Swim

Ocean First Swim Retreat in Lake Tahoe

By OceanFirst on 9/12/17

Ocean First Swim Retreat in Lake Tahoe, a trip report by Kathryn Foster.

Ocean First founder Graham Casden and his partner Klara have a special spot in their hearts for the crystal clear waters of Lake Tahoe. Thanks to Graham's generosity and dedication to the Ocean First community, he shared the experience with us over the long Labor Day weekend. I can officially back the slogan KEEP TAHOE BLUE. Our hearts and minds were blown away as we arrived to such a clear and clean body of water. Being the first time to Lake Tahoe for many of us, we had no idea what a weekend this would be. We threw on our suits ran to the water, and never left.

Our first day, we were pleasantly surprised by a water temp of 70 degrees. If you know Ms. Lauren, you know she had her eyes on the swimming, so she and our friend Holly hit the water for a “short” 2 mile swim. The rest of us grabbed kayaks, boards, and rafts to explore the shore line. Myself, Marlee, and Holly went out for a sunset paddle board sesh and had all the fun in the world working with choppy late afternoon waves. We all came in for a night of tacos and games around the table.

The next day was just as great, some of us woke up for a morning swim and paddle and with views of flat calm water. As we regrouped, we all jumped on the boat except Mr. Michael and Ms. Red on the waverunners and set out for a day trip. With veggie sammies and drinks we spent the day wakeboarding and laying on the rocks. Let me tell you, some of our instructors are a naturals behind the boat! When it was time to retrieve the anchor we found it to be stuck, so we sent Ms. Jess down to put her freediving skills to the test. At a measly 25 feet she stayed down trying to break the anchor free from the tripod of rocks. Although we didn’t succeed, we all got to witness firsthand how useful freediving can be. Thanks Jess! Finally, we made our way back to the house to relax in the hot tub. Afterwards, we were treated to an amazing dinner at sunset! We all came to an agreement that this night would be casino night. Graham gave us all a tutorial on craps and made sure we were well prepared to rule the tables. Some of us had success and won $240 on slots and $400 on roulette, and we won’t talk about the others. :)

On our final full day, we all managed to wake up bright and early for another morning swim and paddle session. Naturally, being from Colorado, SUP yoga took place and we challenged ourselves to take on hard poses and flows. Another round of boating occurred with wake surfing and sightseeing, and Ms. Sierra led a crew on a swim to some beautiful rock formations. We watched another amazing sunset together over the not so distant California mountains.

Overall, we dominated the water activities, grilled and chowed down, told hilarious stories, played fun childhood games, got to know each other even more, learned how to do acro and SUP yoga, took fun photos, and swam our little hearts out! We often found ourselves searching for a new activity, a harder challenge, a crazy experience, while simultaneously making time to paddle out just to lay on the board and relax in the middle of the lake.

I cannot stress enough the importance of surrounding yourself with likeminded people; if you have allowed yourself this opportunity you will understand. For us, we challenge each other and we allow each other the chance to be ourselves. And despite our differences, we are all drawn to the water.