Huh?

“You’re going where?”

“To do what?”

“When?”

 Yeah, China…to swim…in January

Then their eyes get narrow and they look at me quizzically no doubt wondering if I am joking.  When I say I am not joking and there really is an International Festival of Winter Swimming in Shandong, China and that I am going as part of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club delegation – and de facto representing the United States, then I can really tell that my sanity is being questioned.

But after the odd looks most people seem more than surprised and want to know more.   I am surprised myself.  I am leaving in a three weeks and I want to know more.  I have been making preparations – in gear and training – I still can’t really believe I am really doing this.  But on Tuesday, January 6 I’ll be on a plane headed to Beijing and then on a train to Jinan to the Festival.  What exactly this Festival entails is totally beyond my imagination (and I have a pretty good imagination).

In my mind my athletic background is minimal at best (though it’s been pointed out to me that this isn’t exactly true and worthy of a separate entry) so the fact I am representing this great county in anything related to sports tickles me silly.  But there it is.  Each year the international winter swimming community meets in this frozen city in China and jumps into a lake, or a spring, or a river for possibly a 500 meter swim in 50 degree water; or maybe 42 degree water or maybe just a photo op of us in swimsuits having a snowball fight –  we’ve gotten conflicting information.  But on the assumption there really is a swim involved I am actually training – indoor and outdoor (though the outdoor swims are fairly brief!)

I’ve never been to China and never really thought I’d ever go there, so when this opportunity presented itself I jumped.  It’s been a long time since I’ve travelled overseas.  I’ll be traveling with three other guys – one I know well – the others are members of the club who I am just getting to know.  But when you jump into really cold water with someone you bond very quickly.

In the last weeks I have been busy making lists, getting my visa, shopping for stuff that I may only use once – but what the heck – how often do I get to represent America at an international “sporting event?