Dazzled in Magical Realism

I feel like I’ve been in a bad mood all summer. Which means fall should be a relief, but right now I am just dreading the amount of work I need to do and the even bigger tidal wave of work that’s about to crash all over me. Blaaah.

That said, it’s been an exceptional summer. Not even going to attempt to write about everything but a highlight was the second annual Winter Swimming Festival in Argentina. A was invited this year which was so nice. We started out in Buenos Aires with a relay across the Rio de la Plata, something like 50 swimmers from 12 different countries. It was a long day, and we didn’t swim that much, but we had a ton of fun on the boat. Lots of press conferences, lots of social events, and then we headed down to Patagonia to swim at Perito Moreno glacier in El Calafate. So special. This year they had actually set up a floating pool at the foot of the glacier, which was amazing.

The events were all short distances - 25, 50, and 100 freestyle, no breaststroke, and then an “endurance” swim of either 1 or 2 laps of 250 meters. I got to watch A’s first two races and he did great. Then it was my turn and I won the 25 and 50 for women outright, then completely muffed my last turn on the 100 and came in third overall for that event. I want to say what can you do but I was (and am) so mad at myself. For the “endurance swim” it was not a competitive event so I swam one lap stroke by stroke with A, just enjoying the water and the views of the glacier. It was such a special moment to share with him. After the glacier swims we had a celebratory dinner and one last night in Calafate. The mood was wild, we all danced on stage and had a great time. The next day we flew back to BA and had one last night there before saying goodbye to our friends, until next time at least.

After Argentina I had two weeks of work and normality, during which I ate lots of oreos and drank lots of rose with the goal of gaining 12 pounds of insulation for an upcoming swim. I turned 36 which was pretty uneventful and then did the annual Rose swim, a 17 miler with the current from NYC to Coney Island. We used this event to test a new cycle for feeds with protein every 4 hours. It seemed to work well, and the swim was a lot of fun as always. A few days later we flew to Geneva Switzerland for my biggest swim of the year, and longest ever.

I was crazy with nerves and could barely function in the days leading up to the swim. The first few days we were there were rainy but the weather was looking to clear up Tuesday and swim slated for Wednesday. Time went so slowly and then suddenly it was time. After a sleepless night in which we got only 1 or 2 hours of sleep (I was afraid to look at the clock) we took the train from Geneva to Villenueve, all the way at the far tip of the lake over on the French side. We had water views nearly all the way, and the lake was just stunning.

We got in a bit early so we had a coffee and waited for the boat to pick us up. Boat was late but then it was there, I met everyone, got sunscreened up, and we headed to Castle Crillon for the start. The Castle was just incredible, so scenic, and once again I was following in the steps of Lord Byron, but also Mary Shelley, Victor Hugo, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Stepped off the boat, swam to shore, and started the swim. It was going to be a long one. I knew I would see a full day, a full night, and then most of another day before I saw Geneva again. But the water was so clear and beautiful and the scenery truly epic. Barely a cloud in the sky.

Mountains and vineyards and castles all along the way. About a third of the way into the swim I passed Evian les Bains, the town reknowned for its healing waters, and home of Evian mineral waters. Truly magical. To be really honest, around the three hour mark I started getting really sick. I knew it was likely that I’d have some stomach troubles but didn’t anticipate that early. From that point on and for the rest of the swim, I was sick 1-3 times every half hour between feeds. So gross, I was in this crystal clear water constantly spewing biohazardous material. I also started feeling cold around the same point, and started to constantly monitor myself. I was uncomfortable but not hypothermic, so I kept going.

My eyes were delighted but I felt sick and horrible. The moon rose, then the sun set and everything was beautiful. Usually I love swimming at night, but I was worried about the cold. The moon was amazing though. The association posted updates on my swim and the team read me some of the lovely messages coming through which really buoyed my spirits.

A couple of hours before sunrise the moon set which gave center stage to what seemed like millions of bright stars. So lovely. I was still so uncomfortable but I promised myself I would see how I felt when the sun came up, after about 24 hours of swimming. I had hoped the sun would come up shortly after the moon set, but it was about 2 hours lit only by stars before the sky got pink and the sun started to come out.

Once the sun rose I still felt fairly horrible, but it was just discomfort, so I kept going. Around 8am my Swiss friend Alfred I met in Antarctica came by in his kayak to say hello, and that was a very welcome distraction. More of the same until a bit after noon, when we were entering the Petit Lac and the wind picked up. This was mentally tough, because I started to feel like I wasn’t making progress. In retrospect the waves weren’t very high but after 30 hours of swimming I felt like I was battling a washing machine. I could see the familiar Jet D’Eau but knew I was still very far away.

At this point I was sobbing in the water (I get like this in the last 10% of pretty much every long swim, so it was to be expected.) We were dodging boats and I could see the Jet and the Lighthouse but they weren’t getting any closer. I hated everything and everyone. I had a last feed of Coca-Cola this time, then A got in the water with me. We swam for what seemed like forever, until we finally hit the Bains des Paquis. I thought I could walk out onto a sandy beach like in the bathing area, but instead I had to scramble up onto these huge mossy boulders before getting to shallow waters of a pebbly beach.

They’d made an announcement on the loudspeaker and a huge crowd of strangers and several photographers greeted me. I was kind of freaked out until I saw some familiar faces. My Swiss friends were onshore, waiting for me! Here is a photo of the exact moment I realized they were there!

I was a little shakey but was so happy to see them. The photographers took some pictures and I answered a bunch of questions about the swim. 69 kilometers in the bag, almost 33 hours of swimming, first female and first American (only other person to do the swim was a male Swiss olympian almost 30 years ago.)

After a bit I needed to sit down, I was shaking from exposure. A went to get our stuff from the boat, then we walked back to the hotel. I took a shower and A helped me scrub all the zinc off. I got dried off and he rubbed apres-sun lotion all over me while we drank red wine and ate some baguette and cheese. He went to sleep and I stayed up on Facebook looking at all the wonderful posts and messages people had sent. The next day we slept in, I did a phone interview (in French, argh) and went out for beers with Ben, one of the organizers. We sat in front of the water and reflected on the day.

Walked around until it got dark and enjoyed the full moon over the lake. The next day we got up nice and early to meet a few local swimming friends at the Bain des Pacquis for a social swim. It was soooo nice. After the swim we went for tartines with nutella and jam and coffee and fruit overlooking the water. Amazing.

Took a nap and then got ready for our Swiss friends (the ones we’d met in Antarctica running the marathon) to take us out for the day. We met them around 4pm at our hotel, they picked us up and we drove up the mountain for a trip up a huge sheer rockface in these crazy telecabines, called the Telepherique Saleve that went straight up the cliff!

It was terrifying and awesome! After we got to the top we hiked up a bit more to get a better view of Mont Blanc. Walked back down, took the telecabines back down, then drove to Alfred’s house in Hermance. We had aperol spritzes next to his pool, and then they presented us with some gifts, including swiss chocolate, a book about Lac Leman, some gag gifts, and a laminated certificate with tons of photos commemorating my swim. It was seriously the most thoughtful and touching thing ever. Then we went to dinner right by the water and had a really amazing meal. They drove us home and I was so sincerely touched by their kindness and generosity.

The next day we had one last swim with my local swimmer friends, then headed to the airport. Flight went smoothly and we arrived home Monday night. Tuesday we went into the office, and I did bootcamp and yoga after work, then had sushi for dinner.

Yesterday was Wednesday and I went in to the office, but left a bit early to meet a friend up at Central Park for this wild yoga event on the great lawn. 10,000 people, mostly women, everyone in white with orange gift bags and yoga mats. It was a sight to see!

After that we had thai food at Galanga and walked home.

“Still, what I want in my life is to be willing to be dazzled—to cast aside the weight of facts and maybe even to float a little above this difficult world. ”
― Mary Oliver

Last updated September 03, 2015