Ok, so you lucky ones who live in costal areas may scoff at this story, but for a land-locked Texan, this was, in fact, the best open water swimming experience ever.
I spent the last week in a hotel on a beach in the La Jolla Ecological Preserve with my family. Each morning, I woke up before the family and swam from my hotel to La Jolla Cove and back (about a mile, round trip). There were many swimmers out there (and no mororized boats are allowed in the preserve), so I was usually able to find a group to hang with while crossing the bay, which was good, because the 15 foot man-eating shark that always lurks just outside of my vision on open water swims (even in fresh water) seems to go away when I am in a group.
On memorial day, I was standing on the beach at 6:00 am. It was cold (60), cloudy, the seas were quite rough. The water temperature was 64 degrees and I didn’t have a wetuit. No one was out at 6:00 a.m. I thought about just going for a jog and calling it a day, but I dove in to the numbing water anyway and set out across the bay.
When I got to the other side, I found a group of older guys (50s-60s or so) getting in the water. I asked if they would mind if I follwed them back accross the bay. They said they were going on a 4 mile swim, but I could follow them if I wanted. I was feeling good, so I figured I’d follow them for a while. I got into a draft with them and set out away from the bay and into the ocean with swells so high that navigation was difficult. These guys had apparently been doing this long enough that they knew what they were doing. They swam straight to the first navigational buoy where we stopped to regroup. There were a bunch of harbor seals sitting on the bouy! Cool! Then one of the old guys (who apparently didn’t see me bobbing next to him) said (chuckling), “what about that guy who thought he was going to follow us, ha ha ha.” Old man talkin some smack to me? No way. I’m in for all 4 miles now baby. Game on. I tapped his shoulder and said, “I’m still here, boss.”
We set out for the next bouy (about a mile). I don’t know how these guys found the bouys in those rough seas, but they did. On the way there, I could hear dolphins squeaking. Lots of them. We stopped. There were like 200 dolphins swimming right next to us, then among us, under us, around us. WOW! We don’t get that in Lake Grapevine!
The rest of the swim was not nearly as eventful, other than overcomming some strong currents and high seas. I was able to stay in the draft most of the time, so I felt comfortable. But I was glad when the group turned back along the beach in front of my hotel. At a reasonable pace (1:45 or so), I can swim seemingly indefinitely, so I was never concerned from a safety perspective. After 4.5 miles, though, I was feeling fatigued, my mouth and throat were a little puckered from salt water and I had a very painful rash in my arm pits (anyone know what that is about?). I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye or thanks to my hosts, but they all saw me turn off and I had already told them where I was headed.
In the back of my mind, I was aware that my wife and family might be worried about me, being that I was gone for 2.5 hours on a planned 40 minute swim. As I approached the beach, I stopped an looked up. Uh oh. There was my wife, my kids, and my sister standing on the edge of the surf, hands cupped on their brows, searching the horizon. Next to them were two search and rescue trucks… Oops. Then, BOOMING from the P.A. system on one of the trucks, “ATTENTION SWIMMER. ATTENTION SWIMMER. ARE YOU STEPHEN?” I waived sheepishly. Yup. I’m the guy you’re looking for. I was in the dog house. But, then again, I suppose the search and rescue teams added to the whole adventure of the experience (it turns out, my mom had just called them moments before I appeared, and the trucks had only just then pulled up, so no major waste of funds).
I’ve always fantasized about marathon ocean swimming. This experience confirmed it for me. I think I’m going to find some good marathon swims. What an awesome experiece! If any of those old guys are STers, thanks for the experience guys!