The thread about doing a half-marathon made me do it!
I swam one mile in open water today. Granted, I was wearing a triathlon wetsuit, which helps lots with buoyancy. Still, I went out pretty much alone, swam out to a landmark, turned around and swam back. Two other people from my triathlon club were out there, but I never saw them the whole time. I did roughly one mile in 30 minutes; that works out to about 2 minutes per 100 yards.
One weekend ago (May 21) I did my first serious triathlon, the Uvas Reservoir/South Bay Tri. 750 yards swim (open water), 16.5 mile ride, 5 mile run. I finished in 2 hours 15 minutes but should have gone faster since I wasn’t really that tired at the end!
Last March I weighed 265 lbs and couldn’t run more than 4 minutes without stopping. Now I weigh 195 and run at least 1 hour every time I go out.
My reward is that, at age 52, nobody can believe that I’m that old.
Good for you! I haven’t done a mile swim in open water since I was 13 years old (no wetsuit though- just a junior lifeguard red one-piece).
I hope I still could, but lately I’m not so sure… 
Good job!
I did a mile swim way back in boy scouts.
Do you mind a couple of questions?
Where did you swim? What body of water?
What issues are there regarding safety? I mean, what if you got a cramp or something 1/4 mile out from shore?
I ran a marathon a couple of years ago, but my knees and feet constantly remind me that I won’t run another.
I thought tris were a more sensible option.
Both biking and swimming are so much kinder on aging joints.
But I find I no longer really have the urge to compete.
And selecting and maintaining a bike was one hurdle, as was getting enough water time.
But lately I have been thinking of moving close enough to lake Michigan where open water swimming at least a few months out of the year would be possible.
Try looking for a Masters group near you, many people who do tri’s workout on Masters teams. The OP had a wetsuit on, you would have to work at drowing in one since you tend to bob like a cork. I hate wearing the things.
That’s what I was wondering.
Not being a member of the swimming community, I wondered if there were such things as emergency inflating life preservers or such.
I don’t think you’d want to try and swim with any type of preserver. With a wet suit, even the swimming wetsuits, you really bob around. The worst part about them, at least for me, is getting too much water in the arms and it makes you tired.
Though every time I’ve done an open water event there are always plenty of people around. I’m sure if you found a group there would be people helping as well.
Hey good job squardron! Let’s team up for a half marathon, swimming biathlon!
But what if you just lived near the ocean or a lake, and wanted to swim a mile or 2 at your own schedule?
Would violate one of the few things I remember from scouts, which was “always have a swim buddy”!
When we were in Mass. last year, several solo swimmers were using Walden Pond.
Sorry for the hijack.