30 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com FACE TO FACE These days, Samuel AnayaÁlvarez feels just as home in the ocean as he does in the jungle or the mountains, but it was not always that way. A native of the urban jungle, Mexico City, Anaya-Álvarez found his way to a passion for nature in adulthood. He’s spent his career teaching other young people how to respect and appreciate wild places, first as a park ranger on the Yucatán Peninsula, now as a youth instructor and trip leader for the Ventana Wilderness Alliance. In between he worked for environmentally focused nonprofits, including a stint in Germany at Greenpeace. He met his partner during a cross-continent bike trip, and nearly seven years ago moved to her hometown, Pacific Grove, where he has lived ever since. Shortly after arriving, the now-36-year-old got a job as a kayak guide and naturalist, even though he didn’t know how to swim. Now you can find him swimming daily in the ocean along the shores of Pacific Grove. He’s training to join a relay team to cross the English Channel next summer. He’s already qualified with a 90-minute swim followed by a 60-minute swim, no wetsuit. He will be fundraising for organizations that help get children from under-resourced communities into the ocean. “It’s not to just feed my ego—it’s about the journey and that connection and the effect it can have on others,” Anaya-Álvarez says. He spoke with the Weekly after a morning swim at Lovers Point. Weekly: You grew up in a huge city. How did you discover your love of nature? Anaya-Álvarez: My dad is from a small village in Puebla, and we visited the mountains there. I enjoyed it, but I never was that aware of how deep my connection was. It wasn’t until before going to college in Canada, I went backpacking and hitchhiking with friends all the way to Panama. Then in Canada, I realized there was a big outdoor community. But I didn’t feel like I belonged to it. Why not? It was not a very brown community. They all have all their gear; it was new for me. But it awakened me, the curiosity. I started to explore more and more. I started traveling. I took a bicycle trip from Montreal to Mexico. You find people doing the same thing along the way. I started getting more comfortable and realized: This is for everybody, and it belongs to everybody. It’s about enjoying it. My experience in the jungle in the Yucatán was magical—that changed my life. Can you describe what you love about swimming? It’s refreshing, and at the same time, water settles you down and grounds you. It is like meditating. It’s magical. I mean, we are water, right? I agree, I think water has an incredible power to both energize and to soothe. But Monterey Bay is not an inviting place to learn how to swim. The first year I arrived here, I tried to go out at Asilomar. I didn’t know how waves worked. I had no familiarity with the ocean. It was super humbling. After that, I started taking walks along the ocean. It was on one of those walks when, about five years ago, you saw a group of swimmers near Lovers Point and decided to learn how to do it. It just blew my mind. I was like: “I need to learn how to swim.” Every day I would go out before 7am, just moving, and going through fear. I bought a book about how to learn to swim. At first when I could swim to a rock 15 yards from shore, it was a big deal. And then it just became part of me. I cannot see my life without doing this. I try to do it every day, first thing in the morning. It grounds me. It calms me. It is a meditation. Do you ever get scared when you’re out in the ocean? When I was learning, yes. Since then, I started feeling very comfortable. Then everything changed [when fellow swimmer Steve Bruemmer was bitten by a white shark in 2022]. I always had that respect, and now I have more respect for nature. But it brought fear to me and it was traumatizing. I was there by myself that day, and did basically the same swim he did. Now I stick to the shore, next to the rocks, and I swim with somebody else. Do you have any advice for other beginner swimmers? Don’t limit yourself to what you are creating in your mind—we can create fear. It’s worth it to try it, to connect. It will bring you love and respect for the ocean, and all the marine communities that live there. Stroke by Stroke Samuel Anaya-Álvarez recently taught himself how to swim. Now, he’s training for the English Channel. By Sara Rubin Samuel Anaya-Álvarez on his morning swim at Lovers Point. “I always see cormorants, and I saw a seal that lives near a little rock, and always pops up right in front of my face,” he says of the day’s wildlife sightings. DANIEL DREIFUSS CALICO GIRLS Fluzzy and Khaleesi are VERY chill 10-year-old sisters who seem to live for attention; definitely people oriented. Fluzzy is a low maintenance gentle soul who adores human companionship, a mellow cat with a loving personality. Khaleesi is a graceful girl with an active nature, a purr boat who loves laps and adores being brushed and petted. We’d love to see them adopted together! Check out these beauties at www.gocatrescue.org and fill out an adoption application to give them a Second Chance at a New Beginning! You’ll be inundated with love! If you would like to sponsor our next ad, please call us at 831-200-9700 or email goldenoldiescats@gmail.com. 831.200.9700 www.gocatrescue.org
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