How far can you swim

After rehab in my elbow and prior to my recent ear surgery was busting out 2ks 40 laps in about 35 mins.

If this question came up a couple of years ago the answer would have been "no" but I can now swim 1km at a reasonable pace and could probably do 2km at a slower pace.

The incident that made me get some swimming fitness was; when I just took up kitesurfing I got caught in the current of a tidal creek and couldn't relaunch so all I could do was go with it and try not to drown . When I got close to the bank my Wife came running down and grabbed the kite and I waddled out of the water like a drowned rat in front of some fit looking teenager's looking like a mid life crises wannabe kitesurfer, unfit and over weight loser - that's when things just had to change. 1/ to resurrect some self pride and 2/ for safety .

In a panicked state not many people can swim 1km in the surf.

Yeah, definitely need some surf smarts and confidence in addition to fitness and technique. Energy drains very quickly if you're panicking. I grew up in the water so I take it for granted but I've encountered several crew out past their comfort zones when something goes wrong and they can lose their sh!t pretty quickly.

For those who've never swum much in open water, probably a good idea to do so without kiting gear just to get a sense of it. Learn to work with the rhythm of the waves as much as possible to save energy and still get in the direction you want to go. Learn to take sightlines off landmarks to check your progress. Learn how currents circulate through and around breaks.

Never swam more than 16km in one go.
Big sets are not a problem as long as you are prepared, but if you get barreled it can sometimes take a while to come up and then another one is about on top of you.
I can easily swim a 50m pool underwater so unless i am injured there is no reason to panic.

I dont envisage going out in any conditions that i couldn't swim away from.

My biggest worry would be knocking my head of breaking a couple of ribs, leg etc.
Only things will save you then are buddies and comms.

Smashing out laps in a pool helps but don't think for second if you can swim a K in a pool with confidence you can do it in the ocean. Try going down to your local beach and swim parallel to the shore line and see how far you get. Just swim on the outside of the shore break so it's easy to get back in.

I'm a crap swimmer. But when the occasion arised a few years ago I was amaised how well I went. Was not quick, but one stroke after the other and staying relaxed is the key.

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fingerbone said..
I thought it might be time to see who can Actually swim 1 or 2klm if needed. 20 to 40 laps of Olympic pool in less than perfect conditions in the ocean.

2km pool swim takes me 30 minutes if I don't stop. In calm ocean it's more like 40-45 minutes. Then just slightest seabreeze makes for a pretty average swim, can drag out towards an hour.

Some no breath or limited breath sets at the pool are good to keep things interesting. But don't try this without a spotter:

Staying calm is the key, as well as being confident in ocean conditions. Side stroke is awesome to get you going a long distance, still being able to see in front and behind, and switch sides when you're a bit done. Done my share of swimming and always worked for me.

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fingerbone said..

windreams said..
If this question came up a couple of years ago the answer would have been "no" but I can now swim 1km at a reasonable pace and could probably do 2km at a slower pace.

The incident that made me get some swimming fitness was; when I just took up kitesurfing I got caught in the current of a tidal creek and couldn't relaunch so all I could do was go with it and try not to drown . When I got close to the bank my Wife came running down and grabbed the kite and I waddled out of the water like a drowned rat in front of some fit looking teenager's looking like a mid life crises wannabe kitesurfer, unfit and over weight loser - that's when things just had to change. 1/ to resurrect some self pride and 2/ for safety .

How long did it take for you to become confident swimmer.?

No easy answer to that one. Club swimmer through school then decided there was better views at the local beach so took up surf lifesaving for a while before the lazy years set in.

So even though second time around I was unfit and carrying a bit of weight the swimming muscle memory was still somewhere below the fat layer . After the creek scare I got back into the pool and was content with 6'ish slow laps (2 pool visits p/w for a couple of months), but recently decided to give triathlons a go so have gone from 6 slow laps to 1km at an average of just under a minute a lap but went to, 3'ish pool visits p/w over 4 months. No speedster but it's a start.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is it's hard to give an answer to how long it took to become confident or in my case "confident again" as it depends on where you're starting from and past experience. Gotta start somewhere though

Everybody pretty much has covered it. Swimming comfortably 2 k's in a pool is about 1 k in the ocean. Some people won't even open their eyes under water in salt water without goggles. They never seem comfortable in the ocean. I have lived and breathed the ocean my whole life, so I am comfy in most size surf....(providing I haven't been caned by a few sets and short on oxygen. I can do 2 k's pretty comfortably in 30 minutes without having to duck dive sets as well, but outside the zone. It really does come down to being relaxed and patient. Some people see the distance they need to cover and panic. Then they start thinking negative thoughts like sharks or whatever and freak out a bit more thus lose energy. You need to be as pragmatic as possible. Understanding your local currents is a good idea if you are kiting in open ocean, especially around bluffs and reefs. As part of my brief when I teach my students I always tell them to never go out further than they are prepared to swim. Because sooner or later, something will break, or your kite will fall out of the sky, or whatever, and you will have to swim. It will happen, eventually.

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dafish said.. As part of my brief when I teach my students I always tell them to never go out further than they are prepared to swim. Because sooner or later, something will break, or your kite will fall out of the sky, or whatever, and you will have to swim. It will happen, eventually.

+1 for teaching your students that Marco. I could not agree more. I do think the big thing I get out of this thread is being able to control your mind and relax and not panic in that situation. Like all sports with inherent risk the more prepared you are the less likely you are going to be when the inevitable happens, which it will. In our sport that means * Confidence in water, more importantly the open ocean in thats where you kite, * Fitness (knowledge you have the fitness to swim yourself out of trouble if it arises * Techniques to control you mind if you start to freak out.

For me my biggest fear is sharks. I am just one of those ocean users that has a distinct unreasonable fear about them. It has taken a lot of practice for me to calm that fear and be able to feel comfortable in the open ocean even with that fear which is never going to go away. The mental preparation for me is the most important aspect to any aspect of a sport that inherent risk.

Good comments here. Keeping calm is absolute key. I find it super important to be able to swim well esp in the ocean or at least be confident in the surf. Understand rips, breaking waves, wave sets etc. helps stay calm. Swimming in salt water is also easier (more flotation), so if you train in a pool (ie. freshwater) you will find it a bit easier out in the ocean - IF there are no strong currents or waves, in that case it's actually harder than in the 'ideal' pool conditions.
Also one of the reasons why I tend to wear at least a shorty when I surf or kite is because of that extra flotation should things go to ****. If I wear boardies only, I tend to wear my LF impact west.
The extra flotation makes a huge difference and could actually save your life. I consider myself a relatively strong swimmer but I also know that in high stress situations with waves breaking over your head, I need all the help I can.
Live to kite another day!

How far you can swim is kind of irrelevant. If you try to swim hard for a long time chances are you will exhaust yourself and end up in deep ****.

Far more important is the sense to relax and conserve energy and pace yourself. You can last for hours if you do that and while you're alive you can do stuff to save yourself.

The other thing is to "never go out further than you're prepared to swim". That's not a literal distance but an aspiration and a principle. I can't understand why people do crossings or ride way out to sea. It takes no skill to do that. You're not actually achieving anything.

My thing is upwind coast runs. Almost every session I will ride 3-4 km up the coast to drop in at various reefs and sand bars. I am usually only 500m off the beach and it's usually cross-onshore so in the event of a mishap I will get blown onto the coast. Even on a downwinder you can ride for kms and never be more than a few 100 metres off the coast.