Angie Swims

Today was a special/exciting/anxious/marvelous day. It started at 5:30 in the morning when Tater Tot woke me up for breakfast. I had hoped to sleep I'm until 6 on my national board certification exam day, but no luck. Instead I had an early cup of coffee and watched the last of the rain before leaving for the testing center. It was an uneventful drive and an uneventful test. Hard, yes, but doing hard things is something I do voluntarily on a regular basis. Was it harder than an ice swim or a marathon swim, absolutely! Did I walk out with confidence, maybe a little bit. We'll see in a week of I passed, but overall I feel about as good about it as I did any of my practice tests.  After the exam I grabbed a cup of coffee (okay, an almond milk latte - I felt like I deserved a treat!) and headed to Sellwood to meet up with some Yetis and Cold Huggers for a post boards swim. As expected, it was fantastic and revitalizing. Walking out of the exam I felt exhausted,but after...

Fall swimming is in the air in Portland, but not in the Gorge!  The past two weekends I've made the short trek out to Hood River to swim 5 miles from Mosher to the Best Western in Hood River. It is such a gorgeous swim and the water remains a balmy 68 Fahrenheit while the rivers in Portland continue to cool down to the mid to low 60s.  On both weekends there was a moderate current assist, but the locals insisted "there's not any current right now."  Well, I know my 500 m splits and sub-7 minutes is not  my usual pace in open water. Regardless, the water and scenery are lovely and the company wasn't bad either 😉. The first weekend was a bit rough for me, I hadn't been sleeping well and was feeling burned out from studying. The swim was fine  the scenery was beautiful, but I was tired before I got in and so it was less enjoyable than a swim in the Gorge usually is. BUT! Week 2, wow. It was GREAT. I was better rested, Sue from Corvallis joined us, Brianna came, ...

Golly. I can't believe it was one month ago today that I was in the Willamette for 13 hours and 45 minutes. Whenever I reflect back on that day I am humbled and filled with joy for all the love and support I had on my 25 mile journey down the lower Willamette River.  This morning I went for a swim at Broughton Beach. The conditions were perfect and I smiled the whole time. It reminded me so much of that Saturday a month ago where, at one point I looked around at my friends who were providing paddle support, giggled and shouted, "I feel so loved!"  And the past month, I have completed my first MSF swim (soon to be ratified), presented My capstone research and project, graduated from a 3-year occupational therapy doctorate program, and completed (well...nearly completed, my last day is tomorrow) my final clinical rotation. Needless to say it's been a bit of a hectic month, but I'm still looking towards the future. I'm struggli...

 Wow. The Lower Willamette Swim #2 is fastly approaching. I can't believe it. What I also can't believe is how much swimming I've done since my last post! I've swum 268,704 yards since May 4. Lolz. No wonder I'm tired.  My weeks have been slammed with grad school too- I graduate on August 13th with a professional level doctorate in occupational therapy, an OTD. I'm currently finishing my final fieldwork in home health and can't wait to become a full-time practitioner. Speaking of... I'm off to a client's home now!  See you on the water July 23, 2022! 

 Hello. My name is Angie, and I'm a pool swimmer. (((sobs into her goggles))) I miss the open water so much. I miss gliding unassisted through the water and feeling the pinpricks on my skin as the water creeps over my body as I begin a swim. I miss the way it feels when cold water hits my neck and my body heaves a sigh of relief. I want so badly to feel comfortable in the water, but I just don't. I'm not sure what's going on. Part of me is afraid that I'll move funny and tweak my shoulder or that I'll twist my head awkwardly when I breathe and strain my neck again. I swam at Broughton last Friday with fins and it felt fine, except I couldn't sight straight ahead. Every time I went to lift my head my neck cramped up. I ran into the shore for the first time in years. I used to pride myself on swimming in perfectly straight lines no matter where I was. Now, all I can do competently is chase a black line on the bottom of a pool. I keep reminding myself that I ca...

 The pool is treating me well these days with minimal shoulder discomfort, but it's literally being a pain in my neck. I've started swimming less with my fins but the dork snork continues to be a fixture in my workouts. Not that I can complain, it sure beats not getting in the water! Plus, I'm finally getting some 3-mile pool swims in and my distance is ramping up smoothly. Next week is my first 10-mile training week since December. Honestly, I'm a little nervous. Last week was only 16,000 scy and I was beat by Friday morning, but then again I crammed it all into four consecutive days because I had a date yesterday (Saturday) with the ocean and FREEDIVING!  Omg. My new love. It's the perfect compliment to my intense OTD capstone weeks and training in the pool. I feel like a real mermaid when I slip below the surface and race toward the bottom (or a target). So far I'm hitting 20m (66 feet) pretty consistently and comfortably, and 10-15m dives feel pe...

  I'm baaaacccck! In the concrete box, otherwise known as the pool. And, just this morning was cleared by my PT for fieldwork and to get back to swimming more. My shoulder is feeling really good after 8100 scy this week, so I'm hopeful that everything will continue to get better and better. I've got a great acupuncturist at Inner Gate Health & Wellness and just started working with a fantastic massage therapist doing myofascial work at  Therapeutic Associates North Portland Physical Therapy (PACE) . I'm continuing to work on flexibility and strength on my own and really feel positive about what I've got going on. I am so excited to carry on with OT school and begin training for this year's Lower Willamette Swim. After some discussion about tides, water temperature, and boat availability I've landed on July 30, 2022.  This weekend and in the coming weeks I'll be working on the documents for MSF and reaching out to potential fundraising partners (wh...

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...

Pinholes, cracks, abrasions. They're unavoidable and death for swim buoys. Fortunately, they can be patched and stretch out the life of the buoy.  Unfortunately, some holes are harder than others to successfully patch. To illustrate I have patched three different buoys of different construction with holes in different places. I'll follow up at the end and report which buoys are doing the best one month after being patched.  You will need the following things to begin.  1. Dish soap & bathtub or bucket full of water. 2. Rubbing alcohol.  3. Duct tape or masking tape.  4. Aquaseal brand wetsuit cement (Try others, but this is the brand I've used for years to repair gear. It can be purchased at REI, Wal-Mart, or most marine supply stores.) 5. Something to spread it with (I frequently will use cardboard and cut it into scrapers) paper towels.  6. Patience. 7. More patience.  8. If you're messy like me: Craft gloves. Aquaseal gets everywhere and does ...

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...