The Community Answers “What is Holding You Back from Swimming More?”
We all face obstacles that get in the way of our favorite activities and hobbies. Open water swimmers face multiple challenges both in and out of the water, making swimming in the open regularly difficult.
A #buoyselfie taken during our 6/6 Sunday Odyssey Berkeley swim
Odyssey Open Water Swimming hosts over 70 swims a year to give local swimmers a wide range of opportunities to get in the water. In a recent “Ask the Community” post, we asked the open water swimming community “What is holding you back from swimming more?” Here are the responses we received on Facebook and Instagram.
“Childcare and puppy care.” - Tracy Kleinheinz
“Lack of time and too much responsibility! Also challenge getting lanes still. I’d love to live next to the open water!” - Aaron Walz
“Being sore ” - Shon Johnson
“Shon Johnson nothing stops you. You swim 18k yards a week.” - Aaron Walz
“For pool swimming: the reservation system. For open water: the task of getting there.” - Eric See
“Work, dog sitting.” - Sharon Radcliff
“My blue-collar job.” - Astolfo Feregrino
“Work. It takes most of my energy.” - @Agustinsilva1986
“Time and location.” - @Andrew.Trippel
“A job.” - @Rich.saint669
“Access to a body of water.” - @Motherkirby
“I’m a single mom. I can’t watch the kids while I swim.” - @Mermainladykatie
“Babysitting. Most masters swimming is early am, just try getting a babysitter at 5 am lol. I used to swim at the gym and the kids were in the gym daycare. Since covid, a lot of daycares in gyms aren’t open. So yeah, swimming unfortunately doesn’t happen as much as I’d like it to.” - @bmxjillian
“I’d say access to a boat, because my kayaker isn’t interested in piloting more than a 10k and we’ve had to rent boats for longer swims.” - @carlyb_a_swimmer
“Work! 😂” - @kristybarrett_20
“My mind!” - @sandraf_b_ows
Look out for our “Ask the Community” posts every Monday on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.