The Bay

Under the category of Weird Things I Come Up With And Then Do...I'm debating planning an open water swim for myself and I have no idea why.

Here are the reasons I should not do this:

I am not a professional swimmer, or even a terribly competent amateur swimmer.  My swimming status would be best described as 'I can swim'.

Even though I can swim, I don't have any sort of badges or certificates or anything like that.  I took swimming lessons as a child, and I remember practically nothing of those lessons.  They were many decades ago.

The bay I would be swimming in has a marina in it and a boat could run over me and I would die.

When I swim, I use breast stroke.  This is probably the slowest possible way to swim anywhere.  I don't even think I COULD do front crawl or anything more than a few metres at most.

I am planning the swim across a bay that is very deep, about 16 feet, maybe?  Very deep.  Cannot see the bottom deep with lots of darkness and probably monsters.

Once, while swimming at camp, a weed touched my foot and I almost had a heart attack.

Here are the reasons I should do this:

I want to.

I'm 38, and if not now, when?  Is it going to suddenly get magically easier years from now?

Here's as far as I've gotten with this insane idea.

I've stood on the bridge at one side of the bay, and at the beach on the other side of the bay, where I would start and end, respectively.  I've looked a lot at each point and told myself it is not that far.

I have looked on Google Maps and measured how far it actually is (1.34 km, approximately) and told myself that is not that far.

I have stood in the middle of the 'U' formed by the bay and looked out and told myself that is not that far.

I have taken a boat out into the middle of the bay, where there is a buoy that would mark the halfway point, and looked to either side, and told myself that wasn't that far.

I have decided that I would prefer to start at the weedy, rocky, slimy bridge side of the bay and swim towards the beachy, rocky side of the bay, if for no other reason than that it would be safer to get out of the water at the end not having to clamber through an almost-swamp with tired legs.

I have spoken to my friend, who is an accomplished swimmer.  And she didn't laugh.

I have spoken to another friend, who has a kayak, and who has agreed to paddle beside me to make me more visible and also to carry a life jacket should I decide I need that during the swim.



I'm not fit by any fitness standards, so I don't know what on earth has gotten into me.  Part of me hopes it will just sort of blow over.  The other part of me is saying "Well, if you did it at the end of August, it would be pretty warm and also you would have two months to get ready."  At which point I think "GET READY??"  I mean, how does one GET READY for a swim like that other than just swimming a lot?  That's the only idea I really have.  I looked online for open water swimming (this is the term for it.  I only learned that recently.  I must be crazy.) and all the people are standing around in wet suits looking terribly fit and athletic and young and vibrant and like people who do this sort of thing.  On the phone with my friend she and I figured out that 1.34 km is about 53 lengths of the local pool, or 25.5 laps.  AND, AND, the wind and waves might work against me and THEN WHAT, it could be much much longer and she suggested I aim to manage 80 lengths of the pool just to be on the safe side!  I assure you, if I am swimming 80 lengths of a pool, or FORTY LAPS WITHOUT TOUCHING THE SIDE OR BOTTOM, I am going to certainly need more than two months to prepare!  What is WRONG with me?  Is this some sort of mid-life crisis?