Swimming upstream. Up a creek without a paddle. Swim against the tide. The calm before the storm. In the swim of things. Out of the swim of things. Sink or swim. Be in the swim of things.

It is remarkable how many idioms in life are related to open water swimming.

But every open water swimmer knows how much these saying have meaning on terra firma.

Whenever you are sitting in a classroom wondering what the world the teacher is talking about or when your boss at work gives you an unreasonable task, an open water swimmer has faced and handled this kind of frustration before. Similar to facing an oncoming surface chop or handling the cold, the swimmer knows that commitment and focus is required to succeed and giving up is not the optimal option.

Like a turn buoy that never seems to come, the open water swimmer remains patient and keeps stroking away, putting forth the effort to reach the goal.

Upper photo shows the start of the 10 km El Cruce in Cancún, Mexico. Lower photo shows the race at the USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships in Castaic Lake, California.

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