Week 15, Conquering Fears, Herpreet

Is that right? Is this week 15??

Barton Springs is a 200 meter long pool that is spring fed. It is a natural environmet - you can see the rocks at the bottom, plant life, fish. It is beautiful and clear water, and it has a constant, year-round temperature of 68 degrees.

Yesterday, we swam there. I was a bit terrified. We had to swim the length of it - no stops after 50 meters at the end of a wall pool. I started out okay. I dipped my entire body into the water to acclimate. When she said "go," I went. I was stunned that I was not feeling nervous or anxious or getting worn out. And THEN, the solid rock bottom four or five feet below me dropped off 17'. I had a vertigo sensation, seeing the bottom fall out below me do dramatically, and I freaked out. Happily, I didn't panic in the way I did in the bayou last year. I stuck my head out of water and treaded. Remembering my instructor's words (in a triathlon, any forward movement is good movement), I treaded forward until I calmed down a little, then I flipped over and did backstroke. Eventually, I worked my way back to free style. Then I alternated between free style and backstroke and treading. At the end of the pool, I paused, rested at the wall, tried to conquer my fear of having to swim back over the deep water, and eventually, I made my way back over the 200 meters.

I saw a big fish at the bottom, schools of little fish, and plants that stunned me, plants I had not at all expected to find in the water. It looked like gigantic aloe plants were growing at the bottom of the pool.

Once I did an entire lap, I practiced swimming from the shallow end over the drop off a few times with the ambition to lose my panicky feeling. Eventually, I practiced swimming with my eyes closed and feeling comfortable knowing that 1) the water is DEEP and 2) I can't see the bottom, because, indeed, during the event, it's not at all likely that the water will be clear like Barton Springs. I tried swimming with eyes closed, opening them only when I needed to see to make sure I was swimming in a straight line.