Ocean swimming

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Had a fantastic time on Monday when I did my first ocean swim, a 1km race in a national competition! It was a beautiful morning, very sunny and also a little windy. I was pretty excited by the whole prospect, even though I had done no training and never swum for 1km continuously in the sea but I figured, how hard can it be? Plus it was the shortest of the 3 races going on, the other two being 2.5 and 5 km. There was no way I could do those but 1km I thought would be possible.

I got even more excited when I registered and got my number marked on my arms and legs - it was, like, a proper race and I haven't been in any kind of swimming competition since I was 12! Then all the kids from the swimming clubs arrived and started registering and I realised that I was going to get my ass kicked. But that's OK, there were also some mums and dads joining in, so my aim was to beat them!! 😊

In the end, the wind picked up and the sea was pretty choppy, so it was quite tough going. I didn't realise how hard it was going to be to swim, breath and look at where I was going at the same time. My goggles misted up within the first 2 minutes and the glare of the sun made it really difficult to see the white markers we had to swim around (they could have used a better colour for the markers, like red or orange!) But after the first 500m or so I got used to it and got a good rhythm going, so although I didn't exactly break any records, I made it to the end and was pretty happy with how it went.

The best part was that I could then relax and watch the 2.5 and 5km swimmers struggle on and finish their races :P and generally spend the rest of morning lounging around in the sun and enjoying a free lunch at the lovely sea front restaurant of the posh hotel where the race was being held.

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Photos

Number 59
Check me out! Pro swimmer (not) getting ready for my first ever ocean swim!

Getting ready
Getting our pre-race briefing

Finish
Crossing the finish line - not sure what I am doing here...maybe taking off my goggles?

Time to relax
Spent the rest of the morning sitting around in the sun with this lovely view

Lunch on the deck
This is where the free (and well deserved!) lunch was had

Comments

[Nida]

Well Done!!!
Cant believe you did a 1km swim. Good for you and well done with this blog. The photos you took are good too.

[Manoula]

Ocean swims....
It all looks and sounds far too nice for my own comfort....if you see what I mean.....! i manoula

[Manoula]

Swim....
What? only 1 km?? was that all? no ikosaethlon there? i manoula sou