By Kevin Majoros
The practice venues for competitive pool swimmers have controlled environments that allow for participants to train without interruption.
There are wave-resistant lane lines, pace clocks, a black line on the bottom to help swimmers swim straight and a coach on deck overseeing the practice. The water temperature is set to the perfect number and the chemical balance of the water is tested hourly.
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic hit hard in the Delmarva Peninsula in March of 2020, and one by one every single pool was closed due to safety precautions.
Competitive pool swimmers who train multiple times per week year round, found themselves without options to pursue the sport they love.
Less than one month into the pandemic, a group of swimmers in the Washington, D.C. area began planning a return to training in the only water that was available to them – the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. For many, it would be the first time that they ventured into an uncontrolled swimming environment. For all, it would be a lesson on learning the value of what nature has to offer.
Learning Lessons in Nature
The group found a home base at a local swimmer’s house in Annapolis, Maryland on the South River and a second location at another swimmer’s house on the nearby Rhode River.
They quickly grew to over 100 swimmers from D.C., Maryland and Virginia and the questions started on day one.
What marine life is living in the water? What are the bacteria levels? What is the temperature?
All of those questions were answered with internet searches and knowledge from the host swimmers, but the questions evolved as the seasons changed.
The temperature rose, the marine life hatched, and hurricane season arrived for one of its biggest years.
The group, who dubbed themselves The South River Stingers, would spend the next seven months swimming four days per week in an uncontrolled environment that would result in a new awareness for the nature that had surrounded them all along.
After each swim, the Stingers gathered in their makeshift locker room on a front lawn and discussed what they just experienced. Each discussion raised environmental topics that most city dwellers do not even consider in their daily life.
Benefitting from the Work of Local Environmental Groups
One thing that became apparent on the first day of swimming for the Stingers was the quality of the water. To reach their pier entry on Duvall Creek, the group passed through a rain garden that is maintained by local environmental groups.
Different from a common flower garden, a rain garden captures polluted stormwater and is created by making depressions in the landscape to promote stormwater infiltration and reduce stormwater runoff.
The native plants, trees and shrubs planted in a rain garden help absorb some of the stormwater, including excess nutrients that can aid in the decline of water quality in the waterways.
After swimming through Duvall Creek, the Stingers held their practices in an open basin in the South River where they swam laps between two buoys. The basin was surrounded by living shorelines.
Living shorelines provide shoreline stabilization by working with the wave energy on the rivers and creeks to prevent erosion and provide vital habitat for animals such as terrapins and horseshoe crabs. The shorelines are stabilized with native shrubs and grasses and also provide important nesting and feeding areas for shorebirds and other wildlife.
After multiple visits to the neighboring Rhode River where the Stingers circumnavigated several islands, the group began a series of adventure swims down the coast of the South River to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
During those swims, they came upon a new beach that was being created on Smiths Island with a living shoreline. The dredging to create the beach is part of the Poplar Island Restoration Project.
The Poplar Island Restoration Project is an effort to rebuild the eroding island and establish a wide range of habitats, including nesting islands, tidal wetlands, open water ponds and forested uplands. Once complete, the island will provide valuable habitat for birds, crabs, fish, and shellfish. Its wetlands will also serve as a natural filter to help improve water quality throughout the Chesapeake Bay.
Taking the Time to Enjoy Nature
The swimmers encountered numerous types of marine life during their swims including Chesapeake blue crabs, horseshoe crabs, cownose rays, oysters, and multiple types of jellyfish.
Despite receiving as many as twenty jellyfish stings in each practice, they returned each day because the rest of the experience was offering something they had not expected.
Sarah Dammeyer grew up on nearby Spa Creek and says that spending time in nature was always put on the back burner. She started swimming with the Stingers with a solid fear of jellyfish and whatever was living on the bottom of the waterways.
“This started out as an experiment for me and I didn’t have high expectations. After trying to control everything in my daily life at home, this was a surrender to whatever was going to happen,” says Dammeyer. “Being immersed in Mother Nature made me feel small and insignificant and that was comforting to me. Each day was a different and unique experience and I felt more independent and empowered.”
José Cunningham says he cannot stop talking about his experiences in the river. Raised in Santa Monica, California, he did not consider himself to be the kind of person that would commit to spending so much time in nature.
“I am so involved in my work in politics that this experience is not something I would normally consider. Recent trips to Alaska and Africa planted the seed and helped to change my mind,” says Cunningham. “I loved being in tune with my immediate surroundings and connecting with swimmers I would not have known otherwise. We all shared a bond in nature and took the time to appreciate what we were experiencing.”
Growing up in Northern California, Ellen Wertheimer swam in lakes and the Pacific Ocean. She had no reservations about jumping in and immersing herself in the experience.
“I was taking everything in during each swim – the sun glinting off the water, the osprey flying over and diving, and the way the water opened up at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. It felt really infinite,” says Wertheimer. “I connected to a new place in a really deep way. It was like making a new friend.”
Check out Delmarva Peninsula environmental groups online:
- Chesapeake Bay Foundation
- Arundel Rivers Federation
- Maryland Department of Natural ResourcesSmithsonian Environmental Research Center
This piece was prepared online by Panuruji Kenta, Publisher, SEVENSEAS Media