Sarah Eismann’s Marathon Swim Story
When I moved to the idyllic hamlet of Talent, Oregon about 8 years ago, I was quickly adopted by my new swim family and have been lovingly supported and encouraged as I pursue marathon swims… but no one wants to swim as far as I do.
That changed about a year ago when I was excitedly greeted at swim practice, “good morning Shannon! Hey, have you met Sarah? She’s a marathon swimmer too!”
Our schedules hardly jive, but we’ve connected here and there since then. It’s wonderful to share the local water with a fellow limit pusher.
Everyone has a story, here’s Sarah’s.
In her own words: Hi, I’m Sarah 🙂 Water and swimming have always been a very big part of my life. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t swim. My parents claim I swam before I walked (I think my dad just accidently dropped me while sitting in the pool, haha). But I have always felt more comfortable in the water then on land; more graceful, more in tune. I swam competitively until I was 18, never a superstar but a solid 3rd place most of the time. Backstroke was my gig. Competition, racing, and especially sprints never really sat well with me though (nerves routinely sabotaged my stomach before races). I started teaching swimming when I was 14 and kinda never stopped. No matter where I move there’s always a YMCA, JCC, community pool that needs more instructors. And I love every one of my students.
In 2012 my marriage ended and I found myself adrift in life (pun intended). I started doing triathlons in 2014…but a little backstory first. Yes I had been swimming my entire life…in pools. I was deathly afraid of open water. My first open water (ocean) swim EVER was one month before my first triathlon. I almost fainted my heart was pounding so hard in my chest. Then I finished my first tri and was totally addicted to endurance sports. This was finally an event I could do! I didn’t have to be the fastest I just had to cross the finish line before the “last call” van scooped me up, so exciting! Then I realized I was way more excited about the swimming part (though still incredibly terrified) than the biking and especially the running. Go figure. The swimmer wanted more water time, haha.
That’s when I “discovered” long distance open water swimming…marathon swimming. And my life changed forever. Every big life lesson that I have learned in the last three years came from hours in the water, being tossed in huge swells, following my escort boat, finding swim community, fighting pain and panic, losing myself in the dark, or just listening to my breathing. In 2017 the Viking Width of Lake Tahoe was my first ever marathon swim, and less than a year later (on my 40th birthday) I became the second woman to circumnavigate Bermuda. I’m still utterly petrified of open water where I can’t see the bottom, but I’ll take that win.
I swim because it gives me a sense of well being and a feeling accomplishment. I am completely enamored of all the sensations of being in the water, floating, feeling weightless, the feel of the water on my skin, feeling completely ensconced, the silence under the water, the noise of it rushing past my ears, the movement of gliding through perfectly still water, the power of each stroke, the beauty of the sun reflected on the bottom of perfectly clear water, the blue of sky as seen from under the water, the world that exists in clear oceans, the rhythm of the waves, the undulation of swells, the perfectness of it all.
I also swim to take myself out of all that and out of my comfort zone and to push myself beyond my limits both physically and mentally. The water can be a cruel mistress. She can toss you, fight you, throw you, make you cry, make you scream…and she is always right. She is always the most powerful. To learn how to be taken on that ride, to be respectful of everything she can do, to understand you are nothing, have no power, are less significant than a single drop in that vast body of water, and come out the other side humbled, safe, and more wise than when you started…that’s the goal. If you can do that, the rest of life is a piece of pie. Life on land holds no fear, no limits, no obstacles that can’t be overcome. Just be patient with the current.