{"id":1693,"date":"2025-03-14T08:38:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T08:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clube-swim4fun.pt\/?p=1693"},"modified":"2025-03-12T17:56:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T17:56:42","slug":"redescobrindo-a-paixao-pela-natacao-da-piscina-ao-oceano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clube-swim4fun.pt\/en\/redescobrindo-a-paixao-pela-natacao-da-piscina-ao-oceano\/","title":{"rendered":"Rediscovering the Passion for Swimming: From the Pool to the Ocean"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The swimming bug really bit me in 2023 after I tore my ACL and needed a way to stay fit and replace trail running.\nI had swum in school (35 years ago!) and enjoyed it to some extent, though I found swimming laps pretty boring, and the coaching wasn\u2019t great. As a result, I was never particularly good\u2014competent and confident in the water, but not skilled. After school, I stopped swimming completely and focused on rock climbing, mountain biking, surfski paddling, and squash. Swimming never made a comeback because, well, it was just too boring!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast-forward 30-odd years to life in beautiful Cape Town, where the beaches rival those of Portugal. On Sunday mornings, while taking our young kids to the beach, I\u2019d often see a group of people heading out for a swim at Camps Bay. Crazy, right? In Cape Town, the summer water temperature rarely gets above 13\u00b0C, and if you're unlucky, it can even be below 10\u00b0C! The truly hardcore swimmers even do this without wetsuits. I\u2019d watch them and think ocean swimming looked interesting\u2014but there was no way I was getting into that cold water, even with a wetsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, we emigrated to Portugal and settled in Ericeira. The ocean conditions here are similar to Cape Town, but the water is noticeably warmer (just 3\u20134 degrees makes a big difference!). Still, swimming wasn\u2019t on my radar. My wife, however, took up openwater swimming, and maybe that\u2019s when the seed was planted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came my ACL injury, and running was off the table\u2014too much impact on my knee. Begrudgingly, I decided to swim at the municipal pool, just to do something, all the while grumbling about how boring it would be.\nAnd guess what? I actually enjoyed it. A big motivator, I\u2019ll admit, was using a sports watch to track my sessions\u2014I could compete against myself and see real progress. But let\u2019s be honest, swimming laps is still dull. Then I remembered: my wife was doing open-water swimming. The water was warmer here. Maybe I should give it a shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And surprise, surprise\u2014it was amazing! Ocean swimming is so much more interesting and challenging than pool laps (kind of like how mountain biking beats road biking and trail running beats road running\u2014#sorrynotsorry, roadies!). Sometimes you see dolphins, sometimes you're swimming with or against the currents, sometimes the ocean slaps you in the face, and sometimes it feels like a washing machine. But it\u2019s always an adventure!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don't get me wrong\u2014the pool is great for technique training. But the sea? That\u2019s where the real fun is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n