Way back in 2013, I did my first Bring on the Bay (BOTB) swim, a 3 km swim in the Ottawa River to raise funds for Easter Seals.
In 2016 BOTB started to offer a swim angel program. It’s the largest program of its kind in Canada, and it’s an important contribution to making the event more accessible. I think is that’s very appropriate for an event raising funds for people with disabilities.
Coincidentally, 2016 was the year I had bunion surgery. I was very nervous about swimming that distance as I hadn’t done much training and was afraid I would get a massive foot cramp. My friend Nadine was friends with the guy who had dreamed it up after supporting one of his friends to do the swim the previous year. She offered to be my angel. She swam beside me and it gave me the confidence to keep going (but was prepared to get me help should I need it).
I couldn’t find a picture of us from BOTB that year, but here we are swimming at Meech Lake on a foggy day.
Fast forward a few more years and I was bored of swimming for myself, but thought it would be fun to pay it forward by being an angel. My swim team mate Sarah was interested in doing the race but was nervous because she had no open water experience. I volunteered to be her angel. She did great!
Sarah and I after our swim
The next year, Sarah convinced her mom to try. Irene did the 1.5 km route all in breaststroke. She now comes to Ottawa from Hamilton every year to do the swim.
Irene and I before starting our swim
Last year, I was paired with Penny, who it turns out I knew slightly as she often swam at the pool where I lifeguard. We did the 1.5 km race last year and this year she did the 3 km. Now 83, she was the oldest female swimmer (and may have been the oldest overall) this year.
Penny and I after our swim last year. Ignore that random hand on my shoulder; it is not AI. I cropped the photo.
This year, I was paired with Lisa. She had recently had surgery and was anxious. I was technically still recovering from my surgery but knew I could do the distance. We were well matched and took care of each other.
Lisa and I in the line waiting our turn to get into the water. There were 995 swimmers this year.
Nadine has moved away, but her influence is still felt in the Ottawa swimming community. She introduced me and several other friends to being swim angels. This year there were four of us out of 38 angels who met through her.
And the word has spread within my master’s swim club; four of us were angels, including Sarah, plus our former coach. Not bad for a tiny 35 member club.
As I mentioned in my previous post, in which I dipped my toes into triathlon, my “big event” of the year was still to come. In a fit of optimism, possibly buoyed by the exhilaration of having signed up for a triathlon (signing up for stuff feels good to me), early this year I’d signed up for a 4.5k open water swimming race.
A week before my 40th birthday, on 1 September, it was time. The race took place in Lake Chiemsee, in southern Bavaria, in view of the Alps. It’s a beautiful panorama. The way the race works is that they ferry swimmers out to an island and then you swim back to shore, pretty much in a straight line. Like this:
Map of Lake Chiemsee with the island we started from circled in red and an arrow pointing towards the finish of the race.
We’d decided to make a family trip out of it, leaving on Saturday morning to make the drive down in a leisurely fashion, staying overnight, and driving home after the race on Sunday. We stayed at a lovely hotel with its own jetty and SUP boards for rent, which unfortunately we didn’t have time to use. The evening before the race, I’d arranged to meet up via Facebook with a few other people swimming the next day. But first, I had to pick up my starter kit. At the location, the main sponsor had put up a fun “I am water” backdrop, which I posed with, even though I wasn’t feeling quite sure about my aquaticness at that point.
Picture of Bettina in a white t-shirt and denim shorts, posing in front of a backdrop showing a person swimming butterfly and the words “I am water”.
I’d known the nerves would come, and the pre-race meet-up with other participants was part of my tactic to calm myself down. This was my first big open-water event and I do get impostor syndrome quite a bit. I was really glad I’d made this dinner arrangement. Not only did we have a delicious dinner in a traditional beer garden with a playground right next to our table for our 4 year-old to explore, but I also got to pick more experienced swimmers’ brains. They all assured me I’d be just fine and had signed up for a beautiful race. And wow, had I ever! Race morning came with beautiful sunshine, the perfect temperature, and no waves at all.
Panoramic view of a very calm lake with the Alps in the background. In the foreground is the finishing chute marked by yellow buoys and lines to the left, and a small child (Bettina’s son!) playing on the beach to the right.
There was a short safety briefing with an explanation of what would happen next, and off we were, all 270-ish of us, to the boat that would take us to the island. En route, I met a nice English guy (hey, Tom!) whose wife is from the region and he’d decided to give it a go while they were on holiday in the area. We chatted as we made the short crossing to the starting point, he kindly shared his vaseline to prevent wetsuit chafing, which I’d forgotten to bring, and I munched an energy bar and drank some of my sports drink.
And then… we were off! Since the water temperature was so perfect and the lake so calm, it didn’t take me a very long time to settle into a comfortable breathing rhythm. And even though there were a lot of us, there was none of the kicking and swimming over each other I’d been dreading, considering it was a mass start. It went great and I ended up losing track of how many buoys I’d passed after a while, I just kept going. Every once in a while I stopped for a split second to check I was well on track and, honestly, to admire the panorama – it was just stunning. Every 500 metres, they’d put a huge yellow buoy as a way marker so nobody got lost. There were also loads of lifeguards with paddle boards, kayaks and boats, so between them, the other swimmers, and the buoys, it was impossible to go wrong.
Towards the end, there was one section with a bit of a cold current and I was glad I’d decided to wear my wetsuit, also because I know that I tend to get cramps if I get too cold – this had happened to me a couple of times during my longer training swims in the outdoor pool.
Before I even knew it, I was swimming up to the finish chute! As I waded out of the water, I spotted my partner and son waving and shouting. I was so happy my son got to see his Mama do something big and challenging, and above all, having fun! It’s the way I’d love for him to approach sports and movement as he grows up. I wasn’t in it to win it – I was in it to enjoy it, try something new, and challenge myself.
Bettina, wearing a bright pink race cap, swimming goggles, and a long-sleeved wetsuit, crossing the finishing line after getting out of the water. A large digital clock in the background reads 1:30:07.
In the end, I was super happy with my final time of 1:30:08. I came 8th in my age group, which wasn’t bad at all! I definitely want to do this again. Next year, the same race will take place on my actual birthday, which is kind of a sign, but I’m also still considering other options – maybe a different lake! What started as my personal challenge the year I turned 40 has opened up a new path that I’m super excited to keep exploring.
