Skin Swimming: My Year Defining Event

“It’s then that I realize that I’m having a cold shock reaction. I’m uncontrollably hyperventilating and starting to panic. Is this the end of the event for me?”

On the 25th of June, 2022, my husband and I dove into our Lake Coniston swimming event.?

The Goal??

Swim 5.2 miles (8.36 km) in open water in the Lake District in the UK in June.?

Why??

Joel needed an event to push himself to train and I needed a year-defining event. Something I might not be able to complete. Something that would take me out of my comfort zone.

Preparing for the Event

We started training in January. We swam for 45 minutes, 3 to 4 times a week. We gradually built up from swimming 0.5 miles the first week to 1.5 miles by the end of the month.?

I guess being scared of not finishing the race helped us with our training commitment. We averaged 3.1 miles (5 km) every week during January and February.?

Learning from Experts

We knew how to swim but if we wanted to complete this race we had to work smarter.

A friend, who was in the top 10 swimmers of South Africa’s swimming team, trained with us 3 times and taught us some “drills”. I vividly remember how beautifully and effortlessly he moved in the water. Like a dolphin. Looking like something born to be in the water and not on the land.

After practicing the drills in every training session, my technique rapidly improved. I went from barely surviving to finding the training time therapeutic. My mind could wander.

A Half Marathon

As if preparing for a 5.2 mile swim wasn't enough. Early April I signed up for an event, organized by Build your Life Resume (BYLR), called "Driveway to Hell": a half marathon where I would go up and down Sara Blakely (founder of Spanx) and Jesse Itzler's (entrepreneur) driveway in their home in Rome, Georgia, USA.?

Why on earth would I sign up for this? I know, don’t judge! My excitement to meet this successful and inspiring couple was bigger than any fear of not being ready for either the hills or the swim.

I decreased the number of swimming sessions and concentrated on walking up and down hills around my house and by the beautiful White Cliffs in England.

On the weekend of the 14th of May I completed my first half marathon. I met amazing people from the BYLR community, took ice baths, heard stories from amazing speakers and met and got a selfie with Sara and Jesse.

The Mental Slump

After a successful weekend and a short road trip, I returned to the UK motivated and excitedly got back to my swimming training feeling ready for anything.

Unfortunately, by the end of May I got sick with the flu and fell into a mental slump. I was bored of swimming and training indoors. I wanted the race to be over.?

Things didn’t look promising for the event. We were getting closer to the date and I hadn’t swam more than 2 miles in one session.?

“Was I going to be able to do an additional 3.2 miles in the open water?” - this thought was living rent free in my head.

The Day Before the Event

We had been preparing for over 6 months. We drove 5 hours to the north of England and got ready for our event the next day.?

When we arrived I had a mixture of feelings. I was excited. I was scared. I didn't want to think about it too much. I just wanted it to be over. I was happy with the training but now I needed a change.

The anxiety peaked later in the evening. I woke up during the night thinking about everything that could go wrong.?

Would we Make it??

My husband’s main concern was the wind. If it’s windy, the water would be choppy, creating waves and making it hard to swim. Adding more demand to an already challenging swim that we might not be fit enough to complete.

My main concern was the water temperature. Me, a naive Costa Rican, didn’t get a wetsuit because I thought that the water would be warm enough by the end of June. In the north of England.?

“What if the water feels like ice? Was it insane not wearing a wetsuit for the event?” Well, if it was, now it was too late.?

It all started the night before.?

Was my Physiotherapist Right?

I had been going to the physio for over a month because of a pain in my right shoulder. Three days before the event my physiotherapist told me she didn't recommend me doing the event.?

Definitely not the news I wanted to hear after all those months of preparation and all the therapy sessions.?

However, I felt the therapy had worked and I was good to go. I have been competing for years in other sports like Crossfit and I have learned to understand the limits of my body. I know when I can push and continue and I know when I need to stop. But, what if she was right and in the middle of the swim the pain was intolerable? Even worse, what if because I was stubborn I hurt my shoulder?

The Day of the Event

After a night of broken sleep filled with anxiety, I wake up. This is it. The day of the event.?

I step outside wearing shorts, a top, sandals and no sweater to check the temperature. It isn’t that cold. “We’ll be fine”, I say to myself.

We get ready, eat some fruits and start driving to the check-in place: a school near the lake where we park our car, get our tags and get transported to the lake to start the event.

The Check-In

On our way to the school, we get closer to the lake and see the real weather: windy and choppy water. I glance at Joel, my eyes tight and worried. The water being cold was not my main concern anymore.

When we arrive at the school, we park in a field 300m away from the main building. As soon as we turn off the car it starts pouring rain.?

After 15 minutes of waiting in the car and the rain not stopping, we step out of the car and? walk to the school.?

We walk to the entry hall. The room is frenetic and there is palpable nervousness in the air. Walking through and into the registration room. There is an uncomfortable silence across the room: eyes a bit wider as the reality of the event starts to sync in.

We approach the registration table.

"You are swimming skins?" asks the lady checking us in.

"What do you mean?" I ask. Then I realize she means no wetsuit.?

“Yes.” we say.

Her eyes snap to meet ours. She doesn’t ask us but we can see the question behind her eyes “are these professionals or are they just morons?”. We answer the question a moment later when Joel asks her:

“What is the percentage of people swimming without a wetsuit?”?

"Low… but you'll do fine" she says.?

I immediately think to myself: “We haven’t even started the race and everything that could go wrong is happening”.

After getting our things we walk to the main hall, look around and see it: everybody is wearing or putting on their wetsuit. Some of them are looking incredulous at us. I know what they are thinking.?

My mind starts going to dark places. I am not sure I will be able to keep it together. I start hyperventilating. I look at the wall and start doing breathing exercises. This helps a little bit but now I’m in a battle with my mind. Waiting to get to the lake and find out how bad things are.

We are about to get into the bus that will take us to the lake, the driver looks at us with no wetsuit and says: "oh dear". We get into the bus and I can hear a pin drop. Everybody is wearing a wetsuit.

When we get to the lake, I find some hope. I can see other bodies without a wetsuit. We are not the only ones out of our minds apparently.

Before the first wave goes, the guy with the microphone says that the water temperature is 19 C. Joel and I celebrate: we will be fine.

We Touch the Water

It's 9am. It is finally our turn. We start walking towards the lake. I touch the water and feel this inexplicable relief. I smile and celebrate telling Joel: “The water is ‘warm’! We got this!”.?

I keep walking until my whole body is immersed in the lake. I put my face below the surface and take a stroke. It is then when I feel a sudden cooling of the skin by the cold.?

My heart races. I’m taking rapid and loud breaths. My face feels like it is going to fall off and my skin is peeling away.

It’s then when I realize that I’m having a cold shock reaction. I’m uncontrollably hyperventilating and starting to panic. The water temperature was 19 C on the edge of the lake, but now as we go deeper, it is 14 C.

This is bad news. I haven’t even done 20 meters and with 5.2 miles still to go I think to myself: “Is this the end of the event for me?”. My main fear is coming true.

I look around for Joel. There he is, on my left with his pink buoy floating next to him. As he sees the fear in my face he asks if I’m OK.?

My eyes widen and as I gasp for some air I tell him: “No! I can barely breathe”.

He says, with a calm voice: “We just need to keep moving so the body can warm up”.

I need to keep calm and keep moving in any way I can. I switch between breaststroke and doggy paddle. I refocus and let my body do what it knows what to do. It works. I slowly regain control of my breath.

Mile 1

At mile 1 I'm feeling OK. I don’t feel any pain in my shoulder.

I start to warm up, but occasionally there are patches where the water gets colder and things get harder.?

Every time I take a breath I look to the sky and I beg God to move the clouds and give me some sunlight. Just a single ray will do.

My feet are cold. The rest of the body is fine. I think to myself. I should have worn some shoes. I see people swimming around me with and without wetsuits wearing shoes. Another rookie mistake.

Mile 2

My knees start hurting. “This is strange. It is probably because of the cold.” I think.?

I start kicking faster and try to forget about it.?

I play the mind games and I keep telling myself: “This is pretty easy. I’m having so much fun”.

Mile 3

We move out of the shelter of the mountains alongside the lake and are exposed to the wind, which creates monster waves. A half a meter wave is not impressive in the ocean but when you are trying to swim a 5 mile race it is pretty demoralizing.

It is also at this point where breathing becomes a lot tougher. Every time I take a breath I have to be careful so I don’t breath a mouthful of lake instead.

Mile 4

At the mile 4 mark I try to swim breaststroke to give my shoulders and lats some time to rest but as soon as I try to bend my knees I feel an excruciating pain. My knees are in agony.

This is bad. I’m no longer worried about being able to finish the race or the cold or the waves. My concern is: “Will I be able to stand up and walk to get out of the lake when I get to the finish line? Will Joel have to carry me out of the water?”.

Mile 5

I feel like I have been swimming for 2 days. Yet, I think to myself: “Who had the brilliant idea to add an extra 0.2 miles to the race? As if this was not enough swimming.”

My armpits start chafing. It feels as if I had taken a razor blade to my armpit.?

I can see the finish line. We are almost there.

The Finish Line

I slowly get closer to the shore. We make it to the other side of the lake.?

After more than 3 hours in the water I hold onto Joel and I stand up. My knees are wobbly and frozen. Wait, they are blue!

I try to take my first step, then the second one. The pain is grueling, but I can slowly walk.?

As I’m about to cross the finish line, I get a lump in my throat. I am about to burst into tears.?

“What is happening?” These aren’t sad tears.? These are the good kind of tears. The we-made-it kind of tears. My mind and body are celebrating that we’ve completed our year defining event.

It took us 3h and 51m.

Lessons Learned

• When things get hard and you start doubting the outcome, remind yourself: “I didn’t come this far just to come this far”.
• Sometimes being a na?ve rookie can drive you to catastrophic outcomes. Yet, many times it is what you need to accomplish things you never imagined possible. Often we won’t challenge ourselves when we know about all the difficulties but when we just act, we realize it wasn’t that bad in the first place.
• Going solo is fine, but going with a partner helps you in a variety of ways: knowing that you are not doing things alone and having someone to push you the days you don’t feel like doing what you said you would do. In my case it was waking up at 6:00am to go to the pool or making it through the event itself.
• Be careful who you share your goals and dreams with. Doing something out of your comfort zone is scary. But people reflecting their fears on you is worse. It adds more noise to any doubts you might already have.

Original article published here: https://www.amanzi.io/articles/skin-swimming