My 3000 days of swimming

I arrived at the beach with my mate John, wearing crochet woollen swimmers that were custom-made by John’s family. It was 6:30am, still dark, and there was nothing between us and Antarctica but 3000km of ocean. Antarctica could wait. Today we were only going to swim 3000m. We were in Warnambool on the south coast of Victoria, and as I stepped into the cold (13.8°C) water, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief and gratitude that nothing – not covid, work, nor any of the many complexities of life – had deflected me from having at least one daily swim for more than 3000 days. I’d made it.

At the start of 2014 I set myself the challenge of swimming in as many places as I could for the year. My previous record was 315 (in 2010), so I wanted to beat this. I got up to 333 different places. 2014 was also the year I began this current daily swim streak. I missed 3 days that year- 1st and 17th February, and 2 March. So since 3 March 2014 I’ve been swimming every day, tracking location and distance. I track everything in a spreadsheet (location, distance, etc) that goes back to 2006. Most swims have some level of planning, whether that be a quick decision on where I’ll swim tomorrow before falling asleep at night, or several weeks of planning for some longer swims. I prefer swimming in the morning as this fits in best with work and family. It also means I’m less likely to get hijacked by work or other priorities and miss out. Several times I’ve turned up at the local airport to catch a 6:30 am flight shivering and with wet hair after a 4:30 am swim. Having to get up and swim every day does require a certain level of resolve, especially during winter when the air temperature is -5 degrees Celsius and water temperature is 4. It gives me practice in doing things that are uncomfortable, and has helped cement the Buddhist belief that all pain is temporary. 

Variety is the spice of swimming – it’s definitely the endless variations of swimmable water that has kept it interesting for me. I would have stopped after a couple of months if I swam in the same spot, or did the same distance every day. Swimmable water comes in so many different forms. I tend to think in terms of ecosystems or habitats when I think of swimming places- rivers, swamps, waterfalls, thermal springs, lakes, farm dams, caves, even swimming pools. Each has a different structure, flow, temperature, silkyness, clarity and density, and each supports unique forms of life (yes-even chlorinated pools have water boatmen or ducks in them, not to mention humans). Then you throw weather and light into the mix, different times of day, or season, and stir in the complicated interactions of personal mood and perception. The range of experiences possible becomes unquantifiable. The other thing that varies fairly frequently with swimming is purpose. Sometimes I swim for fun, sometimes to improve fitness, for a challenge, to explore (myself or the environment), to be social, to be alone, to think or avoid thinking, for the endorphins, to observe nature, to feel the water.

These days I mainly swim freestyle, but I have messed around with all of the four main strokes over the years. At one point I was swimming a total of 1km of pool laps underwater as well as a few kms on top. Underwater swimming is one of my favourites, because it’s the best way to watch aquatic life. Once you get used to holding your breath, being underwater is also very calming and peaceful. I’m an average mid-pack swimmer, but I’m sure my technique has improved over the years. I’ve become more efficient with my strokes and streamlining over time, which makes longer swims a bit easier. I don’t generally swim with the purpose of improving my fitness- unless there’s something coming up that I need to train for. Having said that, I’m sure swimming has improved my endurance and my tolerance for uncomfortable conditions, for example cold water. I reckon regular exposure to natural water has improved my immunity- in much the same way as playing in the dirt improves the immunity of our children. And regular cold water swims definitely have a heap of health-related benefits.

A lot is made of the benefits of swimming on mental health, especially with the endorphin rush of cold water. I’ve never really battled with depression (maybe because I’ve always been a swimmer?), but everyone has periods of feeling overwhelmed, sad, or hopeless, and swimming has definitely helped me through some tough times. I think it’s partially because swimming draws your focus and distracts you from your troubles. Swimming also removes a lot of other distractions, such as phones and conversation, and boils life down to a simple, single activity – so you can have an uninterrupted stream of thought away from it all. I listen to a lot of running podcasts, and runners get the same relief when they’re out doing their thing. Also in the fly-fishing literature, where the process of immersion in nature and focussing so intently on a fly drifting downstream, waiting for a strike is similarly therapeutic. Swimming also gives me a consistent daily focal point. Having to get up and swim every day does require a certain level of resolve, especially during winter when the air temperature is -5 deg C and the water temperature is only 4. It gives me practice in doing things that are uncomfortable, and has helped cement the Buddhist belief that all pain is temporary.

I’ve swum in so many places since I started! Mostly in NSW and New Zealand (pre-covid), but also in the eastern states of Australia from Tasmania up to north Queensland. I’ve also swum in Vanuatu, Fiji, and New Caledonia, I’ve swum in the highest lakes in Australia and New Zealand, as well as the southern- and northern-most parts of both countries. I’ve done a few trips to New Zealand where I’ve had no plan other than to swim in as many places as possible – moving from one river to the next, and visiting lakes and beaches on the way. I always travel with goggles and swimmers because you never know when an opportunity will arise. The other thing I’m a bit obsessed with is temperature. I usually measure it for each swim just out of interest. I’ve swum in waters from 1.4°C (Tasman Lake) to a 46°C volcanically heated creek near Taupo. But I swam in many more places before I started the 3000 days thing. In pre-digital days I used to keep photo albums of my swim locations, and they’re good to look back on.

My most memorable swim? Maybe the one I did around icebergs in Tasman Lake below Mount Cook in New Zealand. This was my coldest swim, with 1.4 C water. I had several small swims in the lake, including one where I slid like a seal through a hole in the iceberg. A mate, who isn’t a cold water swimmer, joined in on the excitement for a short dip. Later that day we climbed up through one of the mountain passes and swam in a glacial melt pool. Another one (also in NZ) was at a beach north of Auckland. I was swimming in shoulder-deep water and a family of dolphins came in to check me out. There were a few adults and a baby, and they circled me for a few minutes. I got out, brought my young daughter into the water, and the dolphins came back to watch us some more. Very exciting. Perhaps the worst swim I’ve had was in the Namoi River at Narrabri, New South Wales. I needed to start work at 5:30 am, so went down to the river for my swim in the dark at 4:30. I had a nice, cool swim, but when I got out, I put my hand on the bank to push myself up and found myself elbow-deep in the rotting carcass of a drowned kangaroo. In addition- during the swim I was bitten several times by fish lice (actually small isopod crustaceans), and the bites itched for weeks!

Being an aquatic ecologist definitely complements my swimming, and vice versa. I’ve swum with many interesting animals, and I think having a bit of knowledge about them really helps appreciate what I’m seeing. If I can, I like to swim at all of my study areas. It really helps to understand the system better than just making bank-based observations. Some of the animals I have swum with include:

• a school of small squid with my 8 year old son, watching them change colour as the surging water pushes them back and forth in front of differently shaded rock 
• freshwater jellyfish, that only appear for a few weeks approximately every 13 years
• the larvae of net-spinning caddisflies cleaning the debris from the mouth of their 1 x 1 cm net
• sharks of course- including bull sharks, wobbegong, tiger shark, grey nurse, black tip reef, white-tipped reef, zebra, banjo, and Port Jackson etc
• freshwater crocodiles in Lake Argyle in northern WA
• marine and freshwater turtles
• eel-tailed catfish 
• platypus

Swimming gives me a better appreciation of how the animals interact with their environment.

I’ve definitely come to know the water better over the last 3000 days, and I just love being immersed. There are always new things to see, feel or experience. I’ve had a professional relationship with water for about 25 years, but I’ve got a personal relationship that goes way back to when I was 4 or 5. Mum never learnt to swim, so she made sure my brother and I learnt as early as possible, and I’ve enjoyed it ever since. I’ve been a white water kayaker, scuba diver, body surfer, fly-fisherman, and a rock-skipping river bum, but all through all of those I’ve been a swimmer. I prefer being in the water than standing beside it or floating on top.