Signed up for my first long swim and after hearing the reaction from family and friends (haven't told anyone at work yet), I'm wondering how other people respond when you tell them that you're going to do a swim.
Here's some of what I got:
"Why on earth would you want to do something like that?"
"You're nuts!"
"You could drown!"
"That's so dangerous!"
"You'd better get your will done first."
"What are you thinking? You have a family!"
"You could get eaten by a shark..."
"The jellyfish will get you..."
"People invented boats and bridges to get across rivers, we're not supposed to swim across them."
"Are you going to use a gas mask?"
"The water's so polluted, you are going to get sick."
"If you want to swim, can't you do it in the pool where it's safe?"
Only one person said "That's awesome, you must be in great shape."
Do you get similar responses? And how do you answer them? I'm beginning to wonder what the rest of the world thinks of us...
Not that experienced w/ o.w. swims, but I've had such responses. I think my family sometimes teases me about sharks and drowning, etc., but I usually laugh it off when they do b/c I know they're just messin' with me.
Also, I have to admit sometimes I ask myself all those same questions lol. :o
Which isn't to say I won't go ahead with whatever swims I have planned, just that I'll sometimes say to myself, "SELF, ARE YOU NUTS?" And self answers, "yeah, what's your point." :p
My one ocean swim had me very afraid about sharks, but I figured too that if they were holding the swim every year without incident, why should the year I was swimming be any different.
I'm now planning a 5.25 mile bay swim. And yes, it's a stretch for me, but there are boats and each swimmer is required to have a kayaker. There's also a four hour time limit, so they will pick up swimmers who don't look like they're going to make that cutoff. That I accept as part of the game. Obviously, I want to beat the time limit and finish the race, but I'm grateful that they have that safety feature in place. And I can actually sympathize somewhat with the concerned questions, but I also assure ppl that this isn't a suicidal risk. I don't do suicidal risks. I like to stretch my limits, and at the same time, I respect those limits and know that it would be, for instance, foolish for me to attempt, let's say, a channel swim, at least at my current stage of swimming development.
Sometimes all those questions are just ways of saying "that's awesome and I'd be scared to death to try it myself!" Kind of an indirect compliment. No one bothers asking questions like that if the whole project doesn't interest them.
Not that experienced w/ o.w. swims, but I've had such responses. I think my family sometimes teases me about sharks and drowning, etc., but I usually laugh it off when they do b/c I know they're just messin' with me.
Also, I have to admit sometimes I ask myself all those same questions lol. :o
Which isn't to say I won't go ahead with whatever swims I have planned, just that I'll sometimes say to myself, "SELF, ARE YOU NUTS?" And self answers, "yeah, what's your point." :p
My one ocean swim had me very afraid about sharks, but I figured too that if they were holding the swim every year without incident, why should the year I was swimming be any different.
I'm now planning a 5.25 mile bay swim. And yes, it's a stretch for me, but there are boats and each swimmer is required to have a kayaker. There's also a four hour time limit, so they will pick up swimmers who don't look like they're going to make that cutoff. That I accept as part of the game. Obviously, I want to beat the time limit and finish the race, but I'm grateful that they have that safety feature in place. And I can actually sympathize somewhat with the concerned questions, but I also assure ppl that this isn't a suicidal risk. I don't do suicidal risks. I like to stretch my limits, and at the same time, I respect those limits and know that it would be, for instance, foolish for me to attempt, let's say, a channel swim, at least at my current stage of swimming development.
Sometimes all those questions are just ways of saying "that's awesome and I'd be scared to death to try it myself!" Kind of an indirect compliment. No one bothers asking questions like that if the whole project doesn't interest them.
