cold water swimming

6 Hour English Channel Qualifier: Shit Gets Real

Posted on by Aerin Bowers

On Saturday, June 8, I successfully completed my 6 hour English Channel Qualifier. This is a mandatory benchmark that all Channel swimmers must undertake within the year prior to their scheduled swim window. One must swim for 6 hours continuously in water that is no warmer than 16 degrees Celsius, wearing only a bathing suit, cap, and goggles (as per the Official CSA Rules), and have the swim witnessed and documented. I was lucky to have my coach Brent Hobbs, my friend Julian, and the phabulous Phred Martin accompany me on this beautiful day on Okanagan Lake, where the water hovered between 13 and 14 degrees throughout the 6.5 hours.

A prior attempt 2 weeks ago was aborted due to cryogenic conditions, where even the boats covered their testicles and refused to stay in the water. But at a balmy 14 degrees I covered around 17.5 km and, true to form, entertained my supporters and anyone watching from Cedar Creek Beach with some nice projectile vomiting. The sun was out, the lake gave some nice variable conditions to play with, and Brent even managed to catch some fish! This was the last and final hurdle of my Channel application process. Now all I’ve got to do is wait until September, and swim it!

In fact, I have now entered the phase where “shit gets real”. And it has gotten real, really fast! My weekly interval swims are increasing in intensity, and the weekend back to back long swims are getting longer and longer. It becomes more of a challenge to fit anything in other than work and swimming, and yet I’m conscious that I need to keep up my time in the gym as well as on the yoga mat. There are precious few hours for shenanigans, although I did go to Montreal to see my kid graduate from Concordia University with HONOURS (woot wooooooot), and I went to Austin, Texas for a conference and found time for a lovely swim at the Barton Springs Pool. This past weekend I swam with some new friends at Kalmalka Lake, which is one of the sites for this summer’s Across the Lake Swim Series. I suppose I have been up to a few shenanigans after all, but my focus is strong.

A dip at Barton Springs Pool in Austin, Texas

Next weekend I will fly to San Diego, CalifornIA to attempt the 18.5 km Around Coronado Swim, accompanied by none other than International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honor Coach, Dan Simonelli. This swim will be a great opportunity to experience ocean swimming at night (yes, in the dark), drink some salt water, and hopefully not meet any Pacific ocean marine-style underwater creatures. It’s the perfect distance for this stage of my training. I know it will be a bit emotional because of my family history with San Diego, which I wrote about here. Stay tuned for what is sure to be an adventure to rival any Catalina Wine Mixer. I can’t wait!

Want to help me raise $10,000? Not for me, silly, but for Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities. Jumpstart helps kids facing financial and accessibility barriers access sports and play. 100% of your donation goes directly to helping kids play. My fundraiser is now LIVE and you can read about it here.

Aerin stands on a beach after a swim

Everything Counts in Large Amounts

Posted on by Aerin Bowers

It’s a competitive world…..

Hear ye, hear ye! Here is my 2023 recap – my year in swimming. It feels weird to write this given the five incomplete posts waiting patiently in my draft folder, but that’s how this year has gone.

It wasn’t a banner year for swimming, but I did learn a lot about patience, resilience, and the importance of rest and recovery. My focus was challenged in so many ways – even more than when I’m training for a big event. I had surgery in November 2022, and despite the best-laid plans, recovery didn’t go as planned, and I wasn’t able to get in the water until February. Further complications affected most of my summer event plans and led to another surgery in mid-August. This recovery went much better, and by mid-September, I was back in the pool. I’ve trained hard until the third week in December and have been sidelined again with a nagging injury in my pec and neck. It rhymes, but that doesn’t make it funny. I’m throwing IMS, taping, massage, and everything else in the kitchen sink at it, but mostly rest.

The unscheduled swim breaks taught me much about myself and what counts to me. Sleep counts. Not drinking counts. Stretching counts. Rotator cuff exercises count. Sculling counts. Kicking counts. Yoga counts. Red blood cell counts count. Preparation counts. Laughing counts. Swimming friends count. My partner counts. Drills count. Half-finished blog posts count. Everything counts in large amounts.

Despite my many weeks of not swimming this year, there were highlights in the water that deserve mention:

  • Swimming Paradise’s event in the sparkling blue Tyrrhenian Sea in Gaeta, Italy. This 2-day event is part of the Italian Open Water Series. I did this swim in July with my niece Sara, which was the most fun ever, especially seeing her sprint out of the water and dash across the finish line ahead of a bunch of Speedo gods. So proud!
  • Swimming in Leipzig’s beautiful lakes with my Love, surrounded by carefree naked Germans frolicking in the grass.
  • Morning workouts at the pool at the Marlborough College during my work week in England. The generous aquatic staff let me come and train at 6 am every day for the second year in a row. A class act!
  • A workout in Bristol South Swimming Pool, a Neo-classical historic pool built in 1931.
  • Finishing the 7km Rattlesnake Island Swim 3 days before my second surgery. “Finishing” is the most appropriate word since I swam like a turd and was pretty disappointed in my results.
  • Starting Amy Ennion‘s training plan as prep for next year’s VERY BIG SWIM. This plan saw me ramp up and get significantly faster in the last 2.5 months, focusing on technique and efficiency. If I wasn’t in injury mode, I’d beat a shark in a 50 m race.
  • Cold water dips up at Gwillim Lakes in the high alpine during our late August camping trip in the Valhallas. You couldn’t keep me out of that glorious, icy alpine water.

Some photographic evidence of said highlights below, other pools and lakes I swam in in Rome, Oxfordshire, St. John’s, Kelowna, the Kootenays, and beloved swimming friends for good measure. You’ll have to reach out directly for German nudes.

2024 will be the year I turn 50.

2024 will be the year I will work with a charity to fundraise $10,000 to help families afford to put their kids in sports a little easier. Stay tuned.

2024 will be the year I swim all of the Across the Lake Swim events in the Okanagan (except the 2.1km ‘coz I’ll be across the pond for work). You should sign up too.

2024 will be my third year as a Hammer Nutrition Ambassador! HMU if you need fuel! (I also make cinnamon buns.)

2024 will be the year I attempt the English Channel (in September). More on that in posts to come, but everything that has counted this year will do double duty in the next. As I’m learning, much can happen in the meantime, and I can control only what I can control. I will share my training and preparation here on the Waterblog (maybe that’s what I should call this site?), and I’d be honoured if anyone wants to follow along, join me for a swim, paddle alongside, or send positive thoughts. It all counts!

Extra hugs and kudos to those who supported me this year: Debbie, Brent, Scott, Mum, Valerie, Sara, Kasie, Deanne, Harriet, Amy, Jaimie, Elaine, Martyn, Natalie, Julian, and Holger, who says, “You will do it” every day.

The Early Bird Catches the Towel

Posted on by Aerin Bowers

For the third weekend in a row, I’d intended to make the most of Canadian spring’s unpredictable gifts.

There’s always a little seasonal grief to contend with as the brown patches in the mountains get bigger. My backyard, which is giant, reveals the dogs’ healthy digestive artifacts. The front doesn’t catch as much sun, so a mini-glacier stubbornly holds out in the shade. Meanwhile, the local voles have been partying like drunken frat boys and I’m going to need a new cat, a gallon of grass seed, and the help of my pro-gardening neighbours to restore my front lawn to its former glory. A green thumb I am not. A clammy white bum though? Read on…

I’ve waited for the right moment to wax my skis and put them away until November. With such close proximity to the Rossland Range, I’ve been out to the cabins the last few weekends to enjoy the sunshine and variable spring conditions. The bears are definitely awake, which adds a little extra excitement to every ski, because you might become a human Lunchable or have to draw on your undeveloped jiujitsu skills. Last weekend we packed bear spray for our trips to Viewpoint Cabin and the Biathlon range at Blackjack. It’s really special to glide along under a 7:30 pm sunset, extending the day’s warm temperatures and fresh Kootenay air, and savouring the tangible fear of being eaten.

I was away for work in Chicago last week and planned for one last weekend of cross-country skiing out at Sovereign Lake, near Vernon. With 15 cm of fresh snow in the forecast, my companion and I couldn’t pass up a chance to prolong the winter season we dearly love.

Stunning views from Sovereign Lake Ski Area

Because soon – skiing makes way for swimming, and a return to focus on longer distance training for my summer races and events. Sights are high this year, and it’s time to ramp up.

The local lakes aren’t generally warm enough for swimming until late May at the earliest. And at this point, I’ve honestly been a bit bored in the pool, even with a monthly kilometre goal and boppy new playlists to motivate me.

I scoured my photos to find a record of my earliest lake swim – and found evidence of a May 3 dip in Champion Lakes in 2015.

Champion Lakes, May 3, 2015. Or it might have been 2014.

A beautiful and sunny Kelowna morning inspired a plan to hike and hang out at Bertram Creek Regional Park. Okanagan Lake is sparkly and inviting right now, especially with the anticipation of the 3 events I’ll do here later this summer.

Still, it’s April and I hadn’t even packed my bathing suit for the day. Because that’s just too early, right? The water must be 12 degrees MAX and we’d just skied yesterday. What kind of imbecile even considers the possibility?

Well, an ambitious and well-prepared German does, and before I blinked he was down to the world’s tiniest black Speedo (be still my heart) and in the water. His face looked happy (insert whatever bratwurst/Vienna sausage shrinkage joke you like here).

The temptation proved too much to handle and before I knew it I was in the lake, in my underwear, swimming out to a buoy. It was exhilarating, rejuvenating, and insane. In fact, it felt so great that I floated around near the shore for a good 5 minutes after returning from the buoy. But mostly because reality reminded me that I’d have to wade ashore in my underwear, and cross the beach to grab whatever dry clothes I could. Although I could lift a mid-sized Toyota, I’ve never been confident enough to strut my near-nakedness with pride. I still shower in my swimsuit at the pool (but have moved beyond this practice at home, thanks to the body-positivity movement).

Thankfully, the really well-prepared and thoughtful (and shrinky-dinked) German had packed me a nice big towel, because he knew I wouldn’t be able to resist a swim once I was on the beach. And being German, who needs a towel? Who even needs clothes?

I caught it on the shore. No public indecency laws were broken (by me). All was well.

It was really lovely to warm up in a cozy towel in the warm pebbles.

And that was that – the first lake swim of the year achieved on April 28, 2019. A new record. Maybe my coldest swim yet, until next weekend.