“I realized there is so much more to life than a life with my wasband,” a divorcee was overheard talking to her travel partner on their way to Cozumel, Mexico.

“Fortunately, I found a passion swimming in the ocean. I always loved the water, warm or cold. But I got away from swimming. Now, I can easily get in a zone while swimming or scuba diving, especially down here in the tropical waters in the Caribbean. The warmth, the marine life, it all helps soothe what I just went through.”

Whether men or women are going through tough times with all its frustrations and disappointments, it can be a huge relief to do something healthy together with like-minded people. Exercise, either outdoor or indoor, especially in times of emotional turmoil, is extraordinarily effective for the mind, body and soul. En route to the Caribbean Sea, it was not surprising to find out how much the ocean could fill the void that is created when another person departs from one’s life. It was easy to see how the community of the open water world can fill the vacuum created by a divorce.

“This is often a topic of conversation after swims,” says one swimmer. “We really do help each other get through tough times, filling in the dark gaps with swimming and our presence. It is really uplifting.”

Go to any open water swimming event or pod of people gathering on a seashore or lakeside. Their sense of camaraderie and community is obvious. They not only enjoy the same activities, but they literally watch each other’s back in the open water. They care for one another and speak the same language. They smile and laugh together. They worry about and overcome the same things: marine life, cold water, strong currents. As they emerge from the oceans and lakes, they can understand each other’s feelings without having to explicitly express themselves. Their common ties among male and female, young and old, fast and slow, are profoundly emotional.

Like the relationship between couples whether they are young or old, married or divorced.

The percentage of divorced athletes may be no greater or no less than the percentage of divorcees in society at large. But out in the open water, smiles often help mask the sadness. The energy and physicality required to swim in the ocean can help soothe the pain. The sense of community in the open water swimming world can serve as a protective cocoon against emotional baggage created on terra firma.

“How was it? How did you feel? Did you see that dolphin?” These are the type of questions that open water swimmers face when they get out of the ocean, male or female.

The answers that the swimmers give are generally positive and certainly not focused on relationship problems. Rather, when going stroke-for-stroke with others in the ocean, they feel in tune with others, in synchronicity with friends, and in harmony with nature. That sense of oneness, camaraderie, and community is a wonderful dose of medicine to help cure – at least temporarily – any feeling of sadness or loneliness.

Copyright © 2013 by Open Water Swimming