Angie Swims

Who would have thought that a beach would be crowded at 6pm on a weekday in the summer when it's 92 out? Apparently not me. It's strange how certain locations get ingrained in certain contexts in our minds. I was thoroughly expecting the beach would be empty except for a few dogs chasing ball in the water.  I have never seen so many people there or smelled so much grilling in one place before! Apparently, what we lovingly refer to as "Yeti Beach" is just a regular old beach in the summer. While crowds of people enjoying the sunshine and water would usually make my day, with coronavirus cases in Oregon still rising the scene made me distinctly uneasy. I long for the days when I can meet up with a stranger at a swim spot and say the four magic words: Come swim with me. Heck, at this point I look forward to swimming at all. Still, a week and a half until its a good idea to try swimming again. Until then, more water walking and biking. Oh, and scho

Well folks, it finally happened. Governor Kate Brown has moved Multnomah County into Phase 1 of reopening as of Friday. For some people in Portland the 'reopening' of the city was the only thing they celebrated, but June 19th, Juneteenth is so much more (click for link to YouTube video by NextGen America)   Since this is primarily a swimming blog, I won't go into that much about Black Lives Matter... but this is quite possibly the most important thing going on in our country right now and swimmers have a place in the history of excluding of black people from our sport, and that needs to change. I know, I know. You and me, it's not directly our fault that swimming is a predominantly white sport, but it is our fault if we are okay with that continuing. We need to work to include all people in the swim, especially Black people and people of color. Be open, invite friends of friends to join you for a swim. If you're qualified, volunteer to teach swimming in areas that