Rams Conquer Event They Hate to Love

FORT COLLINS – There's the idea of waking up at negative dawn and jump into a cold body of water, one which isn't separated by lane lines, but marked by buoys and filled with vegetation and wildlife. This isn't something most people willingly do on a Sunday morning.

Not even swimmers.

No wonder Colorado State's swim team has a love-hate relationship with the Horsetooth Open Water swim, an unofficial competition which somewhat officially triggers the start of the upcoming season for the Rams. They meet at Moby Arena long before the sun comes up, ride over in vans and lament what awaits them. Together.

Which is why it has become quite a love-hate relationship, but deep down, most of them reluctantly admit it's an event they hate to love.

"I think this year it's more of a hate to love kind of feeling," senior Emily Chorpening said. "My freshman year was not that, but this is my second year doing it. Freshman year, it was really scarring – I hated it. But then swimming it with Maisy (Barbosa), Claire (Wright) and Delaney (Engel), the whole second lap we were all together. I was like, 'oh, this is a bonding moment.' It wasn't really cold. It was fun, and then when you finish, it's so nice."

Coach Christopher Woodard decided six years ago it would be a good idea to enter his team in a local event which raises money for the community. There have been some hiccups along the way (two years ago the water was too cold to compete). Some swimmers skip out if not completely healthy, or at least cut the 2.4-mile collegiate race in half. But at 7 a.m., they start to wade into the waters of the reservoir, and the 73-degree water temperature is sure to wake them up if they weren't already.

Not all of the Rams have experience with open water, and some of them were introduced to it by necessity during covid when pools were closed. Chorpening, a Florida native, grew up doing some competitions, but they were in the ocean where the water is warmer and there is added buoyancy. Fresh water is a different beast.

For the second year in a row, the first Ram to finish was a freshman, Addison Wicklund taking the honors this time around. The other Ram freshman, Carly Nelson, was presented with the opportunity to celebrate her 19^th birthday with her debut in the event. The icing on her cake was actually a donut, provided by the divers, with '1' and '9' candles to blow out.

It really is a team thing. None of them expect the divers to take part, but they show up anyhow, and it's become tradition they show up with a box or two of LaMar's donuts. The first year, it was interpreted as cruel, them sitting up on the rocks watching and stuffing their faces with pastries, but now they share them as post-race treats.

"That was really nice. The divers always bring donuts, also the breakfast," Chorpening said. "The pancakes are so good. There's a coffee shop and I always get a coffee because I deserve it."

Even the coaches take part, as Woodard and associate head coach Lisa Ginder entered the water, competing in the 1.2-mile event.

More layers to the bond, an added level to the feeling they are all in it as a team, top to bottom.

"I will never admit I love it a little bit, but maybe … I don't love the swim, but I love what comes with it," senior Maisy Barbosa said. "It's great. We get some pancakes and donuts after, and that's what gets you through it. I said when I got out, there's something about keeping your head down while you're swimming, taking one breath and seeing a green cap or a green suit ahead of you and you want to go catch them. It is fun."

Woodard knows it's a bonding experience, even if it is created by a mutual distain for what they don't like. As the years have progressed, the swimmers have picked up on the reserve psychology of it all, that through mutual suffering there is combined growth.

Barbosa mentioned that to her coach on the ride over, referring to a recent chat the team had with Ross Barr, the director of student-athlete mental health and performance in the athletic department. Barr stressed to them that a positive mindset is important.

She could have interpreted the message in a way where she was positive she hated doing it, but she dissected the moral of the talk to mean the negativity they all feel toward the swim brings them closer as a team.

"It's so horrible. It really is," Barbosa said. "We all dread it, and something about that brings us together. We all do get through it."

They go into the water together as a team. Many of them come out of the reservoir holding hands and running up the ramp to the finish in unison.

Sprinter or distance swimmer, it doesn't matter, it's a shared feeling.

One they might actually miss.

"That's part of that. The most fun is all of us bonding together walking into that cold lake and having to go out randomly," Chorpening said. "I am happy that I don't have to do it again, but I feel like in a couple of years I'll miss it, and I'll want to do it again. Maybe I'll make an appearance, I don't know."

It's possible. Former swimmer Julia Box was there, four years after graduation. She remembers sitting in the van hating what awaited. She was also glad to be back.

The seniors know they'll never have to do it again if they choose. For Barbosa, that cuts two ways.

The event marks the beginning of the season. Also, the nearing of the end of their collegiate careers.

"My senior class, it's always the last first. This is just the first of them," Barbosa said. "I will admit, it's a little sad. I'm a little upset I'm never going to get to do this again. There's something about it; it sucks so much but afterward it feels so good, but I do think it's exciting this is the last time we're going to do this. It is the last big hurrah to open the season, and this feels good."

Because at the end of the day, it wasn't so bad after all. The sun was out, and it wasn't cold, probably the nicest day for the event they've had in quite some while. They shared stories of getting bumped into, losing caps and losing site of the markers in the water. Best yet, they talked about a dreaded swim they took on as one and felt emboldened by the shared experience.

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Maisy Barbosa

Emily Chorpening

Carly Nelson

Addison Wicklund