I found a few swims to aim for this year. Um, I mean, to train for. Two 5Ks and a 10K. This will truly be an experimental “season” as most, if not all, of my training will be in my tiny 12m long pool, using the stationary strap things. (I’m heartened that others have swum much farther and bigger doing similar training, like Fast Eddie.) Also experimental because I’m still aiming to swim in some Kyrgyz lakes this year. And, from what I’m learning, some of this swimming may be spur of the moment events.

The family and I are going to the beautiful island of Brač, Croatia, this year. We’re staying in Sutivan, on the northern coast. The place looks gorgeous and the entire island is filled with beaches and old history. Right across the water is uber-famous Split, where they film some Game of Thrones scenes. Better than that, there is real history there, like Diocletian’s Palace.

Even cooler, and more on point for this blog, there are open water swims all over the country. So…I’ve signed up for one. And I’m trying to contact the race directors of two others. The one I’m definitely in is the Raslina 5K, a mere 100k from Split (and a 50 min ferry from Sutivan). It starts at 10am, so I’ll probably leave fairly early to get there in time.

Two others are even closer. There’s another 5K in Kaštel Stari, which is only 20km from Split. It also starts at 10am, but being so much closer, it’ll be much quicker, so I can leave later.

And there is a 10K swim in Omiš, only 25km south of Split. That 10K worries me, but doing a 10K right before returning to Kyrgyzstan will give me the impetus to pursue some of these lakes here. The worrisome part came after looking at last year’s results. The slowest finisher came in at 3:25, about 15 minutes faster than my fastest 10K. This Omiš swim usually has a 2K too, and I have no problem doing that. I’d like to avoid being last (I know it’s silly, but my Cyprus experience has soured me), but hell, just being able to do these swims in Croatia will be fun and wonderful.

And the expense. Talk about context. The one swim I was able to register in so far (the Raslina 5K) will cost me $11 in today’s dollars, and that includes the swim, food at the finish and t-shirt!