How to Ocean Swim Without Being Eaten

You could fork up $700 for a Shark Shield...however this headline: "Shark Shield Experiences Epic Failure, Gets Chomped by Great White" may deter you from wasting your money. You might be better off investing in swim lessons to get fast enough to swim away from impending doom, should you see a giant jaw open up below you.

Or, you could swim where there are a LOT of other people, making your chances of becoming breakfast much slimmer. Especially if you're wearing a bathing suit, and almost everyone else looks like a seal.

The abundance of other meal options was the justification for why I drove 30 minutes to and from Santa Monica this morning to swim in the ocean, instead of walking 10 minutes down the road to swim in my ocean.

A group of swimmers numbering maybe 50(?) met south of the Santa Monica pier, ignoring all warnings that water there is known to have high bacteria levels, just so they could all swim together out to a bright orange buoy, then back in again...over and over. It was awesome.

Plainly called the "Wednesday Ocean Speed Circuit", the weekly event was very worth the ridiculous amount of time it took to get to and from it. The "real" swimmers almost all were in bathing suits, and went around the buoy several times. While I am always the butt of the real swimmers, and the head of the triathletes (hence why I'm usually the best-looking meal option, swimming all alone), this time it didn't matter. I was surrounded by real swimmers up front, and triathletes behind. And after the first loop, there were people everywhere. It was awesome. I only freaked myself out once, believing I saw a fin...which could've happened--there were dolphins out there too...with 4 eyes! Just kidding.

Moral of the story: If you love to swim in the ocean, but have a hyperactive imagination and no control over your consequent heart palpitations, which you in turn believe attract sharks, who can detect your spastic electrical pulses, do an ocean speed circuit swim. If you don't have one, set one up. And if you live by a lake, you didn't even need to read this...unless you've heard rumors about lake-monster sightings.

Southern California’s Great White Shark Attack

Not since 1994 has a great white attack been reported on the San Diego coast. This morning broke that 14-year streak of cheerful ocean swimming.

Just after 7am, a group of about 10 San Diego Triahlon Club members went for an ocean swim heading north from Solana Beach’s Fletcher Cove. The group was about 150 meters from the shore when 66-year old tri-club member, David Martin, was attacked by a great white shark, estimated to be between 12 and 17 feet long. Sadly, Martin did not survive his injuries—he had “suffered deep jagged lacerations, from the upper thighs to the lower shin, with a bite radius of about 22 inches.”

Beaches in Solana Beach, Del Mar, and Encinitas have been closed for 72 hours as a precaution. The San Diego Tri Club is having a get together this evening at 6pm at B&L Bike and Sports to show support for David Martin’s family and take a walk to the cove.

And I will probably not be doing my Sunday ocean swim this week, having already been paranoid about being eaten by large fish I can’t see before ever reading this terrible news. That shark could probably make its way up the 100 miles of coastline between Solana Beach and Hermosa Beach in a few days, then easily mistake me for a seal as well.

Our thoughts are with David Martin’s family and the courageous people swimming with him this morning who brought him to shore. You have my utmost respect and sympathy.

For more on the attack, please go here. Or read San Diego Tri Club President Scott Long's statement here.

-TriDiva