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Sports

Inside the Hardcore Sport of Open Water Swimming

Competing alongside crocodiles, fighting off opponents, and taking life-threatening risks—who knew swimming could be such a dangerous sport?
Photo by Mark Blinch-The Canadian Press

Richard Weinberger plunged into one of the most treacherous open water swims he can recall in 2010. The 16-kilometre course was the Sumidero Canyon in the Mexican State of Chiapas—a canyon surrounded by a national park thick with a dark green rainforest canopy running through it, a murky vile brown river, notorious for being filled with empty bottles, broken tree logs and vultures pecking away on dead cows floating down stream.

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On the Saturday—a day before the Grand Prix race—Weinberger, with other swimmers and officials, boated down the Sumidero course to scope out the terrain, currents and bends in the river in order to plot a strategy for the race. It was during this boat ride that officials warned swimmers that the canyon is home to crocodiles. Weinberger's coach at the time, Ron Jacks, who was also an animal behavourist, told him to swim in the middle of the pack because crocodiles tend to gravitate toward the back to kill the weakest prey.

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Weinberger, 20 years old at the time, stuck to his coach's specific instructions and swam the entire race in the middle of the pack. He finished in sixth place. Following the race, Weinberger said the majority of the swimmers were violently ill from ingesting the bacteria in the river and took two weeks to recover—he recalls more than 50 percent of the field were hospitalized. That was the last time a race of this kind was held at the Sumidero Canyon. Weinberger managed to dodge the crocodiles, but the bacteria in the river got him.

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It's almost as if Weinberger gets off on retelling these terrifying stories like Sumidero. On the phone to him shortly after finishing eighth in the world championships in Kazan, Russia, which qualified him for 2016 Rio Olympics, the 25-year-old from Victoria, British Columbia, laughs it all off like it's no big deal. Every race is different and has its own set of peculiar obstacles to overcome. And he's not referring to the long distances of swimming 10, 16, or 25 kilometres. That's the easy part, kind of.

Whether it's the ocean, lake or river, Weinberger's mind is full of a collection of fears: getting tangled in a fishing net, bacteria, drowning, encountering jellyfish, rays, sea snakes and giant water millipedes and swimming in water that is freezing or too warm. At the 2011 Pan Am Games in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, there were shark sightings in the water leading up to race day. Weinberger remembers that officials organized sharpshooters at each turn buoy during the race to watch the water and make sure swimmers were safe. For Weinberger, as much as the unknown of the water and what lies beneath frightens him, it's also the beast that propels him to succeed.

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"Open water swimming is pretty hardcore" he said. "We race, rain or shine. Whether there is sea life there that wants to kill us and if there is thunder and lighting. It doesn't matter. The show still goes on."

The Federation Internationale De Natation defines open water swimming as any competition that takes place in rivers, lakes, oceans, or water channels. Swimmers race up to 10 kilometres in World Cups and 16 kilometres in Grand Prixs. It's not a lucrative sport in Canada, although the elite can make a decent living through basic salary, prize money and sponsorship. For the most part, the average open water swimmer in Canada is just getting by and rarely would they make six figures. Open water swimming is what pool swimming is multiplied by 10, according to Weinberger: swim 100 kilometres per week, eat like a horse and give up late nights for grinding early morning training sessions. There's a critical mental aspect on top of that—to train your mind to not fear swimming in bodies of water like you have a target on your back.

"We deal with the elements. People die in our races if they are not fit. To be a contender in open water you have to have the mind, the fitness and work consistently for years on end," he said.

In 2010, American swimmer Fran Crippen died tragically after water temperatures soared more than 30 degrees Celsius during a 10-kilometre World Cup race in United Arab Emirates. A study released by The National Center for Biotechnology Information on open water swimmers and moving in extreme environments revealed that with the increase in the number and variety of open water swimming events comes an increased risk of an adverse medical event. Swimmers have died in hot and cold water conditions during competition.

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Since Crippen's tragic death, FINA set the water temperature at 31 degrees Celsius. Research groups were in favour of the recent temperature standard and also have released studies showing a five-kilometre distance race raised body temperatures by two degrees. While many critics argue the world standard should be set at 28 degrees, there are still other snags open water swimmers deal with each time they enter the water. The New Yorker wrote about Diana Nyad, a marathon swimmer, who said swimming is the loneliest sport in the world because you're mostly staring into a murky, hallucinatory vastness where you're alone with your thoughts, and your pain, submerged for long periods. And Jenny Landreth, a swimmer and author from the Guardian, wrote about the fear of not knowing what lies underneath you. "It can happen on the calmest day, in the murkiest or clearest waters, on your own or in a crowd. Suddenly you think 'what if', and wham. In comes the fear."

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It took a trip to Saudi Arabia to get Weinberger swimming. When he was five years old, his Dad, a Canadian Air force pilot, took a 12-month contract there to assist the Saudi's how to fly a new jet. They lived in a compound that had a pool. But the compound also had a feral cat. Every time Weinberger wandered around the compound and a nearby swing set, the only way to escape the swatting cat was to jump into the pool. It was through this escape mechanism that Weinberger got his taste for water, albeit the chlorinated kind.

After swimming with various clubs, Weinberger became adept at the 1500-metre freestyle, 400-metre freestyle and 200-metre backstroke. From watching teammate David Creel, the London bronze medalist told his coach he wanted to train and dedicate his time to the open water swim.

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"I got into it because I was tired of swimming in the pool for eight hours a day. Instead, I was able to focus on one race and get to travel to the World Cups that were held in Brazil, Argentina, all over the world," he said. "I fell in love with the sport right away."

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Weinberger made Canadians proud when he won a bronze medal in the 10-kilometre marathon at the 2012 Olympics in London. He's now cracked the top 10 in the world and has his sights set on cracking the podium once again in Rio. His next big swim is the 10-kilometre race in Lac Megantic, Quebec, then he has to switch on for the pre-Olympic race in Rio next year.

He says his sport is developing and is adamant it isn't rough even though there are yellow and red cards handed out to swimmers who whack other swimmers in the legs or arms in order to gain an advantage. Rio organizers are busy fending off claims that the water quality for the swimmers is unfit for humans. Even so, it will be business as usual for Weinberger, who feeds off the adrenaline rush of world competition and risk.

"The hardest thing is trying to hammer out 100-kilometre weeks and being consistent. It's every week, doing the best week of your life, then come Monday morning—you have to do it all over again," he said. "It's just an onslaught of consistency and constant focus.

"You can't let go or you'll fall off and you'll waste a week. And then it's so hard to get back on it."