ocean swimming

While on vacation, I decided that I would ocean swim every day. In the campus pool I can do a mile in about 40 minutes or so. I figured that if I did at least 45 minutes in the ocean, that would be the equivalent of a mile.

Ocean swimming is a lot different than the pool – for one, it’s much more salty. Add in the waves, variable depth, other swimmers, potential for fish and sharks and it’s a pretty intense experience.

I usually started from the beach in front of the condo, then swam down toward the pier – but not all the way to the pier since the fishermen throw the un-needed fish parts over the side and it attracts sharks.

Though I swam the same stretch of water every day, it was always a unique experience. The currents and the tides were always changing and some days were more difficult than others. I got smacked in the face by the tides many times – but eventually found a rhythm that kept me in the clear.

I mostly swam breaststroke, but occasionally ramped it up a notch and switched to butterfly. I’m not very good at that one, but the tossing motion of the waves actually helped. It didn’t do that too long since it tired me out, but it was pretty cool for a while.

So, I figure I did about 12 miles while I was on vacation, not counting the swimming I did in the pool or the “epic fail” of the boogie board.

Not Olympic level, but not too shabby.