VOWSA | Open Water Aerin

Oot and Aboot and Blooming Magnolias

Now you see me, now you don’t!

I have certainly been oot and aboot, as we Canadians say. I’ve been in places I didn’t expect to be, but somehow seem to be the right places at the right time, most of the time.

Facing a crappy snow year on the mountain, dealing with ongoing fuckery, and generally in need of a change of scenery at the beginning of the year, I rented an apartment in Vancouver. Kitsilano, to be exact, and it has been a great call and one of the coolest experiences. Kits ticks all the boxes: an 11 minute walk to one of Vancouver’s nicest beaches, Pacific ocean sunsets, bike paths, cherry blossoms, and friendly people. I have loved my Kootenay and Kelowna homes, but I think I’m in my ocean swimming phase this year. Salt water heals and makes my hair look great. 💅🏼

Vancouver is home to VOWSA, an active open water swimming community that I hope to get involved with this summer. I also joined the English Bay Swim Club who practice at the Vancouver Aquatic Centre, and have enjoyed a mix of short course and long course Masters practices. Exploring other pools in the city has been fun, and I can hardly wait to swim outdoors at Kits Pool and the pool at Second Beach this month. I’ve been biking and exploring and thriving in my little 700 sq ft space with a blooming magnolia right outside my bedroom window.

Work travel combined with a long overdue girls’ trip took me to Quebec City in March, where I snuck in a swim at Laval University’s lovely facility.

I presented the story of my English Channel swim to a fabulous hometown crowd at the Rossland Museum in April. I have worked on different narratives that might suit specific audiences, and my Rossland attendees responded really well to an overview of both my swimming history, approach to training, and the swim itself. I pretended that everyone in the crowd was naked, which made me feel relaxed and happy, since Rosslanders are very good looking people. You can watch the talk here.

I am presenting my swim story for the Across the Lake Swim’s Lake Club as an exclusive member webinar on May 12. The Lake Club is ATLS’s new membership offering, and I’m looking forward to dishing the details for this community. I am also serving as a Swim Squad Ambassador for Across the Lake Swim for the third time. ATLS are running several new events this year, including a starlight swim and two new events on Vancouver Island. If you are interested in any of these events as a first time participant or seasoned swimmer, please let me know and I can offer information, mentorship, and a discount code.

“What’s next, Aerin?” still weighs a little heavy on me at this point, almost one year post Channel swim. The truth is that I really did need to take my foot off the gas this year, after nearly three years straight of pretty intensive and structured training. I wanted to focus a little more on other things. I didn’t have the motivation for the weekly kilometres. My bank account needed a bit of a bum rub of love. And honestly, the personal situation that derailed the celebration and processing of my swim kept not calming down and carrying on and throwing weinerschnitzel at my head.

I’m starting to feel ready to start planting swimming seeds again, as April showers turn to May flowers. Two friends who will swim the Channel this summer are coming this very weekend for some ocean training. You can follow them here – I know they will both smash it!

I’m taking off for a cycling trip to Hokkaido, Japan with my nephew in June. Since a bicycle needs a fish, I’ll be swimming along the way as well.

August means a trip to Ireland for work, combined with other amazing swimming opportunities. Thinking maybe Galway Bay? Fastnet? Suggestions welcome!

And there are the Across the Lake swims, some VOWSA events, and just generally trying to enjoy my life and maintain my peace, and get back to a place where more training and structure makes sense. Getting there!

All in good time. And all a good time. A fresh start means everything and I really needed one. For someone who has planned and structured meticulously for the last few years, it’s nice to just stop and smell the flowers. There are a lot of flowers around this time of year. I hope you’re enjoying them too.

2019: Be It Resolved…

Posted on January 3, 2019 by Aerin Bowers

Welcome to 2019! This post will be fun.

I did my first pool workout of the new year tonight, logging a sweet 3500 m in just over an hour. Now I’m eating tangy Swedish licorice and I’m pumped for the next 365 days to be steeped in chlorinated, fresh, and salt water.

Ok, here they are! My 2019 New Year’s Swimming Resolutions:

350,000 metres training goal. Last year I did 200,000. Let’s ramp that up a wee bit. I’ll know by July if I’m on target, and if I set a good pace and act in a disciplined fashion (new year, new me!), I might even extend that to 400,000. Just to be an audacious woman.
Dedicated practice for stroke improvement during every workout. I’ve spent a fair bit of time this past year trying to correct some long-standing problems with my freestyle, mainly my straight-armed swinging style. While this is a fine style for the dance floor, I feel like it hinders my efficiency in the water especially as I move into longer distances. Gotta protect those shoulders. Sometimes the world rests upon them.
Continue to blog as much as possible because I love writing almost as much as I love swimming. I have so enjoyed this little “project” and maybe I will even start another new “project” that I’ve been chewing on for a while. No spoilers.
Lake training. Once the snow melts and the lakes reach an acceptable temperature at which one’s nipples remain confidently attached, I absolutely must make the effort to get out to the lake and train as much as possible in the open water.
Cross-training. I’ve committed to CrossFit twice a week in an attempt to build my all-over body strength, and I really wanna climb that fucking rope. My other activities include cross-country skiing (I’m learning to skate ski and soon I will beat my boyfriend. Will he still carry my skis?), downhill skiing (usually ends in beers so maybe important for mental health but not so important for fitness), and running. Running toward my resolutions, and not away from anyone except the Frogmouth.
Night swimming. Deserves a quiet night. I’m not sure all these people understand.
And last but not least, I would really like to achieve a 25km + distance event this year. Although I wasn’t successful in my application to the Lake Zurich Swim, I haven’t given up on this milestone and am currently looking for a suitably comparable sanctioned event for the summer or fall. I’m open to suggestions.

Swims I’m Registered For/Considering/Planning (budget and work schedule permitting):

My sixth Across the Lake Swim. I really don’t like this distance and I never do well, but if I do it 10 times I will be awarded a silver cap. I understand that this makes sense only to me.
Skaha Lake Ultra Swim. Baby, I’m back for my second attempt and this year I’m going to do it much faster and in a straight line. I hope Christine will agree to feed me caffeine cubes and smack my ass with the kayak paddle again.
Christina Lake – the entire length. This wouldn’t be a sanctioned swim, but I’m really curious to see what it would be like to swim from the top to the bottom in one go. Google tells me that it’s 18.12 km, and I think it would be really fun. I’m envisioning a camping weekend at Texas Creek with hot dogs and smores and my Boler and good friends to cheer me on. What could be better?
Swim the Arctic Circle. This is a 3 km event that crosses the border between Sweden and Finland, but also crosses the Arctic Circle and the time zone. How cool would it be to combine swimming and time travel? Oh, my geek heart rejoices at the thought.
Swim the Island: Monte Isola, Italy. An Instagram connection tipped me to this annual event, which is an 8.8 km swim around Monte Isola in Italy’s Iseo Lake. It’s in October, which is a busy time for me with work. But it might happen.
Bay Challenge. This 9.6 km VOWSA organized swim starts in Sandy Cove, West Vancouver, and finishes at Kitsilano Beach. It’s not the English Channel, but English Bay instead!

Other fun news:

I’ve started a new Instagram account dedicated to my open water life. Surprisingly, it’s called Open Water Life. If you ‘gram, follow me there and together we’ll ‘gram all about swimming. I’m also planning a new look for this site. It’ll be style-y.

It looks like there will be a new swim club in my area, and I am so excited. It’s called the Lower Columbia Swim Club, and it will be dedicated to open water and triathlon training. Nothing beats swimming with friends!

I was intending to write a post of all of my favourite things from 2018, but it’s pretty overwhelming when you like so many things…and there are other things to do in the day besides compile lists (who knew!). Instead, I will plan a number of posts dedicated to these favourites, such as Instagram accounts to follow for swimming inspiration, the best apps, gear, podcasts, sites, swimwear, music for swimming playlists, men in speedos etc.

But mostly, I want to thank you for reading and sharing this journey with me. I clap for you, and I appreciate you, and I wish you all the best for 2019. Except you, Glen. Now let’s SWIM!