The sun has just shown up from behind the mountain ridges when we enjoy the first warming rays, walking through green gardens, heading for the beach. Everything is green and peaceful and makes us aware that spring has arrived. It is still off season and the hotel beach looks empty and tidied up. Optimal conditions for a first open water training weekend.

The beach belongs to "Swissotel Resort Bodrum Beach", located in Turgutreis, about 20 min drive from Bodrum. The hotel is a real hideaway and blends in perfectly with the surrounding residences and luxury mansions at the waterfront. This place offers all the five star comfort one can expect from a Swissotel and provides ideal conditions for water sports, culture and relaxation. Due to the steady wind, the Sea around Bodrum is ideal for sailing and it has been here that I attended my first sailing regatta some years ago. It was also at this same event when a school of bottlenose dolphins accompanied our boat between the island.

Although we have started open water season 2018 three weeks ago in Antalya, this weekend we have a training program with us that we are going to follow. This swim season will provide again many open water swimming competitions all over the Mediterranean Sea. After all these endless winter months in the swimming pool it is now time to get ready for the real deal and taste sea water.

We decide to use the shallow water strip along the shore as the training ground. The water is crystal clear but still cold, so we go for the wetsuit. Bodrum offers an ideal open water training environment due to the wind that produces this annoying short waves. Once in the water it takes a while to get used to these conditions and to find your pace. In addition to the waves there is a strong current along the shore that takes quite some effort to overcome. Everything is set for a good training.

It is Sunday evening and we enjoy a beautiful sunset from the hotel's pool terrace, when the driver arrives to bring us to the airport. These two wonderful days of intensive training and resting our souls at the beach were passing too fast. We say goodbye to the Aegean Sea but not for long. We will come back soon, very soon.