Angie Swims

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...

                                                  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...

Cold water swimming is like hitting a hard reboot on my mindset. It must be instinctive, or biological, to have overwhelming feelings of peace and safety after coming out if mild hypothermia. But I feel like those feelings have as much to do with being outside with friends. Today it was sunny and windy, but no so windy as to cause the sand to sting my calves getting out of the water. From the map it looks like I went for a walk and dipped my toes in the river, but in fact the river was super high! Not only was it high tide, but we've been having king tides this winter and they seem to be making an impact on the Columbia. The water was super cloudy and at one point my wrist dragged across rocks that I'm only used to seeing several yards away from the water line. I didn't have my usual bottom landmarks to gauge distance off of, the tire and car door indicate 100ish yards and 300is yards from entry point respectively. Now that I'm thinking about it, it would be a real bumm...