Open water swimming is an adventure. Adventures are exciting and there is a certain amount of risk involved. In risky situations, you expose yourself. In the case of open water swimming, you expose yourself to sea creatures. You see shadows. Your imagination runs wild. You run into a piece of kelp and automatically think the worst. Your heart races, your chest tightens, and you take in water. You are forced out of your comfort zone and things become “fight or flight.”

How you handle this discomfort will affect your success in the water. If this anxiety-producing response takes over, you will get tired and the swim will not be enjoyable. You might not even go back in the water. But if you can keep calm and stay relaxed, you will profit.

Easy for me to say.

When I first moved to San Diego, I put off swimming in big blue for several months. Taking on something of that size was daunting, even with twenty years of swimming experience. The water was salty, not chlorinated. There was no black line to guide me through the water. Water randomly splashed me in the face. In a word, it was frustrating. Fear can be frustrating.

Fast forward a few months and many miles later…

I arrived at La Jolla Cove in San Diego for what could be the longest swim of my life. Ten miles. I checked in and picked up my official swim cap along with some butterflies for my stomach. My hands started shaking as I applied sunscreen. They were shaking so much it took three attempts to get that official swim cap on my head.

Our kayak support was ready for us, floating about one hundred yards out from the beach and waving. Waiting. I do not remember if there was a gun or a siren to start the race. There could have been a canon, I would not have noticed. I dove in, tasted the saltiness of the water, and the butterflies disappeared.

The course consisted of a one-mile triangle. Ten loops, ten miles. Surprisingly, time passed quickly. I stopped every twenty minutes to eat or drink. After dealing with waves, random kelp beds, fellow competitors, and other elements of the race, I encountered a lot of emotions. The “fight or flight” response made a few appearances, but this was an adventure. Primarily, I was having fun.

By the end of lap number nine, the finish was in sight. I rounded the orange buoy and I was on lap ten. LAP 10! At my final pit stop, I looked at my kayaker who had been sitting in the kayak for just under four hours. He just looked at me and simply said, “Alright, let’s do this.”

Fueled by excitement and the thought of stepping onto the beach, I picked up my pace for the final stretch. My fingertips scraped the sand. I put both feet on the ground and leaned forward, my hands sinking out of sight. I stood, slowly, and looked in front of me. The finish line was an archway, constructed of red, white, and blue flags. I started running, slowly, and passed beneath the flags.

Perhaps you are on the verge of your first open water swim, or you have been contemplating it for a while. You may not know what you will encounter, or how you will feel. Be bold, take a chance. “Success isn’t how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started.” See how far you get!