Swimming the World

She dives into crystal clear water filled with parrotfish, sharks, stingrays and turtles in the Cayman Islands. For a split second, she mutes the chatter of the outside world and focuses on the calming effect of the ocean. With no boundaries, she feels at peace and is ready to conquer the world, one stroke at a time.

For Lexie Kelly, 24, “swimming is a lifestyle.” Kelly grew up in Redding, California and spent much of her time perfecting butterfly and freestyle strokes at local swim clubs. As she grew older, she swam Division I and II for her college team at Cal State University Bakersfield.

After graduating from college, Kelly decided to move to Long Beach in order to be closer to the water and experiment more with open water swimming.

“I love Belmont Shore. And also," she added, "I’m 90 seconds from the water – which I love.”

As a routine, Kelly goes swimming at 5:30 am each morning with a group of local swimmers in Seal Beach. During the afternoons, she usually goes to her favorite spots in Naples to work out at the local gyms and pools.

She works as a statistician and assistant information officer for a company called Open Water Source (openwaterswimming.com). Her job is to collect data and collaborate with others to provide resources and information about open water swimming.

Kelly has also held various aquatic jobs and served as a lifeguard for OC Lifeguards, and coordinated open water swimming events like the Flowers Sea Swim in the Cayman Islands. She's also competed in several marathons and events. This year, she said she even broke a record that had been set 24 years ago in the Cayman Brac Channel. She swam five miles between Cayman Brac and finished at Little Cayman. (Most open water swimming races vary in length; they can be anything from 800 meter races to six-mile races and relays).

Open water swims are often--like today's in Naples--held as charity fundraisers, an inspirational reason for Kelly to enjoy ocean swimming beyond the peace of it. Just recently, Kelly traveled to Japan for an open water swim held for tsunami relief in the Izu Peninsula for a 3K swim and 2K relay race at the First International Masters Open Water Swim. Interestingly enough, she was one of three international open water competitors out of a total of 180. She even had the opportunity to meet Swedish Olympian, Glen Christiansen who gave valuable advice to swimmers on how to mentally prepare for races including different types of strategies involved in open water swimming.

When she’s not swimming, she writes about various open water swims and championships in Long Beach and around the world for a publication called Daily News of Open Water Swimming (http://www.dailynewsofopenwaterswimming.com/). She also blogs about upcoming competitions and trainings on her professional blog, www.lexiekelly.com

Before each competition, there’s always a little bit of anxiety for Kelly. “Before the race starts I get nervous still. Once I get in the water, it kind of eases me. I think about every competitor’s strategy and how I’m going to swim,” said Kelly.

She's excited about today's 2011 Naples Island Swims because of the unique navigational course around Naples Island and the energetic swimmers from all different ages. She urges anyone who can physically take it to come out today.

“Open water swimming is for anyone," she added. "We have anyone from people that are doggy paddling to professional athletes competing in events. It’s a very healthy sport, easy on your joints. You can do it for life.”