Cold water swimming - 30 days turned to 100+.

Hello, My name is Jennifer Draper

I am a lifelong swimmer. I love the water. My (adult) routine loosely included swimming on a Masters team 3 times a week at our local athletic club. Then Friday, March 13, 2020 arrived. Mindless ease and access to the pool came to a screeching halt.

A Global Pandemic. Quarantine. Isolation.

Fortunately, summer gave us a reason to go outside, last year even more than ever. Life on the lake didn’t disappoint and provided a necessary distraction to lap swimming.

Fall rolled in along with Netflix binging. I stumbled upon “My Octopus Teacher.” A 2020 Netflix original documentary. Forget the love story between the Homo Sapien and a Mollusk. I was oddly, in a captivated way, so taken by the author’s 365 days of open and cold water swimming that the next day, on the Fall Equinox, I decided to take the plunge and commit to 30 days of lake swimming. I had no gear, just my suit and a naïve idea that I too, wanted whatever Octopus man got from free diving in skins off Cape Town, South Africa in the frigid waters of False Bay. *Skins = no wetsuit, just a bathing suit.

30 days quickly became 100 and NOW 163 days later I get it! I mean, I got it at 30 but never expected this. I swim, still, because I love it. I love the water. On Sept 21, 2020 the lake temperature was in the upper 60’s. Today the lake temperature is 45 degrees Fahrenheit. With each swim I felt the water temperature drop, my core adjust and the addiction set in. Seriously, ask other cold water swimmers.

As we entered Phase 2 and the pools opened, reserving a lane didn’t feel right. Plus, there’s more. I found myself craving the cold. The cold changes the experience.

What do you do every day that you can say “heck yes, I overcame!” Fill in your own story here…be it physical resistance, laziness or a mental block.

We all are guilty of getting in our own way, believing the wrong inner voice that tells us we can’t, when the truth is, we CAN!

I swim because it makes me feel completely alive and present. Even tough love from Mother Nature with her full spectrum of offerings. Some days I slip into quiet, still, happy water other days it’s messy, choppy and angry. Every swim is a win, my daily baptism. The cold clears my spinning mind, releases endorphins and sets me right for the day. It’s just me, the water and my surroundings. The cold water refuels me. When I exit the lake, I feel invigorated and cleansed. It’s a full dose of happy. I have never regretted a day in the water.

I swim around sunrise. There is contemplative solitude at this time. I rarely see another soul. The geese and ducks notice me but ignore me. The Eagle soars above. The dog sits patiently at the end of the dock checking, that the human who feeds her, isn’t in trouble. I’m not sure if the neighbors see me glide by? I suspect not. I know they are up as the smells waft over the water, coffee at one house, bacon at another, car exhaust at the next. My senses are always heightened, the water is dark after all and I am on my own. I swim close enough to shore spotting escape routes should I need them. I never enter the lake without telling my daughters when I’m getting in. Safety first.

I now have some gear. I still swim ‘skins’ but I’ve added thermals (boots, gloves, cap plus my neoprene cap, ear plugs and a swim buoy). I joined the Western Washington Open Water Swimmers FB page which has been a great resource. I follow a Wim Hof Method as a pre-swim prep and have a better command over my after-drop. The length of my swims ranges from 12-20 minutes.

Cold water swimming has been life changing. My days are brighter, the coffee tastes better, I am more prone to say yes than no and I feel an incredible amount of gratitude for this Half of Life.