Ocean Helps to Rinse Away Threesome’s Cares, Woes

It’s the same routine every sunup.

The three swimmers stop for a break near the end of the Ventura Pier, check the water temperature on 69-year-old Guy Cooper’s wristwatch, and maybe banter with the fishermen dangling lines from above.

Then they round the old wooden structure and head for the home stretch.

It’s been that way for years, as the swimmers churn through 54-degree waves--water cold enough to invigorate them, but not quite cold enough to be dangerous.

They do it for the rush, the relaxation, the exercise and for the thrill of frolicking with the dolphins and seals that sometimes follow them on their 20-minute jaunt.

Lori Hall, the fastest swimmer and the one who started the ritual 12 years ago, has been rising at 5:30 a.m. and heading to the shore through every season and type of weather except major storms.

“I love the water--I’m the first one in,” Hall said. “I like how quiet and peaceful it is in the morning. I think about what I’m going to tackle for the day.”

When the three arrive at the beach, they put on Lycra caps and goggles and plunge in fearlessly. They swim, mostly the crawl, at their own speed until they meet up at the end of the pier for the temperature check.

The swim starts a couple of hundred yards from the pier so the swimmers can keep clear of currents that might sweep them into the pilings. The loop is half a mile to three-quarters of a mile.

When the swimmers get to the homestretch, they gaze up at the mountains and the rising sun.

Mary Legeman, 47, cherishes the swim to shore.

“I love to see the hills. I try to swim with my head out of the water to enjoy the beauty of the day,” she said. “Twenty minutes is never enough. I feel like I could swim forever.”

Legeman does her swim and a short bike ride before heading off to her 9 a.m. job as an elementary school librarian.

When she started swimming, it was before a storm swept away the end of the pier, so the excursion lasted about 10 minutes longer. Now the pier is slowly creeping back out, as workers restore all but 400-feet of the original structure. The trio count the number of pilings each day, spotting a new one every week.

Legeman discovered the other two swimmers when she was walking her dog one morning and saw their routine. She asked to join and has been a part of the threesome ever since.

Hall, 46, started doing the swim when she was competing in triathlons in the mid-80s. She did it alone for two years until Cooper joined her. A part-time employee at a Ventura antique store, Hall is an exercise aficionado who also runs eight miles a day and takes frequent bike rides.

“I like the cold water because I feel so invigorated when I get out,” she said. “It lasts me until the evening.” Hall said she is in bed by 9 p.m.

Dashing for the parking lot at the end of their swim, the three combat the chills by drenching themselves in hot water from 18 plastic detergent jugs that Cooper dutifully fills before he drives out to the pier.

“I started with just a few, but if some is good, more is better,” Cooper said. The hot water helps ease the chattering of teeth, but the swimmers go home and take hot showers anyway.

All three think it’s a shame more people don’t enjoy the early morning water.

“Lots of times people have dreadful days ahead of them and this would put them in a totally different environment that is ruled by the laws of nature, not of people,” said Cooper, a retired aerospace engineer. “When I was working I wouldn’t get a morning slump and my high would last at least till noon.”

Legeman said she would like it if more people showed up for the morning swim.

“People are still afraid of all sorts of different things--the waves, the currents, not being able to see like you can in a pool,” she said. “I used to be too, but you get comfortable. In the pool you don’t see seals and dolphins and you don’t have the cold water that gives you so much energy.”