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'She doesn't like swimmers!" cried a man on the shore as Eric Block lifted his vulnerably Speedo-clad body from the water.
He was referring to Lulu the goose, who flapped and squawked anxiously at the foreign bodies gliding past, her hostile beak ominously close to Block's toes. But fair enough. We were in her territory — a bucolic stretch of river running east from Radcot Bridge, an 800-year-old stone arch said to be the oldest on the Thames.
Yes, that Thames. Despite comments from friends like "Do you need shots for that?" our gang of a dozen swimmers — ranging from amateur triathletes to hardy teachers like Block — had all signed up for a 14-kilometre, two-day crawl hosted by SwimTrek in pretty much the last place you'd expect to find even the keenest water babies.
Then again, SwimTrek's clientele are the types who believe it's much more satisfying to view land from the water than the other way around. Not only do they bathe year-round in the local lido — the English term for an unsheltered (and unheated) swimming pool — they talk about doing 10-kilometre swims as routine and of peers who swim the English Channel — both ways.
Swimtrek offers two-day swim trips on the Thames. And since that's the Thames in England, swimmers must brave cold water and cloudy skies along with weeds and waterfowl. (Randy Quan for The Globe and Mail)
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But if a decade ago that kind of swim was a feat worthy of newspaper coverage, these days it's about as extraordinary as running a marathon. There are regular open-water swims everywhere from Australia to Ontario, ranging from five to 18 kilometres.
And for avid crawlers who find they are spending more of their vacation fraternizing with the creatures offshore than with their families on it, a handful of swim-tour operators are offering packages that combine challenging — but not over-the-top — swims with the opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of dry land.
Swim Art, for example, a San Francisco-based company, not only guides swimmers on one-day swims to Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, they offer a weekend outing to Lake Tahoe, where participants tackle three lakes — including a full-moon swim in Meeks Bay.
Come winter the focus shifts south, where Ocean Ducks„© takes swimmers to the coast of Chile for power crawls of three to 12 kilometres. Some swims run just off quiet beaches 90 minutes from Santiago. Others guide groups past rugged, rocky shores where waves can rise 10 to 15 feet. (All swims are accompanied by boats.) Then there's SwimVacation. The mission of its founder, a former Division 1 collegiate swimmer who goes by the nickname Hopper, is to spread the gospel of an active, "completely aquatic experience" to the sort of customer who prefers to watch the action from the beach. "It's one of my ongoing challenges," he says.
As it stands, Hopper has attracted his share of competitive swimmers and triathletes, who regard winter training as an unnecessary evil. Far better, they reckon, to book a room aboard the Promenade, SwimVacation's 65-foot sailing yacht in the British Virgin Islands. It's equipped with five guest cabins and staff who serve sundowners from the open bar.
"It's a high-end, all-inclusive vacation," says Hopper. "Warm towels after swims, gourmet meals, fine wines and fancy Caribbean cocktails."
Back on the Thames, however, we camp. Sure, SwimTrek leads swimming safaris in more luxurious conditions. In fact, the company launched in 2003 with an island-hopping adventure in Greece, added a tour through the coastal islands of Croatia a year later and, five years on, guides groups around Gozo in Malta,, the Virgin Islands, Finland and Bavaria. But on our tour of the river that most Brits think of as a vast, murky graveyard of detritus, we end our 7.5-kilometre swim by drying off and pitching our tents.
Still, the mighty Thames narrows and calms considerably as it wends northwest of London. It's also Muskoka-clean. That's not to say you can see to the bottom; the strong current, which assumes some of the burden of carrying swimmers downstream, also carries its share of muck and plant life. But if you're untroubled by the thought of your ankle being spontaneously caressed by an unidentifiable weed, like a scene out of Little Shop of Horrors, you're good to go.
That's assuming you're marginally fit. The people on my trip are outdoorsy in the way that some Canadians are outdoorsy. Which is to say that they are unlike the majority of their countrymen, who still see open-water swimming as an icky route to hypothermia or, worse, Giardiasis (beaver fever to Canucks).
But the guides are strong backups. Ours was suffering from jet lag after completing the Yukon River Quest a week earlier; another regular has circled Manhattan on a solo swim. And with the exception of myself and an unfortunate mother and daughter in the group — amazingly good sports despite being given the trip as an unwelcome birthday surprise from the man of the house — the trekkers completed the course with ease.
Some of them, like Block, even did it without a wetsuit. Just a "swimming costume" and the requisite orange bathing cap in spite of frigid waters. (It may have been July, but if anyone was saying, "Come on in, the water's lovely," I certainly didn't hear it.) Even a novice like me, though, could quickly see the thrill of a swim vacation. After a day of swimming past grazing cattle, herds of sheep and the magnificent Kelmscott Manor„©, former country pile of the pre-Raphaelite textile designer William Morris, the group was buzzing as we hit the pub for celebratory tipples and some carbs.
There's also no question you sleep blissfully after a five-hour workout, even under canvas in a farmer's field used as a toilet by Lulu and her gaggle. And when the hard slog finally wrapped up, cloudy-headed swimmers relaxed in taxis as they headed back to their waiting cars at the starting point.
The drive took less than 30 minutes. Special to The Globe and Mail
PACK YOUR BAGS
Ocean Ducks 805-637-8331; www.oceanducks.com. This Santa Barbara-based tour operator runs regular swim events in California — plus swim holidays in the Caribbean, Central and South America. Their Chile excursion runs Dec. 1-8 and Dec. 8-15. Trips are seven days and include transportation from Santiago, five nights' lodging and select meals. Prices start at $1,760 a person, double occupancy.
SwimTrek 44 20 8696 6220; www.swimtrek.com. The two-day River Thames trip starts around $500 and includes accommodation, breakfast and lunch. The next trip leaves Aug. 6. Week-long trips to Malta, Croatia and Greece start around $1,400. Upcoming trip dates include Malta Aug. 30, Croatia Aug. 16 and Greece Sept. 23.
Swim Art 415-299-9098; www.swim-art.com. The two-day Lake Tahoe swim runs Aug. 15-17 from $150. The next one-day Alcatraz swim is Sept. 18 and costs $100. The next one-day Golden Gate-to-Aquatic Park swim leaves Aug. 30 and costs $120.
SwimVacation 207-975-5489; www.swimvacation.com. The week-long Virgin Islands swim starts at $2,600, including meals and drinks. The next trip runs Dec. 7-13. And there are April swims planned for 2009.
