Our first open water swim!

Tonight we had our first opportunity to try out our wetsuits in open water. We met at Clackamette Cove in Oregon City (where the Clackamas and Willamette join), and stuffed ourselves into our suits after spraying PAM on our legs, arms, and necks. What a sight! It was very buttery smelling for a short while.

I dont know what I was expecting, but what I experienced was not at all like I had imagined. First of all, the suits are very warm which is terrific (although the water we were in was much warmer than the Monterey Bay will be). Second, they are even more bouyant than I expected...as Coach Julie pointed out immediately, they are life preservers....all you have to do if you get tired is turn onto your back and the suit floats you...again, this was a fantastic discovery!

Then there were some things I didn't like so much. What really surprised me was the fact that in open water, it is almost impossible to ascertain how fast you are swimming...at least by all the measures I know how to use. You dont see lane lines moving underneath you, the landmarks all around you are so much bigger and more distant that they move much more slowly than the landmarks on the walls at the pool. Finally, the feel of the water moving over your skin and the feel of your arms moving through the water is so different in a wet suit, which means that tactile indicator is also missing. I noticed this almost immediately on our first swim from the shore to the boathouse...I went at a speed that felt like a snail but half way there, I began to huff and puff so much I though maybe I was having a panic attack. Then I looked up and realized I was right behind Craig ( a much faster swimmer than me)! It was really weird because I did not think I was swimming hard at all...and the only indication was how out of breath I was. I did a little better on the next swim which was a bit longer, but still....at one point I had to breath with every second stroke which is not like my usual rythm at all.

The other uncomfortable thing is how disorienting it is to be in the open water trying to get somewhere specific. We've practiced sighting in the pool, but I felt like I had to pick my head out of the water so often to stay on track that it was distracting me from getting into my rythm. It was also a little eerie how close another swimmer could be to me and until I actually bumped into them, I had no idea they were there!

Apparently everythin that I experienced is normal, and according to Julie we will learn how to pace ourselves, learn how to stay on track, and learn how to deal with other swimmers. God I hope so...because in spite of all of this, I can sense how peaceful it could be (I am counting on your story to help me Will!).