I never thought I’d want to get into water that wasn’t 82 degrees much less swim in the San Francisco Bay. So my swim to Alcatraz in a couple of weeks is as much a surprise to me as a challenge – I can’t believe I actually want to do it. But I do, with a vengeance laced with obsession. How did this happen?
My husband is the swimmer in the family and he’s been on me to get in the pool with him for 20 years. My excuses usually centered around the time involved, not wanting to get my hair wet and several varieties of “it’s just not my bag, baby.”
When I was recovering from a surgery in 2006 and unable to engage in my passions at the time, Brazilian dancing and Astanga yoga, I started taking the water-aerobics class at my local YMCA. Being the only person under 65 made me very popular and I loved the spirit of the “90 is the new 60” crowd. But as I jogged in place in the shallow end of the pool, I couldn’t keep my eyes off the “real swimmers” effortlessly gliding back and forth in the lap lanes. One thing led to another and before I knew it I was clocking a mile 3-5 days a week. It turns out it was my bag after all.
I swam in the lane next to the Masters group for years, wondering why anyone would want to be on this glorified swim team for grown-ups. My swimming had become a slow, relaxing meditation, and Masters appeared to be the opposite of that – there were drills, timed sets, lots of different strokes - they did the butterfly for God’s sake!!!
But my usual lane was crowded one morning and there was open space in a Masters lane. When the coach told me to jump in, I thought he meant I could split the lane and do my own thing. Before I knew it, I had a pair of fins and a kickboard and was being introduced as a new Masters swimmer. That was two years ago and save vacations and natural disasters, I haven’t missed a Mon, Wed or Fri workout since. You just never know...
II. From Hot to Cold
I first started hearing about open water swims in the hot-tub after our Masters workouts. Athletes training for triathlons often swim with the Masters when they are preparing for an event. A few swimmers would talk about competing in various open water swims. And I began to hear about some who regularly swam in Aquatic Park and Crissy Field. I could see the draw of swimming in crystal clear 82 degree Napili Bay, but in dirty 50 degree San Francisco Bay? As my son would say “Oh Hellllll No”.
I was fascinated as I listened to the stories though – crazy currants, encounters with sea lions, the thrills of swimming in open water. And I was scared too – there was vomiting in rough waters, losing site of landmarks in the fog, something called “Channel Claw” that made your hands freeze into the shape of a claw. Yikes!!!!
There was a shift occurring though and “hell no” was becoming “well maybe under the right conditions…”
Last October, during our San Francisco Indian Summer, word was going around the locker room that the waters in Aquatic Park were up to 65 degrees. A couple of girls decided to meet on a Tuesday morning. Our coach decided he was coming too. Then someone offered to lend me a wetsuit. June promised to bring food and it was on!!!!
I was so nervous that I could hardly sleep the night before the swim. June picked me up at 6:30am and we met our group on the steps of Aquatic Park and stepped into the water at 7:00am. Even in a wetsuit, 65 degrees is COLD!!!!!! So cold that it literally takes your breath away and makes your face feel like it might fall off. A few people swam the 1 mile perimeter of Aquatic Park. But I needed to know I was closer to shore so I opted for “swimming the buoys” which are about 1/3 mile from shore. Swimming back and forth between the buoys is about a ½ mile swim. I can’t say that swimming out to the buoys was pleasant but something started to happen as we settled into swimming the buoy line. I began to notice the movement and the expansiveness of the open water. I liked the connection to the pelicans and the grebes that were flying overhead and swimming next to us in the water. As I turned to breath I could see the San Francisco skyline to the right and the Golden Gate Bridge to the left. And just a glimpse of Alcatraz….
Well, that was it. I was hooked. Again. I managed to get a group to join me for the next couple of weeks, but then the temperatures began to drop precipitously. Suddenly it was 58 degrees, and then 56 degrees and my group’s enthusiasm began to wane. By mid-November they were done for the year. I knew that swimming alone was a really bad idea and I desperately began to put out calls and emails to people I hardly knew. Will you swim with me at Aquatic Park? I just wasn’t willing to let this bad-boy die. I got my husband to “babysit” from shore a couple of times, but that wasn’t a long term solution. When I found out that a group called Water World met every Sunday, year-round, I was ecstatic. And that’s when Alcatraz began to call my name…
III. Water World
Water World is a group of swimmers of all levels that meets year-round, once a week during the winter and twice a week once the time changes. Led by Coach Pedro Ordenas, who recently swam the Magellan Strait (again), Water World always has coaches in the water and in kayaks and on paddleboards to guide the group swims and support the swimmers in the event of problems. There are usually two groups, one swimming inside of Aquatic Park and the other going out into the bay, aka “The Wild West.”
Before every swim, we are coached on the currents and whether we will be swimming with an ebb or a flood. We are warned about the places where the currents are the strongest. Pedro will give us gems like “make sure you make a strong turn at the end of the wall or you’ll be shopping at Pier 39.” Or “make sure you stay to the left of Anita Rock, because the support staff won’t be able to get you under the Bridge and you’ll be on your own until the Coast Guard picks you up.” By the time I get in the water, I’m a nervous wreck, but it’s never been as disastrous as he predicts it might be.
Every week I learned something that made the swim a little more comfortable. I started using earplugs to prevent motion sickness. I bought a neoprene cap (even though I hated the straps under the chin.) I learned about Glide to prevent chafing around the neck. And then came the big investment – a thing of beauty called the Blue-Seventy Helix Wetsuit. Ahhhhh… I learned to bring hot tea to warm up after the swim and to get out of my suit before my fingers got too cold to take it off by myself. And when the temps hit the low 50s, I bought neoprene gloves that allowed me to stay in the water an extra 15-20 minutes.
When the water dropped from 56 to 53, I didn’t notice much of a difference. But when it hit 52, it was noticeably colder. And at 49, it was even colder. I had been swimming for close to 45 minutes, and I was pretty uncomfortable after only 25 minutes in 49 degree water. And the first 5 minutes became tortuous; I just didn’t think I could bear it. But I did. And even during the coldest stretch, there was something that kept pulling me back like the tides - week after week. To be sure, the high that lasted until Tuesday was definitely a big part of it. But it was more than the way I felt afterwards. Not many things in my life have put me more radically into the present moment. Maybe it’s the sound of my breath in the water and the return to the breath, again and again and again. Or maybe it’s the deep connection to something that feels infinite. It could be the connection I feel to the other creatures in that world - the pelicans that circle over us and nod at us from the piers. Its just an experience that stays with me and returns to me throughout the week. It’s hard to describe in the way that most really profound things are hard to describe. Words just aren’t enough…
IV. The Inevitable
Water World is famous for their “Monthly Crossings”. Someone in our group is always planning for an Alcatraz Crossing or an Escape from Alcatraz or an Alcatraz Classic. It’s what people talk about before and after our Sunday swims. One guy who joined Water World about the same time as me signed up for the January Alcatraz Crossing, the baddest of the bad boys, and I knew I wasn’t quite ready for that. But as soon as I started swimming outside of Aquatic Park, Alcatraz became something of an intoxicating draw. As we swam along the outside of the break wall, with every breath to the left, there it was – The Island. And even though it’s over 1 ¼ miles away, it looks so close; it’s sort of impossible not to want to swim it.
With each week, my confidence began to grow. I became familiar with the ebbs and the floods. We practiced swimming against the currents and I started to think about them as “different” instead of “scarier and harder.” The same thing happened with choppy waters; I started to think of bigger movements as something akin to a roller coaster ride. Instead of “Oh F---” it became “Oh Wow”. We swam in strong floods and strong ebbs, we swam out side of AP and at Crissy Field. And I just started to feel ready. So I signed up for the April 19 Alcatraz Crossing.
I feel lucky that my last two swims have been challenging – a 2 mile Crissy Field swim against heavy currents and “Washing-Machine” conditions last Sunday. I think I’m ready. But you never know exactly what conditions will be like in the open water – some floods and ebbs are stronger than others and weather is always variable. There’s always a bit of a risk and that’s part of the thrill I suppose. Whatever the conditions, I’m looking forward to enjoying the ride.
