Open Water Is Heaven

Website designer Rebecca Taylor continues to swim as she prepares for her third child's birth.

When asked about the difference between swimming when pregnant, Taylor replied, "I feel maybe a little colder - and definitely colder by the end of the swim when I get out."

"I have 30% more blood volume [when pregnant] and I'm pretty sure it's all in my belly by the end of a swim."

When asked how else she feels different when pregnant, Taylor said, "I'm much more buoyant and I'm naturally pitched at a different angle. It's not unlike how I used to feel in a full wetsuit or with a swim buoy. I drag my feet and am using my upper body more."

As Taylor heads off during her third trimester, she mentioned that the "open salt water is heaven! I've been swimming in the pool (actually tethering in my own pool) for the last few months and it's a wonderful treat to swim in the [Provincetown] bay this week. I feel like a rocket out here and I don't notice the baby at all -- in a good way." Copyright © 2009 by World Open Water Swimming Association