A few years ago, we ended the summer, and I realised I hadn’t swum in the ocean once. Admittedly, we hadn’t had the warmest summer, but there were some days that I could have gone to the beach but didn’t. Most of that was just laziness and forgetting how refreshing it can be to swim in the sea. The following year, I committed myself to swim at least five times in the ocean in 2023, which I did despite the coolish summer. When making my 101 Things list, I included swimming in a beach, river or lake fifteen times. I want to make sure I make room in my life that might feel like more effort at the moment but make my life richer.
This is not an extreme challenge by any measure. I am not one of the hardy icebergers who swim in the ocean all year round. My criteria is that once the temperature gets over 30C, if it is at all possible, I’ll swim in a body of open water. If my daughter isn’t busy and is around, she will often come with me because she enjoys the beach, too. Today, it was 34C with a strong, northerly wind, so while blustery, it was pretty warm on the beach. The hoards had come to Elwood to enjoy the day, but there were plenty of patches of sand to choose from. It was a bit of a shock getting in since it’s not summer yet, and the water temperature was only 17.9C. Since we only live 500 m from the water, plus another 500 m walk to the sandy beach, we don’t need to stay long to make it worth the effort. Today, we got there, dropped our stuff, hopped in the water and swam around, sat on the beach for a while, and then went for another quick dip before heading home.
If you live near the beach, do you swim often? Do you have something that feels like a bit of an effort to start with, but is always worth it once you are there?
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