Angie Swims

Post "swim" bliss last Sunday. It's been six weeks since my rotator cuff injury (more on that below) and my recovery is going well. Still not cold swimming but got the go ahead to try some light breaststroke and freestyle in the pool. For now, I'm pretty happy floating on my back in the Columbia. Water temp going between 36-38 f. So, not staying in as long as I would like, especially since I'm not moving much, but pretty happy none the less. It hurts to not be in my final fieldwork/clinical for my OTD, but everything happens for a reason. Maybe there's a bigger purpose to the timing of my injury. Don't fret though! I'm still planning to swim another 24.5 mile Lower Willamette this summer, this time jumping through all the hoops for MSF. I've done a few swims in the pool using fins to push me through the water and, as best I can, passively moving my arm through the catch phase. It's really hard. I am constantly catching myslef (ba d...

It is so great to be back home! And by home, I mean the Columbia River. Right now the Columbia at Broughton Beach is 47°. My first swim back was 48 a solid four to five degree drop from my last swim at Turner Lake. I forgot how much I love the 40s. Somehow it's easier to get going than in the fifties where I just want to stand on the beach and winge about feeling cold. In the 40s, there's no time for that I just have to get right on into the swimming. I love how freeing the cold water is I can have all the worries in the world and ironically they melt away in the icy water. The day before Thanksgiving a group of Yetis and friends gathered at Broughton and shared a lovely swim. It was almost like pre-covid times but not quite. We're still not back to huddling on the beach under blankets and sharing beverages. Sadly I don't know if we'll ever go back to those practices. I will always look back on them with love and fondness and keep...

It's my last day in Salem for my first level 2 fieldwork. It's also my last morning swim at Turner Lake. Appropriately, it is pitch black raining and windy. Both of my thermometers aren't working right now so my best guess is the water is somewhere right around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Maybe a little warmer than 50 maybe a little cooler than 50 not really sure. Lovely swim to end on. 20minutes and some shivers in the parking lot.  It has been a true pleasure getting to swim with new friends and a new place for the last 3 months. Thank you Susan, Sue, and Marlis for coming out and swimming with me in the dark and the rain as it got colder and colder. Much love and gratitude to the Turner Lake Swimmers.

It's Halloween. The last day of October and what felt like the first Yeti swim of the season. It's not so much that the water was very cold (it was a balmy 53° f) but it was windy and bouncy.The water was crisp and the wind chilling but after the first 5 minutes all of it felt like heaven. The water there even when cold feels like a massage. Once my neck is in I feel my whole body relax. I know this is opposite of what most people feel when they get into colder water but for me my body seems to say, "Oh we remember this. This is lovely you're going to feel great." There's something particularly special about Broughton Beach and swimming in the morning. It feels like going home after months away even if it's only been two weeks. There's a level of comfort, satisfaction, and acceptance I feel there that I have felt only kayaking on the Middle White Salmon. It was great great swim great familiar feelings of being cold and my body reacting to ...

Theres a lake out there, I promise. It's 5:45 in the morning and I'm waiting for swim friends to join me in the pouring rain and dark. It's Tuesday of the 4th week of my first level 2 field work rotation as an occupational therapy student in Salem Oregon. I've made swimming here my morning ritual for the last month and missing a swim always makes my day at the hospital a little off. I checked my messages at 5:51 no one is coming.  I guess at this point I spend more time swimming alone in conditions I wouldn't recommend other people swim alone in. It's not that I think I'm a better or safer swimmer than others, it's that my soul feels claustrophobic the rest of the day when I don't get my gills wet in the morning. I'm  away from my tribe and rather than feeling lonely on my swims it feels right. Like the solitude of swimming even in a group of people is something that's hard to explain. You're never truly with anyone else in th...

Howdy! It's been a minute...and about 193,463m (but who's counting??) since I last updated the blog. I guess you could say I've been busy. Since June, I've completed my last semester of didactic coursework for my OTD, swam another personal Portland Bridge Swim, and made 4-mile morning swims a fixture in my week. I've also kinda sorta started training for and then talked myself into a 24.3-mile swim. Oops. It'll be on August 21st and aims to raise some $$ for Human Access Project and Black Swimming Initiative. More about that here: https://sites.google.com/view/angieswims-swim-a-thon2021 I've had the please of swimming with new friends and old over the last two months and logged more miles of smiles than I can count (Okay, that's a lie, I totally count every single one!) I'll fill in the highlights starting with the most recent. Tracy returned to the North West! I drove up to Seattle last Sunday and spent two days with her swimming at Alki. The wa...

One of the unexpected gifts of 2020 was the growing cold water community. The Pandemic Pod Yetis proudly share (socially distanced of course) Broughton beach with the Ballenas who have organized a fundraiser for Columbia Riverkeeper in March. In the end, the crew raised over $13,000! Just wanted to share that.  columbiariverkeeper.org Note: Totally thought I had already published this little ditty but, whoopsie! It's June 4th. 

                                                  I've been pretty absent these days, but do not fear! I'm still swimming, just for shorter periods of time. Saturday was my most recent swim. It was 3 minutes long. The water was 32F/0C. the air was 27F/-2.7C, windchill of -7.2C. Surprisingly the warm-up was totally fine and took no longer than my 15 minute swims at 38. I am always surprised (and comforted) by the resilience of the human body. Cold swimming is a reminder that I can handle more than I think I can on a daily basis. I mean, if my body can recover from a swim like that, it can handle the stress of grad school, clinical fieldwork during a pandemic, and relationship challenges. It's all good. Just got to trust more.  Usually, I wear a buoy but was a little concerned the buckle would freeze and I'd be stuck in a loop of icy we...

Occasionally, I get asked about my swim kit and rewarming practices. I've been pointing folks to www.loneswimmer.com for a while now, but hey, why not actually take the time and write up my own post? So here we go! (If you haven't checked out lone swimmer- do it now! Or after you finish here 😉) A note on the timing of this post: it is late January and the river is pretty chilly at this point, between 42-39, so these are the things and practices I use at ice swimming temperatures (below 41 F/5 C). I use most of these things on warmer swims too, but wanted to speak to the context of this post.  Additionally, I want to preface this by saying that everyone's physiology is different and it's taken me years of trial and error to figure out what works for my body in the conditions I swim in. Depending on the conditions and how my body feels I'll use different combinations of my gear. Things I take into consideration when packing for a swim include: the combined air and w...

Wow! Where to begin December is over and January is halfway through and the holidays have come and gone. This time of the year is always been the toughest for me. So many people find joy and comfort and the holidays and they always make me feel disconnected, mournful, and insufficient. For the last 3 years, cold water swimming is the one thing that gets me through the December/January seasonal depression I've battled since childhood. This year the pandemic has added an extra layer of stress and anxiety particularly in deciding who to socialize/swim with and who not to. It's hard to reconcile risk and the desires of one's heart to be near the people that matter. I am thankful for the Pandemic Pod and the swims we've had. I'll let the photos from the last month or so speak for themselves. ;) Getting in for my first ice km.  Starting at the beginning of December- I very nearly did a thing! I swam just over a km on December 3rd when the water temp was between 40.8 and 4...