I am not a swimmer, never have been, and probably never really going to be one. I don't have a swimmer's physique and I didn't swim much growing up. Granted I took a few classes here and there until my parents were satisfied I wouldn't easily drown, but even that almost ended in disaster. My Mom tells a story of my first swimming lesson that makes me laugh. As the youngest of three children, I often learned to do things from my brother and sister at earlier than normal ages. Apparently, I told my Mom before the first swimming lesson that I already knew how to swim. Regardless, off to swimming lessons we went. Now, remember, this is in the early '80's in a rural Montana town, so what I am about to share is not to be taken as how I or we or anyone would treat a child today.......
Anyway, I told my Mom I knew how to swim. I was certain of it. She then in turn informed the swim instructor (probably with a big smile on her face and a wink to the instructor indicating that I was full of it) that I knew how to swim. The swim instructor said, "Great, Peter why don't you jump in and show us your swimming skills" or something along those lines as I don't have a clear memory of the event. Regardless, without a shred of fear I launched myself into the pool. From my Mother's point of view, her youngest son jumped into the pool and sank to the bottom, looking face up through the water. She said my eyes grew to the size of saucers but there I lay on the bottom of the pool looking up. What seemed like an eternity later, the instructor reached down and pulled me out of the water, and promptly informed me that I would need some refinement to my swimming style.
Returning to 2013, I am not a good swimmer. The good news is that this leaves me lots of room for improvement.....right?!!! Well in the spring of 2013 I started swimming at the gym. I made it 25 yards and thought I was going to die. Then I made it to 50 yards, and was certain that if I didn't die by drowning I would by ingestion of chlorinated water. Somewhere around 200 yards I had enough. I kept at it, but it was a slow and torturous journey. The first test of my swimming was the Queen City Triathlon in Helena around June 1st. The QCT is a sprint tri with a 1,000 yard swim. Prior to the event, I had never strung together 1,000 yards so I was nervous. I had self seeded at 30 minutes when I signed up a couple months prior. I knew I could beat 30 minutes, but I had no idea by how much. Well I clocked a 20:17 which I was completely excited about. Anyone could learn how to swim fast (HA HA). Anyway, I digress, this post is about Open Water Swimming not learning how to swim.
Shortly after the QCT I decided it was time to get a wetsuit and start learning to swim in open water. I decided to get a farmer john (sleeveless) wetsuit. The problem here is that I have an unusual body shape where nothing ever fits. I bought the wetsuit by height, and should have bought one or two sizes larger. When the wetsuit arrived I tried it on in the house and it was snug, but wearable so off to the lake (Spring Meadow) we went! Lindsay tagged along and we brought her kayak so she could paddle along and watch me swim. With Lindsay's help we managed to get the wetsuit on, her kayak launched, and off to the swim. The first 5-10 minutes of the swim went well, except for maybe the water temperature. I felt that cold hyperventilation feeling when I first got in and while it mostly went away, it didn't completely go away. But anyway, the first 5-10 minutes went well. Somewhere around 10 minutes I stopped to get my bearings and check in with Lindsay. What surprised me was that I didn't feel like I could catch my breath. Oh well, off I went. After another 5 or so minutes I pulled up....man I was short of breath. And boy that wetsuit was starting to feel a little tight. And I was starting to cough up a bunch of phlegm. Weird, but oh well, keep swimming. Well after another 1 or 2 attempts of 1 or 2 minutes each I realized something was wrong and I was DONE! I had Lindsay pull me back to shore. I thought maybe I was getting a cold or something, and maybe the wetsuit was just a "little" too tight. After we returned to shore, hauled up the boat, and changed out of my wetsuit I started to notice my phlegm that I was coughing up had a slight pink color to it. Hmmmm. Something wasn't right. For the next several days I was coughing and felt horrible, I tried running but couldn't do it. After a week or so it cleared. In the meantime Lindsay had done a bunch of research.
Ever hear of SIPE? Me neither, but by all accounts I fit the bill. SIPE stands for Swimming Induced Pulmonary Edema. The words pulmonary edema are usually associated with some very serious issues, so I was scared. In short, pulmonary edema occurs when the blood pressure inside the pulmonary capillaries (think tiny blood vessels in lungs) exceeds the ability of the capillaries to contain that pressure. Whamo, the blood appears in the airways where it is coughed up. Scary because this is usually related to heart failure. Well in SIPE, there are a number of factors that supposedly lead to this occurring. Cold water, water compression, tight wetsuits, and being heavily hydrated. Now remember, that Lindsay was doing the research and thus found this info. We had some discussions and wondered if my quest to become an Ironman were over......but we decided to start reducing these risks by changing some of the items we could control. I bought another wetsuit, one that was quite a bit larger. Also the water temperatures were beginning to warm in the area. Whether the issue was one, or both of these items we still do not know, but at least I was clear of the SIPE. I guess cold-water swimming in 2014 will be the deciding factor.
Lindsay took a video of me swimming in Spring Meadow Lake that day, but unfortunately the free version of this blog doesn't post videos, so you get to see a picture of me in my new wetsuit instead!
Anyway, I told my Mom I knew how to swim. I was certain of it. She then in turn informed the swim instructor (probably with a big smile on her face and a wink to the instructor indicating that I was full of it) that I knew how to swim. The swim instructor said, "Great, Peter why don't you jump in and show us your swimming skills" or something along those lines as I don't have a clear memory of the event. Regardless, without a shred of fear I launched myself into the pool. From my Mother's point of view, her youngest son jumped into the pool and sank to the bottom, looking face up through the water. She said my eyes grew to the size of saucers but there I lay on the bottom of the pool looking up. What seemed like an eternity later, the instructor reached down and pulled me out of the water, and promptly informed me that I would need some refinement to my swimming style.
Returning to 2013, I am not a good swimmer. The good news is that this leaves me lots of room for improvement.....right?!!! Well in the spring of 2013 I started swimming at the gym. I made it 25 yards and thought I was going to die. Then I made it to 50 yards, and was certain that if I didn't die by drowning I would by ingestion of chlorinated water. Somewhere around 200 yards I had enough. I kept at it, but it was a slow and torturous journey. The first test of my swimming was the Queen City Triathlon in Helena around June 1st. The QCT is a sprint tri with a 1,000 yard swim. Prior to the event, I had never strung together 1,000 yards so I was nervous. I had self seeded at 30 minutes when I signed up a couple months prior. I knew I could beat 30 minutes, but I had no idea by how much. Well I clocked a 20:17 which I was completely excited about. Anyone could learn how to swim fast (HA HA). Anyway, I digress, this post is about Open Water Swimming not learning how to swim.
Shortly after the QCT I decided it was time to get a wetsuit and start learning to swim in open water. I decided to get a farmer john (sleeveless) wetsuit. The problem here is that I have an unusual body shape where nothing ever fits. I bought the wetsuit by height, and should have bought one or two sizes larger. When the wetsuit arrived I tried it on in the house and it was snug, but wearable so off to the lake (Spring Meadow) we went! Lindsay tagged along and we brought her kayak so she could paddle along and watch me swim. With Lindsay's help we managed to get the wetsuit on, her kayak launched, and off to the swim. The first 5-10 minutes of the swim went well, except for maybe the water temperature. I felt that cold hyperventilation feeling when I first got in and while it mostly went away, it didn't completely go away. But anyway, the first 5-10 minutes went well. Somewhere around 10 minutes I stopped to get my bearings and check in with Lindsay. What surprised me was that I didn't feel like I could catch my breath. Oh well, off I went. After another 5 or so minutes I pulled up....man I was short of breath. And boy that wetsuit was starting to feel a little tight. And I was starting to cough up a bunch of phlegm. Weird, but oh well, keep swimming. Well after another 1 or 2 attempts of 1 or 2 minutes each I realized something was wrong and I was DONE! I had Lindsay pull me back to shore. I thought maybe I was getting a cold or something, and maybe the wetsuit was just a "little" too tight. After we returned to shore, hauled up the boat, and changed out of my wetsuit I started to notice my phlegm that I was coughing up had a slight pink color to it. Hmmmm. Something wasn't right. For the next several days I was coughing and felt horrible, I tried running but couldn't do it. After a week or so it cleared. In the meantime Lindsay had done a bunch of research.
Ever hear of SIPE? Me neither, but by all accounts I fit the bill. SIPE stands for Swimming Induced Pulmonary Edema. The words pulmonary edema are usually associated with some very serious issues, so I was scared. In short, pulmonary edema occurs when the blood pressure inside the pulmonary capillaries (think tiny blood vessels in lungs) exceeds the ability of the capillaries to contain that pressure. Whamo, the blood appears in the airways where it is coughed up. Scary because this is usually related to heart failure. Well in SIPE, there are a number of factors that supposedly lead to this occurring. Cold water, water compression, tight wetsuits, and being heavily hydrated. Now remember, that Lindsay was doing the research and thus found this info. We had some discussions and wondered if my quest to become an Ironman were over......but we decided to start reducing these risks by changing some of the items we could control. I bought another wetsuit, one that was quite a bit larger. Also the water temperatures were beginning to warm in the area. Whether the issue was one, or both of these items we still do not know, but at least I was clear of the SIPE. I guess cold-water swimming in 2014 will be the deciding factor.
Lindsay took a video of me swimming in Spring Meadow Lake that day, but unfortunately the free version of this blog doesn't post videos, so you get to see a picture of me in my new wetsuit instead!