My first open water experience
Why would anyone want to swim in a 12-degree sea for more than 15 hours to cross the English channel? Writing about it will definitely help to express it to you and clarify it for me.
My first experience of open water swimming was this summer in the South of France. Usually, for me, the South of France rhymes more with Mojitos in Port-Cros then any sports challenge. Although, my brother had challenged me and some friends to a race from the harbour to the next closest beach, Portofino. We actually never raced mainly because he was scared of losing to me, or me to him, or simply because we focused on going out and enjoying the sun. From that failed attempt, I built into a habit of swimming every day in the Mediterranean. I developed a feeling of need for it.
At that time I was just back from the USA and wanted to achieve something that most people would not be able to do. I think the most important lesson I learned from spending a year in the US is that everything is possible . In September I was lucky enough to still be in the South of France, most probably the best month of the year, fewer people and amazing weather. I would start swimming from the harbour to the beach one way and run the way back to my scooter by foot
What’s really amazing about swimming is the sense of freedom. I would swim more and more every day and would always have the same feeling when jumping in the water, A big smile on my face (that smile would go away when hitting the 2 km mark when my throat, nose and nipples would start to hitch from the salt). Nonetheless, I felt that I was ready after about 4 weeks of training.
I was ready to start my first real open water swim . A 10 klm swim to Port cros.
