Why did you become a marathon swimmer?

30 years ago I could swim a fast (?) 5K and liked to swim in the ocean. So I decided to give it a go (but life got in the way) It's a good thing I didn't know then what I do now about what it takes.
Comments
I'm an adult-onset swimmer, starting masters in 2003. But I only really heard of marathon swimming after I'd been stationed here in Russia. That was a little over 2 years ago.
I guess I became a marathon swimmer because I realized I like the freedom of no lines or flip-turns. And then after my first OW swim, I realized I loved the chaos of the start and the technical aspects of the sport (navigation, drafting, etc).
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
loneswimmer.com
www.darren-miller.com
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania U.S.A.
"I never met a shark I didn't like"
I'm like IronMike and only took up swimming as a sport in 2003, after moving from Australia to Chicago. I always spent a lot of time playing in the surf but after realising how much I love continuous swimming, I'm hooked and want to do it as much as possible. The idea of spending a whole day indoors at a swim meet, paying money to spend as little time as possible in the concrete hole makes no sense at all. I also love the touristy part of marathon (or any OW) swimming. I love seeing places from the water.
Nanaimo Ocean Swim - http://www.viendurance.net/nanaimo-ocean-swim/
loneswimmer.com
It's always a bad hair day when you work at a pool.
The open water provides me with freedom, the freedom to exercise and be healthy. That is why I became a marathon swimmer.
https://gma.yahoo.com/ex-miami-dolphin-player-falls-overboard-swims-9-231837408--abc-news-topstories.html
It's always a bad hair day when you work at a pool.
I had done one or 2 open water 5k's in high school, and had really enjoyed all the open water swims in my triathlons, so I decided to try a legit open water race. I did the Little Red Lighthouse 10.2k in 2013, and I was immediately hooked. I knew then, that I was an OWS swimmer. So I did a bunch of races in 2014, including my first 10 miler at the Kingdom swim in Vermont. Now I know that 10 miles isn't quite on par with the insane swims some of you maniacs on this forum have done, but it was enough to convince me that I am just as crazy as the rest of you. So now I am a marathon swimmer, and am greatly looking forward to trying bigger and badder swims in the future
I searched the forum before posting this...but during my last swim I thought a bit on why I swim (in togs in somewhat coldish water). And I kind of came to the conclusion its due to 3 reasons...even though I’m not a hippie it might sound a bit hippie-ish.
The serenity - you end up closing out the world a bit.
The danger – sink or swim.
And obviously the workout….I don’t really have any more personal reasons….more than above.
I get to lay down ! I love the horizontal position and this is the only sport that I can do while being completely horizontal. It is like laying on the couch only with additional flapping of arms around.
Surprisingly, I can flap my arms around for quite a long time. That is exciting.
I love the idea of self supported movement from A to B. I love the 'freedom' that I can self-move from A to B not only on land but also in the water.
Earlier and longer zoning out. It takes me forever to find the sweet spot of zoning out in running. And it does not last for long. Give me half a mile and I am in my own world. And, I get to be there for very long time. And, in comparison to running or to other sports, it is so far less possible to take a call or check emails while swimming.
I enjoy the challenge and the solitude. And, sometimes I can get my wife to paddle for me, which we both seem to enjoy.
When he's bigger, I really hope my son wants to come with me, either in or on top of the water.
i certainly didn't start out with the objective of becoming any kind of swimmer. At 47 i decided i was no longer doing any 'shoulds' and only doing what made me happy so i started swimming. And each year i'd go longer looking to find the point it was no longer fun....i'm still looking for that place. Who knows maybe in 3 years i'll decide to take up pool meets and swim the 'distance' events or do an ice mile.
I may have become a marathon swimmer along the way but like most of my life it's not terribly planned out with long term goals but rather reactions to opportunities and new ideas. I'm loving the journey!!!
The water is my home. It's the only place where I feel truly complete. I started short, but now want to stay in as long as possible. Might as well try to get from point A to point B in the process. I've also found myself transitioning from wanting to participate in organized events to just going out on my own with a friend or two and seeing what kind of trouble we can get into. Most of the bigger events feel too overwhelming, and that takes away from the joy of just being in the water.
It's been hard for me to get back to the distances above 5K since going back school, but that ends in another year and I have plans for beyond.
(Haven't done a marathon distance yet, so not really qualified to post in this thread, but ... )
The freedom of the water.
Knowing that if I fall out of the canoe, I have a pretty good chance of making it to the island, and maybe swimming around the island to see what's on yonder shore.
And, like ChickO'Sea, and probably others, I am happy to observe land from a nice distance out to sea. A different perspective, a different zone of life.
Otherwise, swimming to keep walking these days, so I may as well try to get from point A to point B, where maybe I will find Rosemarymint!
I tried a lot of very different sports over time, team and solo, from soccer to riding, from sailing to martial arts. Somehow I took up swimming one day, and never stopped. I changed to OW three years ago, and never looked back. I felt, like I was at home, finally, but never asked myself, why.
Preparing for my first 25k-swim last week that question came up and my answer is a bit cheesy, but true nonetheless: In marathon swimming I can live my core values: it is honest (you follow the rules, observer or not), it is pure and simple (caps, goggles, costume - nothing more and certainely no wetsuit or any other battle of materials), it is fair and transparent (you swim or you don't, you reach the shore on the other side or you don't, same conditions and rules for everyone), and it takes a lot of commitment (all in or nothing). The "freedom & adventure"-part certainely helps, but for me it is about the values. That also answers my question, why it is so easy to get in contact and become close friends with fellow marathon swimmers, because they basically share the same values, or otherwise they would have taken up another sport.
I'm was born a mermaid, but lost my tail by the time I was self-aware. At 42 I decided to learn to swim without it. It's been over three years. Now I only get out of the water to go to work.
For the same reason JFK articulated for going to the moon:
"We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win ...
I used to teach an aqua class for a local MS group. We had such fun! I was told in training that the chillier water was useful-- do you find you do better in the cooler open waters relative to pools? With my history of back issues (periodic mobility problems that can last weeks or months), I think the water is the place to be. So glad it is working for you!
My 24 year old son paddled for me recently, which was GREAT, and my 10 year old daughter is learning. :-) Last summer, I tethered myself to an inner tube and towed her around a small lake. She is very . . . um. . .encouraging? Nagging? Hurry up, MOM!!! ;-)
I tell people that it's because I've always liked to swim across things.
When I was a little kid, we lived on a slow moving, wider river. We were about a quarter mile from the local beach, where I spent my summers teaching myself how to swim and annoying the crap out of the lifeguards. I was also a super lazy kid, so one day I figured out I could swim to the beach (sidestroke, carrying my towel out of the water). I lifeguarded as soon as I was old enough, but never swam competitively (my race results would argue that I still don't....).
After college, I did that thing where you sit on your ass all the time and gain a ton of weight. I realized in my early 30s that I couldn't just work out to lose weight be healthy because I HATED that... so I signed up for a triathlon because I was scared of it, and I figured that would get me moving. It did. I did a bunch more, then I spent the last 8 years with off and on injuries. When I realized last year that my knee wasn't actually ever going to support running, and that the races I liked were long, I decided I should try marathon swimming instead since I always liked swims better than bikes or runs.
When I got out of the water after the Clubhous/Province Island swim this August, I realized that if my stomach wasn't so pissed off, I would have cheerfully swum more. So I think I'm hooked.