Bring on the Bay, an annual open-water swimming event in Ottawa, has a unique feature to accommodate swimmers who might otherwise not be able to participate: swim angels.
The swim angels program has been running since 2016. I first learned about it when I had foot surgery but wanted to swim despite my lack of training and fears about foot cramps. My friend Nadine volunteered to be my angel. It was a huge comfort to know she was there, ready to call for help should I need it, or just keep me going when I wasn’t sure about my abilities.
You can read more about the swim angel program here, and its origins as a way to help one swimmer with epilepsy achieve her goals. Since then, angels have supported people with a variety of disabilities and medical conditions, but also those who are simply anxious about open water swimming.
Last year, I decided it was time to become an angel myself. I wrote about it here. It was so much fun that I’m back again and looking forward to swimming with Irene, the mum of my swimmer from last year.
This year’s swim angel crew, some 25 swimmers standing or sitting on a dock and holding their swim floats, with the Royal Lifesaving Society instructors who coached us on how to manage emergencies and keep ourselves and our swimmers safe.Swim angels show off their “wings” in the Ottawa River.
I have been working towards becoming a swim instructor for a while now. I first wrote about the idea of becoming a lifeguard back in 2022 and last fall I finally started the process. In all, I needed to complete five courses (since I already had my first aid and CPR qualifications).
In May, I applied for a job. In Ottawa, the process includes a set of fitness tests that are even tougher than what you need to pass your lifeguard exams. I failed.
I was pretty discouraged, even though the person who conducted my interview encouraged me to try again. She said I was close enough to the qualifying times that if I did some extra swimming, she thought I could do it. I finally agreed to a re-test.
I wasn’t keen about adding extra swims, and I wasn’t sure how to prepare except to swim faster. That’s where my swim village stepped in.
My coach noticed my extra speed at practice and encouraged me to keep at it. She gave me some advice on how to get more out of my head’s up freestyle. She timed me to see how close I was.
A lane-mate started doing regular freestyle sprints so I could aim to keep up while doing the required head’s up stroke. The rest of my lane-mates patiently worked around this weird set of drills that was technically what we were supposed to be doing (choice) but not quite.
Another friend invited me to the nearby pond (I’m a sucker for peer pressure) and then did her own thing while I guesstimated 50 metre distances and swam my heart out.
On Wednesday, I redid all the tests. I finished everything with a couple of seconds to spare, even though I had to do one test a second time because I was too slow the first time around.
I am deeply grateful to my swim gang who had faith in me and made time to get to help me improve my times.
A woman wearing a shirt that says “instructor” faces a line of young children wearing swim gear. They are all in a swimming pool but the children are holding on to a large blue float of pool divider and kicking their feet in the water. Photo is from https://www.lucieslist.com/swim-lessons-for-kids/
Yes, I know the joke in the title is ridiculous but I couldn’t resist.
Let’s just roll with it, shall we?
I find goal setting a tricky business overall.
The process of breaking things down into small steps and prioritizing is valuable but my brain does NOT want to do it. In fact, that type of thinking is my brain’s least favourite thing.
It likes to generate all kinds of extra factors and complications and ideas and it wants me to account for EVERY SINGLE ONE so I can PROVE that this goal/plan is the ONE RIGHT WAY to get where I want to go.
Is this helpful?
It is not.
Can I stop my brain from going into that loop?
No, I cannot.
Can I try to find a workaround?
I can try!
In order to work with my brain and ensure that it won’t fight me every step of the way, I have to find a healthy combination of specificity and flexibility – specific enough so that my brain registers the idea as an actual thing that is happening and flexible enough that my brain won’t revolt at the idea of being trapped in a plan that past me made.
This kind of sums up my brain’s feelings on a lot of my plans. image description: a screencap of a tweet by Marly (@VerbsRProudest) from Oct 3, 2014 that reads ‘I hate to cancel. I know we made plans to get together tonight but that was two hours ago. I was younger then, and full of hope.
And while I bristle at the idea of ‘making the most’ of summer (or of any season or event, really – the pressure! Ugh!) I do like the idea of making each season feel a little different by doing things that feel like they belong in that time of year.
So, to summarize (summer-ize? ha!) I want to do some seasonal things to kind of anchor myself in the moment, I want to have loose plans that help me actually do those things, but I want enough flexibility in those plans so my brain doesn’t get cranky and stubborn.
Here are a few categories of fun/ideas/goals/plans that I am playing with at the moment.
Cycling – I’m looking into buying an ebike but it’s not in the budget quite yet and I also want to make sure that I will actually use it so I am trying to use my regular bike more (and yes, I see the conundrum here – an ebike would increase my likelihood of riding more but…yeah) But the vague goal of ‘use my bike more’ is not helpful so I need to get specific – two 20 minute rides per week for the next three weeks and then reevaluate?
Patio Yoga – I love doing yoga on my patio either in the sunshine or in the evening with the little patio lights on. I want to say that I will start or end each day with yoga on the patio but I also know that I will get thrown off from this plan. So I think I will aim for daily outdoor yoga but with the idea that 3-5 times per week is more likely.
Hiking – I’m not inclined to do long hikes at the moment but perhaps that will change. For right now, I plan to do two short hikes (2 hours or less) in July and 2 in August. At least one of these hikes will involve a picnic and some reading in the middle.
Swimming in a pond – Last summer, I only managed to swim in a pond 2 or 3 times. This year, I am conspiring with a friend to ensure that I am going to *at least* double that.
Hula Hooping – I really *want* to be good at hula hooping but I never practice consistently enough to get the knack. I’m committing to bringing my hoop outdoors with me every time I hang out in my yard to write and I will practice for at least 5 minutes per writing session. Will this help me improve? Maybe, maybe not, but I definitely won’t improve if my hoop stays propped against the wall downstairs.
This photo is from a few years ago but it’s the mental image that arose when I thought about bringing my hoop outside to use when I take a break from writing. Image description: a blue, green, and gold hula hoop rests against a long table covered in a blue table cloth with an ipad and some art supplies on top. The table itself is on some long-ish grass under some trees and there is a mix of sun and shade.
Deep relaxation – I’m going to follow daily, deliberate relaxation practices and hopefully get some of this lingering stress out of my brain and my muscles. (I know this one isn’t summer-specific but summer is supposed to be relaxing, isn’t it? Let’s say deep relaxation is thematically appropriate )
Sounds like some fun stuff, right?
Specific but not super-detailed?
Now as long as I keep below my brain’s ‘Oh hell, no!’ radar, I’ll have a great time this summer.
The photo below is largely unrelated but it made me laugh all over again a few minutes ago so I thought you might like it, too.
Yes, the joke in my title is kind of recycled. I made this card during my first year doing the Index Card A Day challenge. I’m not sure what the prompt was bears? summer? summer bears? Hawaiian shirts? It could have been anything. All I know is that in brainstorming the prompt, my sons and I ended up saying ‘Summer bears (and summer not)’ which kept us laughing for ages. That should tell you a lot about our sense of humour, right there. Image description: a drawing on an index card shows a brown bear in a Hawaiian shirt and a yellow bear in a green and white jersey standing on either side of a round container filled with ice with glass bottles of drinks sticking out of it. It’s a summer day and there are puffy white clouds in the blue sky.
Sam recently wrote about Amy Appelhans Gubser, her amazing swim and the way it was portrayed in the media. TL:DR it was bad. Lazy journalists treated it as a “human interest” story about an overweight grandmother who miraculously did a long swim.
Since I follow a lot of marathon swimmers and marathon swimming enthusiasts, the coverage I saw what quite different. Everyone was respectful (in awe) of what she achieved. No-one commented on her age, family status, weight or anything else. I assume it’s because women are very well represented in marathon swim records (which do not have separate categories for men and women) and extra weight may actually be an advantage when you are swimming for many hours in cold water. And they can understand just how tough that swim was, and that it wasn’t undertaken lightly by some kooky old lady who miraculously succeeded.
Here’s what Amy accomplished:
Golden Gate Bridge to SE Farallon Island
47.7 km (29.6 miles) in 17 hours, 3 minutes on 11 May 2024
First to complete route in outbound direction (mainland to island)
That’s impressive all by itself, but here’s what her friend and fellow marathon swimmer Simon Dominguez had to say:
“I am still marveling at Amy’s swim. What some might not know is why this is such a difficult swim so I thought I would tell you.
28.5 miles of open water swimming. A long way but there are other swims of the same distance that are not nearly as tough. Why is it so tough ? (and thanks for asking). Because of the following:
The cold While the temperature ranged from 48 to 57 degrees F, I know that it touched down at a low of 43 near the islands. 17+ hours of swimming in these temperatures should not be possible but were for Amy because of the work she put in training in very cold water for a number of years preparing for this swim. Also, you need to remember that the longer you swim, the more exhausted you get, the more you feel the cold. Add this to the fact that as you head out to the Farallones, the water temperature continues to drop so you get the double whammy of exhaustion and cold combining to make this an almost impossible undertaking.
The currents While Amy whipped out extremely quickly at the start of the swim on a strong ebb, she then had to fight a flood. Amy told me that she got stuck in place for over an hour at one stage as she fought the tide. And it was near the end of the swim when she was the most depleted. Truly amazing.
Sea creatures Luckily Amy did not encounter any men in grey suits but they are out there all year long. I have no doubt that she was watched while she was swimming. The Farallon Islands sit in the Red Triangle – the largest great white shark breeding ground in the world. Amy respects that she is a visitor in their world. This is not the first swim that Amy has done in shark inhabited waters.
I attempted this swim in 2015 and did not make it due to a shark encounter about three miles from the finish. I could not be happier that the first person to successfully complete this swim is the amazing Amy Appelhans Gubser. A fierce competitor who has no quit in her and who is the first person to put her hand up to help others in need.
I salute you Amy. I know you probably feel like you have gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. But your name will now go down in history as a true South End Rowing Club badass.”
Amy Appelhans Gubser showing off the badass T Shirt her husband brought her from Dublin, where he had been while she was doing her Farallon Island swim. Photo shared by Amy Appelhans Gubser on Facebook
Amy is well-known and respected as a long-time marathon swimmer. Her first major marathon swim was across the Strait of Gibraltar in 2015: 14.4 km in 4 hours. There have been many great swims since, and she was named one of the World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women in 2019 by the World Open Water Swimming Association.
But somehow all that pales in importance imparted to her status as a grandmother (sarcasm). Sam’s son Miles made me laugh by telling Sam “All your athletic achievements could be so much more impressive if I had a kid.” I have a feeling Amy would laugh at the absurdity of it too, secure in the knowledge that people who understand marathon swimming appreciate what she achieved.
At least in the USA. In Canada, it’s the start of the May 24th long weekend, so the traditional start of the season when people go to the lake, camping, kayaking, etc.
Everyone should learn to swim, or at least learn enough about water safety to keep themselves and their families from drowning.
It’s also a great form of low-impact full-body exercise and a new skill you can learn at any age. I taught my grandma to swim when she was in her early 80s.
I admit to bias, as I have been swimming since childhood and find my calm and peace in the silence and rhythmic movement of swimming. It’s also where I have met a whole network of adult friends.
Diane and four friends taking a selfie in the water. All five are wearing bright caps, goggles and swim floats.
If you do a lane swim regularly , or swim with a masters club, or even swim competitively, that’s awesome. If that’s not your thing, please enjoy the beach, the pond or the river – safely.
US Masters Swimming celebrates this month as a way to encourage certified learn-to-swim instructors and Masters Clubs to offer lessons. They do this to make swimming more accessible for the one in three adults in the USA who can’t swim the length of a pool. I think that’s pretty cool.
The percentage of Canadian-born non-swimmers is much smaller at 4%, but among new Canadians the percentage is almost five times as high, at 19%. However, new Canadians want to swim: a study by the Lifesaving Society showed that almost 80% of new Canadians plan to be in and around the water in summer, and most feel it is important to be able to swim because Canada has so much water.
Even though Canada doesn’t have a formal Learn To Swim Month, I’m doing my bit.
I have completed all my qualifications to apply for a part-time job as a lifeguard and swim instructor with the City of Ottawa, and I’m applying to local pools that offer adult classes. I live in a community with lots of new Canadians, so it’s perfect.
I firmly believe that everyone needs to be safe around the water. Adults who swim are more likely to ensure their kids know how to swim. Plus, swimming is a great low-impact activity for people of any age.
Image: four women of various ages are smiling as they stand in a a swimming pool, holding flutter boards. Source: blog.myswimpro.com
If you came to swimming as an adult, what worked for you to learn? If you still don’t swim, what’s holding you back? Please let me know in the comments.
Two blue, white and yellow cloth patches side-by-side on a dark background. One says Lifesaving Society Bronze Medallion and the other says Lifesaving Society Bronze Cross.
I successfully completed two more courses towards my certification so I can work as a swim instructor after I retire next summer.
I have already registered for my instructor’s and airway management courses in December, and the lifeguard course in January-March. I’m pleased that they will be at my regular pool so I won’t have to fight rush hour traffic each week. My friends were teasing me that the ability to bike to lessons would be the deciding factor, even before I had found a class. Apparently I am predicable.
I’m not too worried about the December classes, but I will need to be much more diligent about my physio exercises and make some time to get to the pool to work on my speed before January. My shoulder is improving but it’s still sore and I’m certain my overall swim fitness isn’t where it should be.
I have really enjoyed connecting with other older people who are still teaching or lifeguarding, or are now thinking about getting back to it. Some are part of the Facebook Group “Did You Swim Today”. Others were perfect strangers who saw me in class, and one was a former boss who I still keep in touch with. It’s fun to inspire and be inspired by all these active swimmers.
It has been fascinating to discover just how many seniors are still teaching and lifeguarding, long after most media would have you believe they are just doing aquafit or something similar (don’t get me wrong, aquafit can be a really good workout). People like Mary Gallagher, shown below, who has been teaching swimming in California since 1975.
Mary Gallagher was 80 when this photo was taken in 2000. Photo by Ann Marie Shambaugh shows an older woman with white hair in a swimming pool. She is supporting a young child wearing swim goggles.
Last year, I started thinking about returning to being a lifeguard. I have decided I don’t really want to be a lifeguard as much as I want to be a swim instructor, ideally teaching adults from the immigrant community. If they can swim, they will be more likely to get their kids to swim, and swimming is literally a lifesaving activity.
Being a swim instructor in Ottawa requires six courses. I am just over half way through the course that will get me more than half way through the certification.
I’m currently doing an intensive Bronze Medallion and Bronze Cross combined course. It’s seven weeks long for five hours a week, and last Friday marked week four. I already have my standard first aid and CPR “C”/AED. Assuming I pass, my next steps are a short course in airway management, my lifeguard course, and finally the instructor qualification.
Browsing through the course catalogue, I might be able to find a lifeguard course that caters to people over 30. That would be nice. But I need to weigh it against the convenience of a closer course that I could combine with airway management. Decisions, decisions.
I also need to get my swimming speed up just a bit. I’m on the bubble for completing the lifeguard anaerobic test (50 metres in 60 seconds) and the endurance (400 metres in 10 minutes). Maybe the lifeguard course for older people will be a touch more forgiving…
I’ll report back in a few months. Wish me luck!
The lovely big pool where I swim every Friday night.
Back in the spring, I joined up with an app to track my cycling efforts for Bike Month. I decided it was sufficiently fun that I kept going even after the count ended. Since June 1st, which is technically late spring, but a convenient place to start, and leaning slightly into fall by counting up to September 26 when I drafted this post, here’s how I have done:
Km ridden on my bike: 1,059
Greenhouse gases averted: 270 kg. A round-trip flight to Ottawa to Berlin creates 2 metric tons of GHG, so I’ll need to cycle at this rate for at least 2 1/2 years in order to offset a single trip to Europe. I am assuming I’ll cycle less in winter and use my car a bit more. This is the calculator I used.
Money saved by riding my bike instead of driving: $643. Honestly, this seems a bit low to me as most estimates have car costs per month in Canada at nearly $1,000, when you include financing, fuel, maintenance and insurance. I’m guessing this amount is just fuel and maintenance.
Critical mass rides to advocate for climate change and safer streets (including Kidical Mass and Fancy Women rides): 5
Organized social bike rides: 11
Km swum: 19.743. This is way lower than past years, but between shoulder issues and general busyness it was all I could manage. Next year!
Activities for a cause: 5 – apple picking for the food bank; helping on various rides; census of transit at various locations around the city for the annual Pedal Poll; swim Angel for Bring on the Bay, which is itself a fundraiser for Easter Seals; 15 km swim fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society
Personal cycling goals set and achieved: 4 (18 km each way for a bike swim bike at Britannia Beach, feeding my friend’s cat 20 km away, visiting my parents 25 km away, and visiting my horse 24 km away).
Walks: I didn’t add them up but there were lots, mostly as a way to catch up with a friend, but sometimes for a history tour or to go to the grocery store with my rolly cart.
What did I get out of all this? I discovered that I can do a lot more than I imagined. I have gone from being a steady short-distance commuter to the office to being the person who thinks nothing about using the bike for all kinds of errands – from medical appointments to picking up groceries, going to shows and concerts, to checking on my community garden plots or joining others for a swim, drink or to check new cycling infrastructure. And that I love being social for a good cause.
Kidical Mass Ride, with a range of bikes and people of all ages in a parkMy bike loaded with purchasesMe in the river, wearing a white swim cap and gogglesFriends checking out the new pedestrian/cycling bridge between Ottawa and Gatineau, folks at a social bike ride, and a group of people packing up boxes of freshly harvested apples in an orchard
I love summer because it is when I connect most often with friends for outdoor swims. This year I haven’t been doing much of that. My best swimming buddy moved out of province a couple of years ago, and others in the core group have also moved a bit further out of town so it’s harder to get together. The weather hasn’t cooperated either.
On top of that, I have been dealing with neck and shoulder pain that I just can’t seem to fix.
The result has been that since club practices ended in June, I have barely been in the water.
Falling out of love with swimming couldn’t have come at a worse time for someone who has committed to swimming 15 km in August to raise funds for cancer research. I have met my modest fundraising goal, but if you would like to donate, please follow this link.
I am trying to get myself excited by visiting new venues and swimming with new friends. I went to the new River House in Ottawa, which has 25M lanes in addition to a large “pool” area that is very popular with teens and young adults.
A swimming area on a river. In the foreground you can saw two swim lanes. There are floating ”islands” in the centre, and people sitting on the dock beyond that. In the background, you can see the river with boats near the dock and trees on the far shore,r
I went back to my old standby, the Pond, which is once again relatively quiet as the teens and young adults have migrated to the River House. There were only swimmers and families with young kids on my last visit.
Three people are standing in greenish water while one person swims in the distance. The pond is surrounded by trees.
I joined several people from my swim club at the home of one of our members.
Four swimmers with colourful floats swim across a small lake surrounded by trees.
I even did a (for me) epic bike-swim-bike across town. This has been on my bucket list of longer bike rides to achieve this summer. I managed a little over 36 km of cycling plus a 1500M swim.
A wet Diane, wearing a white swim cap and goggles, stands in the Ottawa river. You can see trees on the Quebec shoreline in the distance. Ignore the time showing in the photo! Strava’s GPS works well for tracking distance but is terrible for times. It actually took me almost an hour.
I’m still struggling. My physiotherapist has instructed me to have shorter but more frequent swims to build up strength without irritating the sore spots, she has also given me new exercises to strengthen and relax my back muscles. I hate strength exercises! The ones for mobility are ok, but boring.
Still, I’m going to make an effort to do them, because it’s clear that I am not going to get back my love of swimming if I don’t fix what is making it not fun. I have 6 km to complete on that cancer fundraiser challenge, and registration for my fall Master’s Swimming program is now open. Wish me luck!
