The San Jose Mercury News
August 15, 2018
By Rachel Basso, Correspondent, Silicon Valley Community News
the South Valley YMCA outdoor pool. When he turned 50, he
challenged himself to become an ocean swimmer.
(Photo courtesy YMCA of Silicon Valley).
San Jose’s Al Jaurique was just a dad signing his kids up for swim lessons. Once he jumped in the pool himself, he grew devoted to swimming laps at the South Valley Family YMCA outdoor pool. After years of swimming back and forth outdoors in the confines of the walled pool, he thought to himself, why not really swim outdoors?
Once ready to tackle the challenge of open water, the swimming community connected Jaurique with other passionate individuals to show him the ropes. “They’ll take anybody out and stay with you on a paddleboard, they’ll help you with stroke, and they’ll help you with acclimation. Swimming has a really great community.”
At 50 years old, Jaurique plunged from outdoor pool to open ocean with an experienced partner as a guide who advised him, “Swim to the shore, get out, breathe a little bit, and come back.”
He admits that the first time he hit the open ocean, he chickened out and paddled his way back to shore. “I got out to the first buoy (25 yards) and survival mode kicked in. I can’t explain the feeling. You have to go through it.”
Ready to call it quits, Jaurique recalls, “I thought to myself, I’m just going to get out and go home. When I stood up and got out, my guide was right behind me asking, ‘Where do you think you’re going?’”
Reluctantly, Jaurique got back in the water and ultimately overcame his fears, completing his first triathlon a few months later.
Now, at 62, Jaurique is constantly swimming outdoors, whether it’s the width of Lake Tahoe up and down the pier in Santa Cruz, under the Golden Gate Bridge, or in the Y’s outdoor pool where his love for the sport began.
While outdoor swimming keeps him fit, Jaurique’s primary motivation to get in the water stems from his enjoyment of the sport.
”When people ask my nieces, my nephews, and my daughter about me, I want people to be intrigued. I don’t want them to say, well, he did this job and he did that job and we went on vacation. I want them to say, ‘My dad swam in the open ocean’, and I want people to get interested in the sport.”
The exhilaration and intrigue that swimming has brought into his life is a gift Jaurique strives to spread by sharing his excitement for the sport. Although the idea of outdoor swimming may be scary, Jaurique is living proof that it’s never too late to start. His, “Bring your bathing suit,” catch-phrase is a prime example of his excitement to get others in the water. He gained confidence in YMCA pools with the support of fellow Y lap swimmers, lifeguards, and staff. In fact, any absence from the lap lanes sparked phone calls to his home from Y staff, motivating him to stay accountable to his goals.
The warmth and genuine compassion of the aquatic community keeps Jaurique jumping in day after day. He’s grateful for the adaptive nature of swimming, as he has no plans of stopping for the rest of his life.
“Swimming is one of those sports that anybody can do. You can come in a wheelchair, you can be injured, and you can have a bad ankle or a bad hip,” he said. “You can always find a way to adapt.”
Rachel Basso is the marketing communications manager for the YMCA of Silicon Valley.
Read the original story here:
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/08/15/san-jose-dad-finds-ocean-swimming-late-in-life/