportunity to swim 4.4 miles between the Chesapeake Bay bridges, and for the lovely tee shirt sized to fit a small gorilla that I received as my badge of honor. And for the large red present from my wetsuit that lingered on my neck for two weeks, which gave unsuspecting non-swimmers the impression of a recent attempt at hanging myself.

For currents, tides, waves, sea animals, varying water temperatures, scummy water, the taste of saltiness, and the thrill of avoiding a kick to the face and a knocking off of the goggles. No race is ever the same.

Swimming, I love you. It’s been a great 10 years. Though I’ll peak at some point, and eventually my body will become old and I’ll get slower, I hope we can share the next 70 together in aquatic harmony.