Our Swimming Adventure in Montenegro

We had a terrific time on our Strel Swimming adventure in Montenegro. It was unlike anything we’d ever done before, and perhaps ever will do again; well, anytime soon at least. Perhaps a few highlights and observations will be a better format for this post, rather than a narrative.

First, our training was important. You should always train for what you are going to do and getting comfortable in the open water was super helpful. It gave us the confidence to jump right in each day, even though we weren’t the fastest or best swimmers in our group – not even close.

Second, although all levels of swimmers are welcome on these types of trips, we think that’s a bit of an overstatement. Before the trip we thought of ourselves as strong swimmers, and we still believe that’s true. But being able to swim well and being a swimmer are two different things. My background, with loads of swim lessons, swim team in high school, and swimming for exercise at various times, meant I had developed and maintained a decent level of technique. Jeff had the ability and fitness to power through the swims, but, as we learned, his lack of technique meant that he was probably working twice as hard as everyone else to keep up. Nearly everyone else on the trip regularly swims for exercise. To truly enjoy a trip like this, being a “swimmer” helps a lot.

Third, we had a great group of 16 other swimmers (and 2 guides) who were fun, supportive, and diverse in age and background. We really lucked out and hope to see members of the group again in London, Melbourne, Zurich, LA and Chicago.

Here are photos of our main boat and a mid-swim drink break – bonus points if you can pick us out:

Our swims ranged from 2 to 2.5 km and we swam twice a day – once in the morning and once in the afternoon. In between we visited small towns in the area, had lunch, and one day did a hike. We spent two days in the Bay of Kotor and the other two in the Adriatic Sea. The scenery was amazing and being out on a boat all day was a great way to enjoy and appreciate these coastal areas.

During day 3 of swimming we were hitting our wall. Jeff was sore and developing an overuse shoulder injury and I was running out of steam. I borrowed a pair of fins to do swim #6 and was glad I did. You don’t notice your physical exhaustion in the water as quickly as you might on land. We both took the fourth day of swimming off – I was sick and Jeff was ready for a break.

We have no regrets about taking the swim trip. It was a new challenge and we met amazing people. While we confirmed that swimming is not Jeff’s thing, that made Jeff the hero of our group – everyone was so impressed that he was willing to go outside his comfort zone to make his wife happy. He gets the “super hubby” award. Jeff may not do another swim trip, but I would be up for it! Any volunteers to join me?

More details of our adventures in Montenegro and Croatia to come soon.

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff