Kelly O
Before a few weeks ago, I had not swam in a lake in maybe 20 years. Granted, I had not lived in the Pacific Northwest, where lakes are abundant. I lived in Oakland, a place where the nearest bodies of water are freezing and/or polluted. It’s not that I don’t like swimming—it’s that I had little desire for skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic, and gastrointestinal infections. Also, I’m not a very strong swimmer.
Then I met my boyfriend on OkCupid. He listed “lake swimming” as one of the activities he couldn’t live without. That sounded like fun, though mildly terrifying. Fast-forward several months: I’ve now gone swimming four times in three lakes…
