Robin Batchelor • Open-water swimmer

50, Waynesville

When she’s not swimming: She teaches at Waynesville Middle School and coaches the Tuscola High School swim team.

Why she likes open water swimming: Batchelor grew up swimming in pools, both on the swim team as a kid and competitively in college. But after getting back into swimming after a 25-year hiatus, she discovered the joy of open water swimming on lakes.

“It is what’s natural. It’s what God gave us. It’s the earth that He made and you are out there in it. It is a lot of prayer time for me actually,” Batchelor said. “It’s a spiritual experience.”

Next big exploit: Batchelor is heading to Lake Tahoe for the Trans Tahoe Relay in a couple weeks. She and five other teammates climb aboard a boat and take turns swimming across the lake in shifts for 11 miles. The swim will take about five and a half hours.

Atfer that, she has the Lake Logan Triathlon in August. Batchelor will do the swim leg while Alyssa Sinyard takes on the bike and Marcia Tate finishes with the running.

Batchelor does well in triathlons, where swimming isn’t usually the forte of most participants. “Usually I am at the front of the pack coming out of the water,” Batchelor said.

Bragging rights: Her first open water swim was in 2003. Since then, she’s become an open water champ. Three weeks ago, Batchelor swam her first 10K on Lake Cartwell in Clemson, competing in the United States Masters Swimming Championships. She won, becoming the national 10K open water champion for her age group.

“I have never swum that long before,” Batchelor said. It took two hours and 43 minutes.

Start strategy: Most open water swims have a mass start in the water. That means all the swimmers wade into the water, packed up against a rope marking the start line, and surge forward when the gun goes off. The water becomes a frenzy of flying elbows and feet.

“I always try to find myself my own space, usually on the outside of the pack,” Batchelor said.

That separation means she has a little further to swim to reach the first buoy, which marks the race’s course through the water, but it’s worth it.

“I don’t know if that costs you as much time-wise as being caught up in the mass. I would rather do that than get beat to death or have to re-adjust goggles or something like that.”

What she thinks about while swimming: “A lot of time when I’m swimming, I am singing praise songs in my head. That’s what keeps me going,” Batchelor said.

She got an underwater iPod from her husband last Christmas, which she uses intermittently while training. (Races don’t allow them, as they could be used as a pacing device, which aren’t legal.)

Possibly the best open water swim of her life: A 5K swim in the Caribbean off the island of Bonaire.

“It was amazing. The water was so clear that while you were swimming, you were going over the reef and looking down over the sea life, sea turtles and all kinds of things,” Batchelor said.

The trip was part-vacation and had been a gift from her husband, mother and mother-in-law for her birthday.

How she got back into swimming: Batchelor tore up her shoulder in college while swimming competitively at Princeton and needed surgery, sidelining her swimming for more than two decades.

“I took 25 years off,” Batchelor said.

Her re-entry into the sport several years ago was a perfect storm of sorts. She got a heel spur, which put a dent in walking for exercise around Lake Junaluska. Meanwhile, the Waynesville Recreation Center had just opened. Her own kids had joined up with the Smoky Mountain Aquatic Club. When Debbie Wilson, also a competitive masters swimmer, saw Batchelor working out in the pool, she told her “You should do masters swimming.” Batchelor took the hint.

Training schedule: Batchelor trains with the Smoky Mountain Aquatic Club at the Waynesville Recreation Center every afternoon for most of the year. During the winter competition season, she’s busy coaching the Tuscola High School team after school, so she joins the SMAC swim team for it’s 5:30 a.m. workout.

“I swim from 5:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. several mornings a week, then teach, then coach, then get home and do paper work,” Batchelor said.

Her training buddies: Technically a youth swim team, the Smoky Mountains Aquatic Club has accepted Batchelor into its practice ranks.

“They have just welcomed me with open arms,” Batchelor said. “It has made it a lot of fun I’m not as fast as they are, but heck I’m 50 years old.”

What makes it all possible: Support from her family, including her husband and all three kids.

“They think mom’s nuts, but they are very supportive and go with us to watch and cheer that means so much to have a supportive family.”

Know an athlete we should profile? Tell us at becky@smokymountainnews.com