I LOVE OWS
YOUR STORIES
Every issue we ask you to tell us why you love open water swimming. Here Mat hew Dawson describes how swimming makes him feel he has special powers
When I was growing up, I wanted to be a
superhero. Didn’t everyone? My reasons may have been as noble as wanting to save people, to defend truth, justice and all that malarkey, but a part of me also wanted to stand out from the crowd and be able to do something that other people could not do.
Now, open water swimmers don’t wear anywhere near as much lycra as
superheroes (or triathletes for that mat er), but we are a tough bunch. We stand out from the crowd, doing things that superheroes do. We bat le the elements head on, oſt en jumping into water colder than most would consider drinking. We swim through smacks of jellyfi sh, brushing off the stings as nothing more than a minor irritation. We regularly face discomfort and pain in the name of our sport.
I NO LONGER SEE LAKES AND OCEANS AS BARRIERS BUT AS OPPORTUNITIES TO CHALLENGE MYSELF
The looks of disbelief on the faces of dog walkers and joggers in London’s Hyde Park in the early morning, as our costume-clad group submerge ourselves in the cold, duck-poo-rich waters, makes me liſt my chin and puff out my chest with pride. Walking around the offi ce aſt er having done an early morning swim on a cold, dark morning, I feel like I am hiding a secret, that I have done something that most people would not even consider doing. The warm glow of satisfaction (once the shivers have subsided) stays with me all day, even as I bat le the most mundane of tasks. Swimming up and down the black line of a swimming pool has its place in training, but there is no substitute for swimming in the open water. Goggles and trunks go everywhere with me – not quite a cape stuff ed into my trousers, but I am ready to duck behind a rock or a tree to perform a quick change at the fi rst sight of an enticing body
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of water. If the refl ection of the sun is shimmering on the surface of the water, the urge to swim becomes almost a physical need. As I have become more confi dent in my ability to swim in a
variety of open water environments, I look at maps of the world and no longer see lakes and oceans as barriers. Instead I see an opportunity to challenge myself, to test my powers of catch, pull and kick. Swimming in the open water allows me to develop my senses and gives me a closeness with nature that I rarely feel, living in the concrete jungle of one of the world’s largest cities. The feeling and taste of non-chlorinated water inspires me as much as the beauty of the surrounding environment, to push harder when the current picks up or the rain thumps down from the heavens. I may not have fulfi lled my dream of becoming a superhero (yet), but open water swimming has given me an array of unique abilities, an immune system that would make Superman proud, the ability to withstand extreme cold and the chance to fl y like a bird when the current is with me. ○
SPONSORED BY:
Tell us why you OWS and win a blueseventy
transition/wetsuit bag worth £65. Send 600 words and a photo of
yourself to
info@h2openmagazine.com
(or buy a bag at
blueseventy.com using the off er code h2openbag and save 30%)
THE WORLD IS SWIMMING FASTER IN BLUESEVENTY
Reader Mat hew Dawson recently hung up his spandex Tri-suit to focus on marathon swimming, with an English Channel at empt booked for 2013. See swimmingthechannel2013.
blogspot.com to follow his progress.
Illustration © Emily Davies 2011
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