Welcome to the Life of a Open Water Swimmer - My Closet, Office and Shower

For those of you who aspire to be Open Water Swimmers getting in practice time is about the same as working out at the Gym. 

For those that choose to take on a something a bit longer in distance, practice time goes up exponentially, like the English Channel swim where I have been training one month for each mile.

In practical terms, everyday, this means adapting to your circumstances and finding time every day to practice. Below is a picture from my swim this morning at Tower Beach, Winnetka, IL around 6am. You can see my closet is my car trunk (new meaning to the saying 'junk in the trunk') the shower just off left of the picture is completely open so anyone driving into the parking lot sees you, no privacy. So you shower up, shave in your swim trunks, come back to the car wrapping the towel around you and doing a 'beach change' into the days work clothes. 

Like camping, you really never get rid of the sand but that's a small price to pay for the glorious swim and rising sun shine on your shoulders, fish swimming under you and every once and awhile a fellow swimmer or kayaker. 

This morning I was all by myself which for shower time was appreciated but I don't recommend this for swimming because of safety, no matter how experienced you are.