Alejandro: The open water swimmer with a fear of deep water. Part 1.
Meet Alejandro, an ex-colleague of Rebecca’s. I had my suspicions that Alejandro was a woo-do-er when he used to come into the office first thing in the morning (in Vienna), and hang out his towel and swimming stuff. I’ve had brief chats with Alejandro and knew he was an avid traveller and had some unique stories - but in reality, I hadn’t even touched the surface. Well, thanks to woowoo, we get to dive (ok, that’s enough puns now) into Alejandro’s underwater world. And my suspicions have been confirmed, Alejandro is definitely woo.
Alejandro, first and foremost, thank you for your support - you are always liking our posts, so thank you for reaching out to us. What spiked your interest in woowoo?
The approach that you have for telling stories along with this kind of ‘superhuman’ approach. I really like that because it can be very different for different people. It doesn’t mean that you have to do an Ironman, for some people it is swimming 1 km in a river or a lake and that is an amazing achievement for that person. It’s really good to motivate people to continue doing that because that person could then go on to do 10 kms after a couple of years…
… But that first kilometre is really important. I like that you tell stories about those people too.
I’m glad that message comes across in our stories - because that really is what we stand for and celebrate! So tell us, what is it that makes you woo?
I've been swimming since I was maybe three or four years old. My parents would take me to friends swimming pools from a really early age, and then my mum signed me and my sister up for swimming classes because it gave her peace of mind that we could then all go to a swimming pool, and knowing we were able swimmers, she could relax a bit more without looking out for us all the time. But, I turned out to be really good at it. I was quite bad at sports because I was overweight when I was a kid, but as soon as I went into the water I became one of the best and it really helped motivate me. It quickly became my woo. It was the thing that it didn’t matter how little I did, it kept me going. I started to swim regularly, joined a Club, finally lost some weight, then also went on to become the Champion in Spain for finswimming in 2008 and 2010. I was also in the national team a couple of times.
Wow - you were really good! To swim at national level - congratulations! But what is finswimming?
Yeah, haha. In finswimming, you have a monofin, which is a really big fin that you put both feet into and you swim like a dolphin or a mermaid. It’s considered an underwater sport. The thing is, they are big. Too big to go to a random swimming pool with, it takes up almost an entire lane and people will hate you. It becomes really difficult to train if you don’t have a team - it is very different having a whole swimming pool for your team to train in. It’s also quite heavy so not the best to travel with.
I enjoyed it a lot. But then I experienced a problem which I think a lot of people that do sports at a high level experience.
Ah, I think I know where this is going…
Yes, it becomes too much to commit to (physically and mentally) and too difficult to train for. It becomes very difficult to downgrade what you are doing. But, we’re also talking about time and money. The more you compete, the more money you put into it. In my last year I did serious competition swimming and made it to the national team and we travelled to Russia for the European championship. A lot of my friends were a bit jealous that I was going to Russia for ‘free’. But then I actually calculated how much I had spent; on the training (€60-70 per month), the pool membership, the travel to and from the pool, the monofin (which is €500+), the stream suit, plus the fees related to going to all the smaller competitions… and it adds up quickly. It’s funny because I could have used all the money, and gone and travelled on my own. Anyway, you hardly have any free time - you just go from the hotel, to the swimming pool, back to the hotel so yeah…
How was it competing at a national level? I kind of brushed over that…
I really enjoyed it! We had competitions every month, or sometimes twice a month, so we were travelling all over Spain, and you start to meet lots of people. Yes, they are your rivals in the pool, but you spend at least one, if not, two weekends with these people every month, so they soon start to become your friends. That was really nice. But, when I went to University, it became very difficult. I moved into the city and I was in charge of everything in my life for the first time. I was the one who had to cook, clean, study and train. And my studies and training sessions were at the same time so I was always rushing around. Unlike my friends, my parents didn’t live in the city, so I didn’t have help getting to and from places or as much emotional support as I wanted. I had already thought about quitting because it was becoming too stressful for me, but on top of that the training conditions changed, the new swimming pool was really far away and the price was increasing. I thought about making it work for 1-2 sessions a week but the club told me you can pay full price and train as much or as little as you like, or you don’t pay and don’t come… so I decided it was time to move on to something else.
What came next for you?
I changed the discipline and picked a new challenge - classical swimming, front crawl. No equipment really needed, just a swimming pool, your swimsuit and some goggles.
I'm one of the few people that continued swimming, so the transition was actually a good thing. Some of the others became really good, and even won medals at European or World level, but then they quit swimming completely. Sometimes it’s funny when people see me swimming at the pool and they ask me how long I’ve been swimming. I reply, hmm I don’t remember, I started when I was 4 or 5 years old, so a long time. But I tell them to not get demotivated. You can get good at swimming in 2-3 years, you’ll get there!
From there I started looking into Open Water Challenges and that’s where my love for it grew! There is one problem though…
…
Like many people, I have thalassophobia.
Which means I’m a little bit afraid of deep water…
Even now when I don’t see the bottom of the lake I start to think about what could be there. But, realistically, in a lake, the biggest predator is probably a trout. In the sea, it’s different, but you generally have incredible visibility, about 20-30m. So yes, you can’t see the bottom but you can see enough to ease your mind.
I think, for a lot of people, if they had that fear the last thing they would be doing is going into lakes or going into the sea and swimming. Where is that line for you? You mentioned visibility, but has there ever been an experience where that fear has won?
When I was younger, I was much more afraid. I would not go too far from the shore at all. But, I started to push myself mentally. With lakes I check the distance on a map from one shore to another. Then I calculate how long it takes me to swim that distance (for example 500 metres would be around 7-8 minutes) and tell myself I can swim for 1 hour non-stop in a pool… Of course, I can do 7-8 minutes in a lake. It’s tough because when you train a lot in a pool, you get used to seeing the bottom and orienting yourself with that. So as soon as you don’t have that visual input, your brain is saying, hey something is missing… But, you just need to breathe, move your arms, move your legs, or even just float around.
When you go to these lakes and check the distance, do you ever check the depth too?
No. No, I leave that. I prefer not knowing how deep they are. I know they are deep… in fact my favourite lake here in Denmark is also one of the deepest lakes but I don’t want to talk about that haha. It’s a nice, narrow lake and you can swim shore to shore for about 400 or 800 metres I think.
But if the lake is really long, I swim along, or close by the shore in one direction, and come back in the other direction. As long as I have some visibility, it really helps me. I know that when I’m a bit further away and cannot see the shore, that mentally I am going to have to push myself much more. But yeah, I much prefer being closer to the shore, and seeing some rocks or the bottom of the lake. It gives me peace of mind and I can just focus on swimming.
And what does training look like now for you?
My training has definitely changed from when I swam competitively. For example, I find it complicated training alone for speed sets because everything needs to be planned out and so I find it easier to just train for long distances. I aim to swim 3-4 kms a few times a week. I know it’s enough to help me gain endurance which is what I need for my races.
Do you track your times?
Actually, no. I don’t use a watch or anything to track my actual times. When I started I was trying to count approximately in metres, but I lost count too many times. So now, I track it based on the timing of the overall session. For example, I know I can do 100 metres in around 1 minute 30, which means I should be able to swim 1km in around 15 minutes. If I do 1 hour, I should have swam around 4 kms. Maybe it’s 3.8 or 4.1, who knows, but to me that doesn’t matter, it is just about building endurance.
I am part of a team right now, so we do more speed training and targeted training for legs and arms - it’s good fun. I enjoy going alone, but if I have the chance I try to go with a team because you get free motivation.
Open Water Swimming is becoming quite popular. What advice would you give to someone starting out, or who is maybe thinking about getting into swimming?
Look for a team. It doesn’t have to be a formal team, it might just be a Facebook group that meets every Monday at 7pm or something. In most of these places you don’t need to pay because it’s open water, but you learn so much from other people. They give you tricks and tips that you won’t get by going on your own. And normally afterwards, you all go and get a drink or some warm tea together. I’ve done that here in Denmark and I love it.
Also, if you are at a particular lake or something, don’t be shy to approach people and strike up a conversation with them or ask if you can swim with them. Most of these people will probably go to that spot regularly, they know the distance etc. and already have a bit of a community that you can integrate into.
Do you prefer swimming in a pool or do you prefer swimming in Open Water?
For training, definitely a pool. It’s easy and convenient with lockers, showers etc. But for joy? Definitely Open Water swimming. I like to travel to places close to the sea or with lakes. And when I go on holiday with my friends, they know that after 2 or 3 days I will disappear to go and swim somewhere. It’s a cool way to discover places, and see places from a different perspective. It looks so different and so beautiful from the water.
You know they say runners get a runners high, is there anything like that with swimming?
You definitely get into the zone. And, for me, if I can see the shore, I can just keep swimming. There was one time, in Italy in 2022 that I did a swim in the sea, and only afterwards I realised how crazy it was.
Uh-oh, what did you do?
Well, you’ll have to find out in Part 2…
Check back here soon for Part 2: Swimming the Oceans Seven - where we talk all about Alejandro’s upcoming race, his dream woo and the bucket list places he has swam in.