Woohoo!!!

… now that “woohoo” could be a shout of exlamation because the 14 of us that showed up for the first LOST swim of 2011 were that excited about… well, the first LOST swim of 2011… but it was more than likely a shout of exlamation after dipping our toes in the water because it was so !#$%^&*ing cold!

But being the wiley old swimmer I am, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve… and I’d been saving this one for the last year or two, for when it was really cold… but I’d never had to use it… until now! 

You see when I was training for the English Channel in 2006 I used to start at the BurlOak Canoe Club, which is located about 1 km up the creek and swim down the creek and into the Lake and then back up again.  That was back in the day when everyone thought I was nuts for swimming in Lake O and had to swim by myself, but had a few good buddies (who have since been converted into Lake O swimmers too) who would paddle alongside me in a canoe.  All this is to say that… the creek is way warmer than the Lake.

So my sneaky plan was to have everyone swim from the beach out to the Lighthouse… and then as soon as you get around the corner at the Lighthouse the temperature goes up… a lot… then we could go for a nice little swim up the creek in the (muddy) but warm bathwater.  Now there was a whole lot of surprised faces… a) because I’m pretty sure that set a record for the coldest LOST swim ever, and b) because everyone was equally surprised at how much warmer the water was in the creek!

I gave out the full instructions… starting with Safety!  This really is so cold that if you aren’t smart bad things can happen.  Having said that, if you are smart, there is no reason that anything should go wrong.  Number 1 is know your limits… if it is too cold, get out or turn around.  No shame in that, that’s just smart.  And in this case we had 3 people start in the creek and we had 2 people that swam out a ways and came back in, and then walked over to the creek.  Which was absolutely the right thing to do.  Having said that, they both said that had they realized how much warmer the creek was they probably would have swam the rest of the way… as they were almost half way there!  It’s about 250 meters out to the end of the pier from where we started, in case you were wondering,  I was guessing it was further… because it seemed a lot further at the time!  But once you got there… wow, what a reward from your efforts!  In a span of 4 or 5 feet the temperature went up about 18F!!!

So we swam the 250m out to the Lighthouse… and about 750m up the creek (without the proverbial paddle)… and back down to the Lighthouse.  Then we were going to split up and some swim back the way we came and others had the option to turn back and climb out on the creek side.  By the time we got out to the Lighthouse again, well, pretty much everyone had their heads around it… and we sprinted for the beach!  It was truly a tough swim.  Having said that 100% of the people that swam the cold stretch both ways found that it was easier coming back!  Your brain has adjusted to it… and even your body had.  Amazing.  The nice thing about the cold water was that, unlike the warm, but muddy, creek, the cold water was beautiful and crystal clear… as like to say, as clear as the Caribbean, just a smidge cooler. 

I even saw a school of large salmon!  I love seeing fish, it’s a real treat, it’s like when you are running or riding and you see a deer or a fox… it stays with you for a while and you realize… hmmm, that was cool, I was lucky to see that… and lucky to be out here enjoying something that few people get to see or enjoy.  Nice.  Sometimes I think about our swimming cousins in Tampa Bay, Australia, LA, San Fran and Dover and such places and the occassional experience they have with whales and dolphins… and even jellyfish and sharks… that would be pretty cool.  But yes, there are pros and cons to that… but something I want to see sometime too.

I don’t like to tell people how cold the water is… at least in numbers and degrees… it tends to psyche them out… myself included.  I tell them verbally how cold the water is, to prepare them for it, and how to deal with it.  But afterwards it is important to know, for the same reason… you get out and you can say to yourself… “cool, I didn’t know I could swim in water that cold… I guess I can!”  Then when it comes time to race, or just swim, you know what you are capable of.  In a race or a marathon swim, that is really important, one less thing to worry about, especially while everyone else is freaking out, you know you are better prepared than most.  And that’s just the mental side of it… on the physical side of it, your body does actually become better at swimming in cold water… and it remembers and recalls what it’s like… and tolerates it better, you get acclimatized to it.  And when it’s all said and done… you are a better swimmer because of it.  Who’d of thunk it… training actually works! 

Okay, I’ve stalled long enough… the water on the LOST thermometer (Steve’s read about 4F colder, but we’ll stick with the “official” reading) was 44F / 7C… and in the creek it was 62F / 17C.

One last parting thought, for as much as I have been talking about the swimming and the cold water and the fish and everything… the best part was just swimming with everyone.  I’ve done it by myself… and it’s not as much fun.  Having that amazing common experience and adventure, and sharing it with a bunch of (crazy) adventurous people that enjoy coloring outside the lines once in a while… that’s really the best part of the swim.

(if you haven’t read the “LOST Philosophy” quote by Dick Jochums on the right hand side of this page, now is a good time to read it).

Good swim, everyone.  See you, same time, same place from now until September… maybe October, if we’re really crazy!

PS. luckily we made it to the Second Cup for coffee before it started raining… didn’t want to get cold and wet or anything!

Cheers,

Rob