So in the interest of getting my ass in gear for my triathlon, and of saving money, I sort of organized a group of people to who want to do open-water swims this summer to more closely simulate the triathlon swim experience. And our first one is going to be this weekend at Seward Park. And while most swimmers are kind of freaked out by open water swimming, I kind of prefer it – it’s how I grew up swimming, and I’ve always felt uncomfortable in pools but comfortable in lakes and oceans and not-too-swift rivers. But here’s the thing… I can get over the icky water weeds, the catfish, even the muskrats (yes I’ve swam with muskrats before)… but I cannot get over my fear of *sharks*. And yes, I do realize that there is no fucking way there are sharks in the water at SEWARD PARK. But I still get scared of them pretty much whenever I’m in any body of water, especially when I can’t see. Like, if I’m in the bathtub and I close my eyes long enough, I can have a shark-phobic shiver. What is *up* with this insane, irrational sharkophobia? I mean, I’ve been to Nicaragua man, and swum in the only freshwater lake scientifically *known* to contain sharks, and I was fine. So why am I still so sharkophobic? I’ve never even seen Jaws, for Chrissakes!
Okay, now I have to go look up the actual Greek term for “fear of sharks”. Google, here I come… ooh, it’s selachophobia – I like “sharkophobia” better, I think.