Load of Bull

Pop quiz hotshot, when swimming in the Swan River for a bit over an hour, just how many times do you think about Bull Sharks?

Honestly, it is probably quicker to count the number of times you are not thinking about Bull Sharks.

Don't get me wrong, it is not as if the Swan River is teeming with Bull Sharks, in fact the last fatal Bull Shark attack was in the 1920s. But the fact that Bull Sharks are in the Swan isn't really up for debate, in fact it is a known Bull Shark nursery. They come into the river to give birth in late Spring/Early Summer, kind of sometime around nowish I guess...

Usually it doesn't phase me all that much, although I would by lying if I said it didn't cross my mind most swims. I have surfed in WA for years and dived in the Swan etc, doing those things you either get over a fear of sharks or you get out of the water. But some mornings the thought just sneaks into the back of your mind, and once it is there it is very hard to get rid of. It isn't helped by the fact that I do my open water swimming at Bicton Baths, which is only a few kms from the mouth of the river. It is very easy to start thinking about how close you are to the ocean.

I think this morning was a bit worse because I was swimming by myself for most of the session. On a session like today's, where it is early, the water is still and there is nobody else in the water, it is very easy for the imagination to start working overtime. 'What's that shadow over there? Wow, I really can't see far in this water, anything could be past that post.' Those sorts of thoughts. Very unhelpful.

Anyway, despite all that I got through the session. It took a bit of straight thinking will power to keep myself in the water, but I got there. Pretty cold though, I have a similar swim on Friday and I think  I will definitely go the wetsuit for that one. Just cold enough that by the last km you are getting uncomfortable. By the time I got out of the water this time bits of my extremities were numb. As a guy numb extremities is never a good thing, although in this case it was mostly my fingers.

I have another swim on the cards this afternoon. A bit of a first for me, having a double swim day. I don't think I have ever had that before. Something different. My swim this afternoon will be in a pool though, so hopefully fewer carnivores to think of.