After what happened in Atlantic City last weekend, I knew I needed to get back into open water before my next race.
Not eventually. Not when I felt ready. I needed to actually get back in the water.
So this weekend I joined CIBBOWS for their Intro to Open Water Swimming class at Brighton Beach. Side note: BB is AMAZING and full of open water swimmers with calm water.
The class itself was probably a little basic for where I am as a swimmer. I know how to swim. I’ve done open-water races before. I’ve finished triathlons before. My problem has never really been whether I can swim.
It’s getting my brain to remember that once I’m standing on the edge of a giant body of water.
And for that, this class ended up being exactly what I needed.
We spent the first 30 minutes or so sitting on the beach talking about open-water swimming: the water, the area, safety, things to watch for, and what to expect once we got in. None of it was particularly complicated, but there was something reassuring about going through all of it again before getting into the water.
Then we started slowly.
We got into shallow water and did some easy swimming, practiced sighting, and just got comfortable being in the ocean.
No race clock. No starting horn. No pack of swimmers crashing into each other. No pressure to prove anything.
Just swim.
Eventually we headed out as a group.
We swam about 100 meters and stopped. Everyone checked in.
Then another 200 meters. Stop. Check in again.
Then we turned around and swam the full 300 meters back.
And that last 300 meters was the part I needed.
I felt great.
I wasn’t thinking about the water underneath me. I wasn’t looking for an excuse to stop. I wasn’t wondering whether I could make it back.
I was just swimming.
Somewhere during that final stretch, it finally came back.
That feeling of being comfortable in open water. The confidence that I know what I’m doing. The realization that I am capable of this, even if my brain occasionally needs some convincing.
It was only 600 meters of actual group swimming. It wasn’t some huge training accomplishment. But after last weekend, it felt much bigger than 600 meters.
I needed a successful experience in the water.
I got one.
Next weekend is the Boston Triathlon. The swim will be longer. There will be more people. It’ll be a race instead of a class, and I’m sure I’ll still have some nerves when I’m standing there waiting to get in.
But I’m not going into it with my last open-water experience being the race I couldn’t start.
I’m going into it remembering those last 300 meters at Coney Island.
I felt calm. I felt strong. I felt like myself again.
I’m ready for next weekend.