Wikiki Beach Swim- Labor Day 2018

For something like ten or so years now (we debate this often) I've gone away with the same group of friends.  We rent a house somewhere, and spend a weekend together, playing games, day drinking, exploring the area, walking, hiking, and, most importantly, swimming. 

This year was no different.  The group choose the Long Beach Peninsula for our getaway, and that meant a lot of time on the Pacific coast.

On Sunday, my friend D and I went in search of a spot to swim.  An open-water-swim friend had given me intelligence that swimming near the Coast Guard station at Cape Disappointment would not disappoint (see what I did there?). However, times have changed, and we were unable to get anywhere near the Coast Guard station, and were, therefore disappointed. Another friend who was with us suggested that "Wikiki Beach" which is also in the park, ought to be a good place to swim, or it wouldn't have that name. Of course, the more well known Wikiki is known for surf, not swim.

So we arrived at the water and found this:

That's my 6-foot plus friend standing in the surf.  I'm not a big-surf kinda gal so was apprehensive, but he was able to get past the breakers and still be only waist deep, so I decided to give it a go as well.

Wikiki beach is a narrow strip of beach. Not a lot of space to enter the water, but once in, there is a long breakwater to swim parallel to.

Getting past the breakers was my challenge. D found the water cold, but I thought it was pleasant (lots of Alki time helped with this). For the first few min of the swim, the current was clearly pushing us back toward the shore.  It also, however, was pushing us toward the rock wall to our left.  D and I had a conversation about the current, and safety, where we could bail in an emergency.  I mentioned that I thought the rocks on the Jetty, though sharper, would be easier to climb out on than the cliffs on the other side.  D said he wasn't too fond of either choice.

I mention this because, as an experienced open water swimmer, I'm always monitoring my surroundings and ensuring I have a plan in place in case I am unable to get out of the water where I have planned.  When I swim at Alki, I watch the beach so that I know where I am, and where the easy exit points are (part of the beach has seawall, with periodic stairs for exit). I haven't, yet, needed to use a "plan B" but it is part of being safe and aware of my surroundings.

We swam for a while and stopped to take a few photos.  One of the joys of the selfie in the water is that one really never knows how they are going to come out. It is so hard to see the screen in bright sun, with fogged up goggles that I just have faith that I got something.  So here's what I got:

Me, lighthouse behind

D and me. 

Shortly after the selfies, since I noticed we'd drifted toward the rock wall, I suggested we swim parallel to shore, and get closer to the Jetty. Then we could turn and swim out along the Jetty. We did. The water was amazing. Clean, salty, but not too salty. There wasn't much visibility, nor was there much flotsam in the water. There were a bunch of people fishing from the Jetty, so I have to believe there were fish.

Shortly after we turned, to swim out, parallel to the Jetty, I noticed the current was with us, pushing us further from shore.  D noticed as well, and commented on this to me.  I immediately suggested we turn back to the beach.

I've had a rule for myself in open water swimming.  The rule is that if I am thinking "Should I do X or Y" the answer is ALWAYS whatever the safer choice is.  So in this case, when the choice was swim further or turn around.  Turning around was the safer choice, and we did that. If I had been in water I knew better, the current might not have been enough to get me to turn. But this wasn't familiar water, or familiar conditions. And safety is always the right answer.

Shortly after turning around, D commented to me that he wasn't sure we were making any progress.  I pointed to a fisherman on the jetty with a bright orange jacket on.  I suggested he swim 25 strokes and notice where the fisherman was after.  Sure enough, we made progress in those strokes and could see that.  This is a technique that I'm always using to judge speed in the water, relative to shore.  Currents are strong and not always predictable.  When there is a clear spot to sight off of, and get a sense of pace, it is helpful for monitoring progress and safety. 

After about five minutes of hard, into the current swimming, it was clear that we were back in the area where the current was pushing us toward shore.  We got to body surf back in.

All smiles after the swim

 Folks on shore commented that they couldn't believe we were swimming where we were.  D commented that he was worried for a few min, and glad I knew the technique to monitor our progress.

This comment from D brought up interesting reflections for me.  D has always been a better athlete than I am.  But he isn't necessarily, in any given year, in good swim shape.  The prior year, when we'd swum in the Columbia River, I'd suggested to him that he tell me when to turn around, as I was at the peak of my swim shape.  I hadn't thought that through this year.  This swim was, likely, more ambitious than he knew he was getting into.  I need to remember that I'm in better than average swim shape. Since I swim with so many swimming superstars, it can be hard to remember that I'm still really strong.  My swim friends set a high bar.

For future Labor Day trips, I'll want to set swim goals that are more moderate for me, rather than a push for me, so that they are more accessible to D.  In the end though, I'm proud of us for doing it, and glad I/we made the safe choice all along.