How it started:

We would like to share with you an experience Jax had years ago from Jax’s perspective that illustrates the importance of swimmer-specific paddler training.

During a safe and routine 13 mile swim along my favorite shoreline, I was accompanied by a friend from out of the area who owned a kayak. We knew each other from work and it was his first time paddling for me. My expectations of paddler support were very low; I viewed the kayak as a mobile snack shack and the day in part as a social get-together. 

After the first mile I suddenly smelled and tasted something terrible. The water looked reddish with white foam on top. To my horror, my body was immersed in a bloom of toxic algae. What happened next makes my heart race even to think about. My throat tightened. I gasped for air. My eyes bugged out from the strain to breathe. 

I went vertical and barely could tread water. I was panicked, suffocating, and going down in a matter of seconds.

My paddler did not detect the signs of my distress so didn’t do anything to help me. I was experiencing a true life and death moment, and there was a person who could have rescued me. I didn’t put that concept together at the time; my paddler certainly didn’t recognize he could have a role in that moment. Neither of us had contemplated the prospect of my drowning; it seemed ludicrous!

I turned toward shore which seemed impossibly far away and began a slow doggy paddle while focusing on getting any air I could. All the while my paddler watched me as if he was frozen in place. My paddler was not inept. He was proficient at operating a kayak. But, he was severely ill-prepared to provide any assistance which I desperately needed. I managed to get to shallow water and once I stood up I got enough good quality air to start to recover. I was shaken, bewildered, and humbled.

We want to prevent situations like this from happening to you!

If the paddler that day had taken the OWSST course, that swim would have gone very differently. With the OWSST course he could have identified the water hazard by looking ahead and guided me another direction away from the foaming algal bloom. With the safety training he would have recognized the signs of distressed breathing AND had the knowledge and wherewithal to quickly use his kayak and/or pfd (personal flotation device) to provide emergency aid.

Thank you for considering upgrading your ability to be THE ONE for a swimmer. To the swimmers, thank you for considering using OWSST as a way to “shore up” your own safety and broaden the safety measures adopted by our beloved community.