I remember learning to swim under water first. I was never very good at the doggie paddle but I rocked breast stroke early on. I’m buoyant so swimming is not strenuous for me. I feel graceful and strong on the water, like I could swim forever.
I was very lucky that around the time I was 12 my folks bought a camp in a secluded cove. When we got tired of swimming near the camp my mom, sister and I would strike out across the cove. Sometimes we’d turn around at the halfway point, other times we go all the way across. It’s about 1 nautical mile. It was a big adventure and I’d always be starving when we got back.
This summer I got to spend a week at the camp with my family. On a particularly lovely afternoon my beloved wanted to swim across the cove but our sons weren’t interested. I was happy to go. The water was average for early August in New Brunswick and about two thirds of the way across my partner was getting tired. I felt like I could go forever. We stopped on a rock on the other side to chat and then turned back. I don’t know how long it took us but it was a lot of fun. I swam with my sunglasses on and used a heads up breaststroke and whip kick and an occasional side stroke.
I hadn’t swam a long distance for fun in a long time. I’ve been in pools and training. All the fun swimming the past few years have been at great lake beaches that often have serious waves and lots of boating traffic.
My beloved teased me that he was exhausted while I was gliding effortlessly along with my sunglasses and, I have to admit, it felt kind of awesome to feel strong at the end. It was a lot of fun 🙂
Excellent swimming story. I had a similar experience riding my bike during my holidays. Not training. Not trying to go fast. Not on a fancy bike. Just riding for fun. And it was fun. And I did feel I could go on forever. Thanks for the guest post. Sounds as if you had an idyllic vacation.
Wonderful! I loved this. Glad you enjoyed your swim – way to rock it with your sunglasses on!
Like Tracy said, sometime people forget the fun in the different types of fitness that drew us to the activity in the first place. I really enjoy watching my oldest son run next to me from time to time because it reminds me of how much fun it is to just let loose and run. I miss open water swimming and swimming for fun too! Thank you for sharing!