100 Swims (Again): What the Last 100 Days of the Year Taught Me
Earlier this year, I completed 100 swims in a row during the first 100 days of the year. This time, I did the same thing, but for the last 100 days of 2023. At first glance, it sounds similar. Cold water is cold water, right? In reality, the experience was surprisingly different.
Here’s what changed, and what stayed the same.
Starting warm changes everything
The biggest difference between the first and last 100 days is simple:
The last 100 days start in autumn. In early October, the air is still mild. Some days are sunny. The water is cold, but not shocking. You ease into it.
That creates a very different mindset.
In the first 100 days of the year, the water is always cold from day one. There’s no build-up. No adjustment period. You’re immediately dealing with discomfort.
In the last 100 days, you’re slowly watching the conditions change:
- Days get shorter
- Temperatures drop
- Fog, rain, and wind become more common
- The water cools week by week
Instead of adapting to the cold, you adapt with the cold.
When Motivation fades. Habits take over
One of the most honest lessons from this project was how motivation behaves. At the start, it’s exciting:
- New challenge
- Nice weather
- Still riding the summer wave.
But motivation doesn’t last 100 days.
There were evenings when I almost skipped:
- It was getting dark
- I was tired
- I’d forgotten until late in the day and it was now super close to midnight.
What made the difference was habit, not enthusiasm. Living close to the water helped, but more importantly:
- I’d already decided this was “just something I do”
- I stopped negotiating with myself.
- Even 3 minutes counted
The rule became simple: go, even if you don’t feel like it because it was you that made a promise to yourself to do this.
The hardest part still comes before the water
This stayed exactly the same. The hardest moment wasn’t being in the water; it was:
- Putting on the swimsuit
- Walking there
- Standing at the edge
Once in the water, everything slowed down.
Focusing on breathing made a huge difference. Relaxing instead of tensing up changed how the cold felt. Movement helped. Calm helped even more. The lesson repeated itself daily:
The fear of discomfort is often worse than the discomfort itself.
Progress doesn’t mean staying longer
Some days I stayed in for 10+ minutes.
Some days barely 3 mins
But every day I put my head under and held up my. home made receipt – this was the only way i could. earn my credit and only then was i able to state my mantra: A DIP, A DUNK, A DIVE
Progress wasn’t about pushing harder every day it was about showing up consistently and listening to my body.
Going slowly reduced the risk of:
- Getting sick
- Ear issues
- Burning out mentally
Consistency mattered more than intensity.
The after-effect is the real reward
Just like during the first 100 swims, the biggest benefit came after getting out. There was a clear shift:
- Feeling warmer inside, even on cold days
- A calm, settled feeling
- A quiet sense of a huge personal achievement
It wasn’t dramatic or life-changing in a movie way but it was reliable. I felt alive!
No matter the weather or mood beforehand, I always felt better afterward.
Doing it at the end of the year hits differently
The last 100 days are already a reflective time.
People slow down. Days shorten. Energy drops.
This project became a way of:
- Staying grounded
- Ending each day with something real
- Proving (again) that discomfort doesn’t have to be avoided
Cold water became less about toughness and more about presence.
Final thought
Doing the first 100 days teaches you how to face discomfort head-on. Doing the last 100 days teaches you how to stay steady as things slowly get harder.
Same challenge.
Different season.
Different lesson.
Cold water was just the setting: