Heidi on Vashon

It's a great treat to have my dad visiting from San Diego for the holidays, but an even greater blessing he and my husband David were willing to witness my 51st birthday swim at Alki Beach. Shannon, a sister mermaid from our nutty open water group had been knocking out an open water skin swim in sub 50-degree water every day in December, and I intended to join her on the 27th. What a gift to be surrounded by kindred spirits and the brisk, beautiful sea, family in tow! David brought his infrared zapper and measured the water temps, reading 43.5 to 47 (deep to shallow!) so it was a proper cold water swim for sure. Shannon, Dad, Mary Sue, me, Kate, Scott and Tricia A leisurely brunch followed right across the street with MarySue joining us. My toes were still frozen an hour later. Grateful!

Three years ago, nearly to the day, I awakened to centripetal forces swirling behind my eyes. I sat up, flopped back down to the pillow and told my husband, “something is very wrong: I’m spinning!” I developed a form of severe vertigo presumably through a latent cold or flu virus that decided to take a wrong turn into my inner ear. The imbalance, the puking, the helplessness and lack of appetite—ugh! It was several weeks before I could read the text on a computer (magnified a lot I could), or drive again, and months before the visual effects subsided, also about six weeks of no swimming (I tried at three weeks out and that was a disaster); even at two months the “internal gyroscope” was not quite right. To this day, the lighting in large grocery and big box stores will make me nauseous if I’m in them for too long (bring a visor). Vesitbular neuronitis is no joke!  Sometimes I wonder if open water swimming exposes us to more viruses; at the same time I know the brisk water—bas

I worked hard for this in 2019, and now I know my capabilities. Thank you to BlueSeventy for sponsoring this series of open water competitions. You made me work for it!

It’s been a while since I ventured to the part of Vashon Island known simply as “Cove” on the west part of the rock. In late 2005 to early 2007 I lived on the very point at Colvos Passage in an apartment that was once the Cove Motel back in the Mosquito Fleet days. Looking out from this point across to Fragaria, it is one of the most peaceful, soul-settling places I have ever known. An otter family frolicked out my window. Cormorants did their little Karate Kid open-winged stance on the Northern pilings every winter. Barges pulled by tugs slowly trudged through the channel. It was the perfect place for me to live while going through a divorce, a place to reflect on next steps from the balcony, and to skip rocks on the shore with my little boys. This day, though, three intrepid friends and I arrived to put in at Cove and set about on new swim territory for us toward Fern Cove. We had an approximation of distance from maps and kayaker Robert Teagardin, whom I trust implicitly. 2.5-

Recently the gang at BlueSeventy, maker of the best swim wetsuits and accessories around, put out a call for swimmers of all sorts to join its 2020 racing team. What I lack in speed I more than make up for in enthusiasm, joy and real effort (I also don’t suck at swimming and did well enough to scoop up age-group top-three wins in all my local USMS open water races this summer.) So I applied, and was welcomed to the elite tribe of swimmers on the BlueSeventy Racing 2020 squad. Some of us are pool swimmers, others are open water swimmers, or triathletes. Some are young lifelong athletes, middle age mermaids (like me), Ironmen and women, across all sizes and ages and nationalities. The common thread, we are told, is we all enjoy getting out of our comfort zones and challenging ourselves. For me, this is a privilege to represent a great brand in competition and while training. Last year, the company give our Vashon swim group an exclusive discount on gear which we definitely