A Freezing Swim - Capsizing & Rias Corner - Zooming Out

Welcome back around the fountain. Fountain 58 - One of my best true stories and back this week, everyone’s favorite Ria Corner. You will want to learn from her tool and tactic of zooming out to keep your heartrate lower and feeling better. A reflection from Ria during a heavy stretch, where the answer was not pushing harder, but zooming out to regain perspective when things felt close and overwhelming.

Continuing on the theme of almost dying from last week, this week we share a true story of an ill planned canoe trip that ended in the hospital and could have ended a lot worse.

Both stories live in the same place, along the margin of life and death. I learned the hard way so others can save themselves from a life threating swim.

A margin where judgment matters, intensity cuts both ways, and small decisions carry outsized consequences.

The stories about barely staying afloat, before anything can be built.

We continue to grow each week, and we are grateful because that means we are doing somethings right. If you feel that someone in your circle would benefit from some new ideas, points of view, and thoughtful conversations, here is a share button. Thanks for sharing some jewels for others to put in their satchel. Shout out to another one of our subscribers who just earned a 1-1 with Ria and I for referring 20 people!. We would love to talk with you 🙂

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Founder Stories

The phone rang one day, asking if I would be interested to be part of the Ski to Sea annual race from the top of Big White ski resort to Okanagan Lake in Kelowna BC.

I am not by any means an expert Canoer but I am Canadian, had a decent J stroke and had taken canoeing in outdoor education in grade 12. So I accepted the adventure and the role and called my great friend Kyle to join me in the two man canoe.

Kyle and I borrowed a canoe from a friend’s dad and we luckily grabbed a couple lifejackets and headed for the lake for a practice, the day before the race.

Cue mistake number one - the first mistake was a lack of a plan, a route for the voyage. Instead of taking a few minutes to think and plan we hopped in. Instead of smartly practicing along the shore only feet from safety and coordinating our teamwork, cadence, and strokes. We foolishly started out in a straight line the other direction toward the middle of the lake, to practice the course we would race the next day directly across the lake.

It was about 4 o’clock on a cold March day in Canada and the water temperature in the lake would’ve been near freezing. The first part of the paddle went well, and we made it about 1/2 of the way across the lake into a very wide part of the lake. 

At this time, the wind changed and the waves started picking up significantly. Kyle and I could feel the energy changing and agreed it was a good idea to turn around the Canoe and head back for Manhattan Point, where we had embarked from.

However, as we started to turn the Canoe, the waves started hitting the side which started moving the Canoe in a wobble left and right, which started an imbalance, which then led to a im-counterbalance, which before we knew it a quick flip of the Canoe and Kyle and I were under the water.

The shock of the cold water was piercing. Sucked the air out of your lungs. We both came up for air, and the first thing I said to Kyle was “We’re not gonna die.”

We had to decide which side of the lake to swim toward, as we were basically in the middle. We thanked our lucky stars that we were wearing our lifejackets, and agreed to swim east back the beach we felt was nearest.

Knowing what I know now about cold exposure and hypothermia, I would’ve been more worried, but I am a strong swimmer and knew we were in a really bad spot, and was either going to make it back or not make it all.

I started to swim by kicking off my shoes and letting them sink while wearing pants and a sweater and a life jacket. Kyle and I struggled and stayed talking to each other to motivate and check in with each other.

There was no one on the lake, it was March. It didn’t take long before our arms and legs started to go numb and breathing started to get harder.

I could feel the weight of my body, while also losing feeling of it. It was scary and I was trying to make sure Kyle was also doing okay keeping up.

We were in the water for approximately 30 minutes during our swim back. As we were the only people out on the lake, our capsizing and two bodies in the water luckily drew the attention of a homeowner along the Manhattan Point.

They called and ambulance and police and as we were swimming, we saw the RCMP and ambulance pull up to the beach. 

It was a long swim, and Kyle was falling behind me, I swam and pushed myself towards the shore and eventually felt the sand below my feet and stood up. I looked back and yelled for Kyle to keep on pushing, and he could make it.

I walked up to shore, and the ambulance gave me a blanket and told me to take off my clothes. I was shivering and cold and cheering for my friend to make it back to shore. 

Kyle Made it up onto the sand and he was in worse shape, His lips were blue and he was shivering. The paramedics put him into the ambulance immediately, and I hopped into the police car and we went to the hospital.  

Kyle was rushed away and I was laid into a heating bed. Then I got to recover enough to make a phone call to Ria. I told her to bring me down a pair of shoes as I lost mine and we were at the Hospital and might have lost the Canoe.

Kyle warmed up and made it back strong. Thanks to everyone that helped us that day.

We went to the hospital for recovery and learned a few great lessons as well as tightened up our friendship while creating a story for a lifetime.

Moral of the Story

The lessons from the day were:

Route - What path should we take? What is Smart based on our skill?
Risk - We literally “got out too deep” and almost never made it back.
Response - So now what?

So here’s to adventuring, friendship, and teamwork. I hope your Routes, Risks, and Responses to moments you find yourself unexpectedly flipped over in your life will be righted quickly or your close to shore.

Thanks to Kyle for being such a good friend, to Okanagan Lake the lake we return to each year, and my forever canoe racing and cliff diving partner. 

January was rough. For reasons both personal and global, the weight of uncertainty and sadness felt heavier than usual in a month that is supposed to be about "new beginnings."

Aside from leaning on the friends and family that feel like home, Trent and I sought some perspective to get us through it. Now, if you know Trent, he is a naturally intense guy—mostly in all the right ways—but when burnout or breakdown starts to loom, intensity is no longer helpful. There are only so many workouts and "results" that can actually move the needle on your mental health.

This is where life gets real and having a counterbalance is key. I ended up sharing a perspective that has helped us maintain our sanity through these challenging times.

I call it "Zoom Out."

Think of your first-person experience like a camera, where you are the director. You choose where to focus, where to zoom, and when to pan out. When things get difficult, our natural inclination is to zoom in. We get closer so we can analyze and understand the problem in the hopes of solving it.

The problem is that proximity breeds bias and a false sense of scale. Being hyper-focused on our problems makes us believe they are bigger and more important than they truly are. To find clarity, you can give yourself space by zooming out mentally.

Here are four ways to shift your lens:

These days, Trent and I will remind each other softly with the words Zoom Out. Not as a command, but as a reminder.  

I dare you to try it. Give yourself the gift of perspective this week and share this with someone who might appreciate it.

All love,

Ria xo

A couple of fun videos for us to watch

All the buzz. We will be looking more into this in the coming weeks.

Yes Please - need more nature and music and surprise locations. Should the Fountain do one this summer? Where? Let us know.

“The Longer you wait for that chance, the shorter the future will be when you arrive” - Daniel Arsham https://www.danielarsham.com/ Well said and respect to all the artists out there.