Angie Swims

On October 11th at 9:30 a.m. I began my 6-hour sub-60° Fahrenheit English Channel qualifier at Sellwood Park on the banks of the Willamette river. The day before I checked the conditions at the English Channel finding the weather better, the water and air warmer.  I had not prepared all my feeds in advance so that there was a little to do that morning. I used oat milk, oat milk with espresso, cluster dextrin with maple syrup and electrolytes, and Tailwind for my feeds. Amanda came over and helped me with my feeds before taking me to Sellwood, I would definitely have been late to the start without her. A note on the feeds: Of all the feeds the cluster dextrin was the least irritating to my stomach and then the oat milk. The oat milk with coffee did not settle so well but stayed down. (You might be wondering why I'm adding this part in, if you have read this blog for any kind of time you know that I frequently do not keep my feeds down.) I did have...

Standing on the beach at Broughton at 6:15 sun is already well above the horizon and the Delta jets overhead are flying north west, probably to Seattle. Yesterday was the first hot day of the season, it reached 85 here in the afternoon. the beach is evidenced to the late afternoon andrr rr evening revellers. Like every year, I simultaneously look forward to and dread warmer water and warmer weather. The return of warmer conditions means more dumped/left trash on the beach, clogged toilets at the boat ramp, and likely higher bacterial counts in the water. This morning while picking up trash I found Santa Barbara on the beach among an odd sacrament of shot glasses and discarded clothing. (Turns out she is the patron saint of armourers, mathematicians, and the Italian Navy, I'd like to think there were a bunch of hot Italians on the beach last night, but unlikely. She was gracious enough to hang out overnight and bless our swim this morning.)  At this point I do not have any ...

This morning was a special morning. It is the morning I realized I am sincerely looking forward to in a kappa and the English Channel.  This morning I got up in Astoria Oregon, went downstairs to the continental breakfast of the Holiday inn, got a cup of coffee, and some standard hotel continental breakfast items. I went back upstairs change into my swimsuit, grabbed my accoutrements, and headed back to the hotel lobby. There was a group of folk having breakfast at the table by the door leading to the Riverwalk and the small sandy beach I was planning to swim from. I asked if they could let me back in when I'm done with my swim. They double checked that I met swimming in the river, yes, I didn't fact mean swimming in the river, and then agreed to let me back in the building. I walked down to the small beach, stripped out of my clothes, folded my towel poncho, and arranged my needed items for my post to swim routine. If you have ever swam with me you know how elabora...

It's taking me a long time to start writing, or even think about writing this post. I didn't post all summer while I was training for Catalina Channel, but hopefully this will make up for it. I'm sitting in my car after a brief swim at Broughton Beach following a mediocre to typical day working as an occupational therapist in home health. As I was swimming into shore just now I realized the things that used to frighten me about open water are now the things that excite me. The weeds at Broughton have grown from a few interspersed plants to a virtual forest of underwater plants. The weeds used to terrify me I joked that they were Ursula's garden because the joking made them less intimidating. I would scream and kick and swim as fast as I could to get away from them or through them. Now, I flip over on my back hold my buoy and lazily kick through them sometimes I even giggle because they tickle a little bit when you go through slowly and they don...

The start of 2024 marks the start of training, and planning, for Catalina Channel- both of which are epic feats in themselves and happen before I hit the water in Doctor's Cove. In talking to folks over the years people are always wowed by the swimming part, but really it's the planning and the crew that are most impressive. So, on my journey to Doctor's Cove, I'm going to bring the whole Internet along for the ride, well maybe not the WHOLE INTERNET just the handful of folks that read my blog. To start things out, this is my spreadsheet: Catalina Training  Yeah, it's a training plan/tracker and you can follow along with what I actually do to get ready for the swim. I'm working on a Spotify playlist too, if you have recommendations for pump-up songs- put them in the comments! This past November I attended Swim Camp Catalina for my birthday and got to know the water there a little bit. I swam with bioluminescence for the first time, a truly mesmerizing experien...

Mid channel to Alcatraz  Round Trip Angel Island (RTAI) A month ago now I was walking out of the water (at about the time I'm starting this post) after swimming 7 hours 50 minutes and 9 seconds in the San Francisco Bay. The course was the famous  Round Trip Angel Island , one of the  Toughest Thirteen  according to MSF. Leading up to this swim I was a nervous wreck. This past summer was especially tough. After a successful, but painful,  Portland Bridge Swim  I had to cancel my planned  Three Islands Waldo Lake  route to focus on stroke work with  Intrepid Water  (more later in this post on my work with Shannon at Intrepid Water) and shoulder recovery. I felt undertrained and like I was still mending when my feet hit the water in Aquatic Park at 3AM on September 23. For all those feelings of trepidation, I made it through- in large part to my crew: Sue Phillips, Wendy "Pepper", Vicky Miller, and Sumner Williams; piloted by Tom "Reptile" ...

Well, here we are again. It's the start of another summer swim season the Columbia River hit 50° this morning, so I suppose Cold water swimming is now over. As if a good testament to this statement, I swam for half an hour wanted to stay in but realized I had to get out to go to work. I'm sitting in my car rewarming and it occurs to me that when I started this Open water Swim journey almost 8 years ago I never would have thought that a half hour swim at 50°F would feel easy. but, here I am wishing I'd gotten up just a little bit earlier so I can spend more time in the water this morning. It's supposed to be my rest week. see how good that is turning out? I'm already plotting another swim on Friday morning and getting here even earlier. It's just so lovely when the day is new and fresh and I haven't logged on to my work computer yet to see how many patients I have for the day. it's a neat feeling. This morning we saw a first at the beach, a go...

Today was a special/exciting/anxious/marvelous day. It started at 5:30 in the morning when Tater Tot woke me up for breakfast. I had hoped to sleep I'm until 6 on my national board certification exam day, but no luck. Instead I had an early cup of coffee and watched the last of the rain before leaving for the testing center. It was an uneventful drive and an uneventful test. Hard, yes, but doing hard things is something I do voluntarily on a regular basis. Was it harder than an ice swim or a marathon swim, absolutely! Did I walk out with confidence, maybe a little bit. We'll see in a week of I passed, but overall I feel about as good about it as I did any of my practice tests.  After the exam I grabbed a cup of coffee (okay, an almond milk latte - I felt like I deserved a treat!) and headed to Sellwood to meet up with some Yetis and Cold Huggers for a post boards swim. As expected, it was fantastic and revitalizing. Walking out of the exam I felt exhausted,but after...

Fall swimming is in the air in Portland, but not in the Gorge!  The past two weekends I've made the short trek out to Hood River to swim 5 miles from Mosher to the Best Western in Hood River. It is such a gorgeous swim and the water remains a balmy 68 Fahrenheit while the rivers in Portland continue to cool down to the mid to low 60s.  On both weekends there was a moderate current assist, but the locals insisted "there's not any current right now."  Well, I know my 500 m splits and sub-7 minutes is not  my usual pace in open water. Regardless, the water and scenery are lovely and the company wasn't bad either 😉. The first weekend was a bit rough for me, I hadn't been sleeping well and was feeling burned out from studying. The swim was fine  the scenery was beautiful, but I was tired before I got in and so it was less enjoyable than a swim in the Gorge usually is. BUT! Week 2, wow. It was GREAT. I was better rested, Sue from Corvallis joined us, Brianna came, ...

Golly. I can't believe it was one month ago today that I was in the Willamette for 13 hours and 45 minutes. Whenever I reflect back on that day I am humbled and filled with joy for all the love and support I had on my 25 mile journey down the lower Willamette River.  This morning I went for a swim at Broughton Beach. The conditions were perfect and I smiled the whole time. It reminded me so much of that Saturday a month ago where, at one point I looked around at my friends who were providing paddle support, giggled and shouted, "I feel so loved!"  And the past month, I have completed my first MSF swim (soon to be ratified), presented My capstone research and project, graduated from a 3-year occupational therapy doctorate program, and completed (well...nearly completed, my last day is tomorrow) my final clinical rotation. Needless to say it's been a bit of a hectic month, but I'm still looking towards the future. I'm struggli...

 Wow. The Lower Willamette Swim #2 is fastly approaching. I can't believe it. What I also can't believe is how much swimming I've done since my last post! I've swum 268,704 yards since May 4. Lolz. No wonder I'm tired.  My weeks have been slammed with grad school too- I graduate on August 13th with a professional level doctorate in occupational therapy, an OTD. I'm currently finishing my final fieldwork in home health and can't wait to become a full-time practitioner. Speaking of... I'm off to a client's home now!  See you on the water July 23, 2022! 

 Hello. My name is Angie, and I'm a pool swimmer. (((sobs into her goggles))) I miss the open water so much. I miss gliding unassisted through the water and feeling the pinpricks on my skin as the water creeps over my body as I begin a swim. I miss the way it feels when cold water hits my neck and my body heaves a sigh of relief. I want so badly to feel comfortable in the water, but I just don't. I'm not sure what's going on. Part of me is afraid that I'll move funny and tweak my shoulder or that I'll twist my head awkwardly when I breathe and strain my neck again. I swam at Broughton last Friday with fins and it felt fine, except I couldn't sight straight ahead. Every time I went to lift my head my neck cramped up. I ran into the shore for the first time in years. I used to pride myself on swimming in perfectly straight lines no matter where I was. Now, all I can do competently is chase a black line on the bottom of a pool. I keep reminding myself that I ca...

 The pool is treating me well these days with minimal shoulder discomfort, but it's literally being a pain in my neck. I've started swimming less with my fins but the dork snork continues to be a fixture in my workouts. Not that I can complain, it sure beats not getting in the water! Plus, I'm finally getting some 3-mile pool swims in and my distance is ramping up smoothly. Next week is my first 10-mile training week since December. Honestly, I'm a little nervous. Last week was only 16,000 scy and I was beat by Friday morning, but then again I crammed it all into four consecutive days because I had a date yesterday (Saturday) with the ocean and FREEDIVING!  Omg. My new love. It's the perfect compliment to my intense OTD capstone weeks and training in the pool. I feel like a real mermaid when I slip below the surface and race toward the bottom (or a target). So far I'm hitting 20m (66 feet) pretty consistently and comfortably, and 10-15m dives feel pe...

  I'm baaaacccck! In the concrete box, otherwise known as the pool. And, just this morning was cleared by my PT for fieldwork and to get back to swimming more. My shoulder is feeling really good after 8100 scy this week, so I'm hopeful that everything will continue to get better and better. I've got a great acupuncturist at Inner Gate Health & Wellness and just started working with a fantastic massage therapist doing myofascial work at  Therapeutic Associates North Portland Physical Therapy (PACE) . I'm continuing to work on flexibility and strength on my own and really feel positive about what I've got going on. I am so excited to carry on with OT school and begin training for this year's Lower Willamette Swim. After some discussion about tides, water temperature, and boat availability I've landed on July 30, 2022.  This weekend and in the coming weeks I'll be working on the documents for MSF and reaching out to potential fundraising partners (wh...

The 2021/2022 morning Yeti crew (minus Matthew) Photo: Susanne Kicking on my back as the sun comes up. Like so many things, the hardest part of ice swimming is getting in. Interestingly, it's not getting out of bed or getting to the water, but literally putting one foot in front of the other until I'm in.  The second hardest part is getting out. Once I'm in and floating on my back, it's like the world disappears and (especially in the dark or during sunrise) I exist only as a small speck in the universe floating in harmony with the world around me, its so cold that my body seems to disappear and everything becomes peaceful and simple. It's centering and meditative. I casually notice small changes in how my body is feeling, I notice them, check if it's normal, and then put it out of my mind. If only I could cultivate this process with thoughts and emotions I would be well on my way to solid meditation practice.  Frosty morning. Frozen bottoms! (Photo: Matthew) Tw...

Pinholes, cracks, abrasions. They're unavoidable and death for swim buoys. Fortunately, they can be patched and stretch out the life of the buoy.  Unfortunately, some holes are harder than others to successfully patch. To illustrate I have patched three different buoys of different construction with holes in different places. I'll follow up at the end and report which buoys are doing the best one month after being patched.  You will need the following things to begin.  1. Dish soap & bathtub or bucket full of water. 2. Rubbing alcohol.  3. Duct tape or masking tape.  4. Aquaseal brand wetsuit cement (Try others, but this is the brand I've used for years to repair gear. It can be purchased at REI, Wal-Mart, or most marine supply stores.) 5. Something to spread it with (I frequently will use cardboard and cut it into scrapers) paper towels.  6. Patience. 7. More patience.  8. If you're messy like me: Craft gloves. Aquaseal gets everywhere and does ...