Wild and Free in the Salish Sea
Written By Melissa St. Clair
I think we’ve all come to know by now that I’m absolutely obsessed with cold water. It all started when a high school bestie and I reunited a couple of winters ago. I saw awesome photos of her standing in the sea in a bathing suit…in February! I had to check it out. It quickly turned into a must-have habit that cured all my ailments. Aside from the beautiful nature and mood boosting, the women I was meeting were another huge benefit. These same women would come to play huge roles in my life with the passing of my father last winter and this year of absolute grief and struggles. All the hardships I faced only strengthened my love for women and water.
So, when the call came looking for women swimmers to participate in a Women of the Water shoot via Puget Sound Plungers Facebook page, I knew I was all in. It was a chance to swim with the beautiful women I know and love and to be photographed by the amazingly talented Ana Elisa Sotelo Van Oordt! Her work has been featured in some pretty incredible places, like Vogue and National Geographic. I was in awe of the images.
But just one thing. We would all need to be naked.
Ana was gracious enough to lend her voice and art to our newsletter. Her vision aligns beautifully with our mission — a collective of women and art and challenging what’s possible. One look at Ana’s work and it’s easy to see her passion for women and water. As a wild swimmer with the Las Truchas based in Lima Peru, Ana understands the healing that takes place in the water. She herself discovered water and women and reclaimed her power after a spinal fracture.
“Even though the oceans huge and intimidating and I have a lot of respect for it, it’s one of the places I feel most powerful.” -Ana
Her project has grown from South America all the way up to the United States. This is a vision Ana had manifested of coming to chilly waters of Washington long before she received the invite.
“I was really excited about coming to the Salish Sea. It might sound funny I’ve always dreamt that I was going to Washington State. This desire to go to this place because it’s on the Pacific and it’s so cold. It always sounded magical.” -Ana
And the magic would be heightened when a group of 109 lovely ladies calmly and quietly undressed and walked single file down the beach. Each of us with our own challenges and reasons for being there.
For me, I had always dreamed I would participate in something like this but never imagined it would be at the lowest point of my life. Severe chronic pain and being so out of shape I was scared I wouldn’t be able to keep up in the water. But we all agreed to leave it all behind in the name of art and celebrating the divine feminine energy that we create as a collective.
Keep reading to hear from the incredible women who made this day possible and learn more about their experiences with this project.
Tiffanie (age 40)
“The last 6 years of my life have been a trying time. I lost 150+ pounds with diet and exercise, bumps in my then 9 year relationship began, I found out I had a tumor, regained most of my weight loss after surgery, Covid, I lost my job of 14 years, lockdown....a lot knocked me down. I lost me. I stopped doing the things that made me happy. I mumble and developed a slight stutter. I constantly worry about judgment. My 40th was coming, and I really didn’t want to spend my new decade this way.
Ana tried to calm nerves by saying there's really no way to tell who is who...but here I am - a 6ft black woman with purple locs - I and anyone else will surely find me when the pictures came. So why hide now? I remember walking towards my things and feeling the adrenaline in my chest as I prepared to drop my cover. And then it was done. I was naked. And that was that. Next thing you know, I'm marching down the beach, and Ana takes a photo. It took me a while to take in the power of that photo, but I love it now.”
Jana (age 57)
“I definitely had a bit of hesitation but I had recently finished some medical treatments and I had to give up all modesty. I wanted to celebrate with my friends. As women we spend our lives giving parts of ourselves away to people and things we love by choice and sometimes we don’t get to choose. I wanted to reclaim my body with joy and laughter. I have always gone to the water, especially the Salish Sea, to heal.”
This would be Ana’s biggest group so far. Our first chance at bravery would be laying in the cold sand. I love the first image of us laying on the beach. Everyone looks different. Posed different. The only instruction we had was to lay down on the line. After about 20 mins there was so much laughter and conversation and we hadn’t even dipped a toe in the water yet!
Kelly (age 70)
“I realized I was not in this alone. That there were over 100 of us supporting each other. The pictures that Ana took I think captured the moment perfectly. We were all the same, yet all so different.”
Halley and I started this cold water journey together on this very same beach nearly two years prior.
Halley (age 23)
“I was excited to see what it would look like to have that many women show up and be brave enough to show their authentic naked selves to the world!”
It was a real honor to share this journey with her. We had so much fun trying to not be stung by jellyfish or drown while trying to hold shoulders and tread water at the same time. So many factors were present that day which would have made most of us stay out. The tide was extremely low and we didn’t have our shoes or even eye glasses to help us in. We had each other. The mood was so light and joyous. The world around us simply melted away.
When speaking of her own experiences on both sides of the camera Ana shares that, “We just kind of create this shared experience of doing something as powerful as bathing naked and being free. Not only free of the clothing and the weight but free of the judgment and baggage that we carry every day. Free of all the costumes we wear, our persona, all the masks we wear. Being able to commune with someone in that space is powerful and healing….It’s important for women to see other women’s bodies. It kind of diminishes this idea of perfection that has been perpetrated on us by the patriarchy.”
Jessica (age 31)
“I would encourage people to spend more time unclothed. Really look over and appreciate every inch of your body and how far it’s brought you.
“We are powerful and we sometimes forget, especially on land and especially when we’re wearing clothes and costumes and when we unpack all that we go back to our essence which is the water.” -Ana
The shoot proved to be a beautiful collective of women participating in art and ritual. In shedding our masks we were able to create something that transcends any one of us as individuals. Ana reflects on seeing the image of the woman’s face for the first time and states, “I am always surprised how collective the work is, particularly with this project. My strongest image became stronger after someone saw it, which is that image when you guys are trying to form a circle. If you turn it around it looks like a woman’s face and that act I think is very powerful because it’s a collective work I would not have seen at first.”
Halley
“When I first realized that the image of all of us swimming in the water created the shape of a woman’s head, I got the chills!”
Jessica
“The woman’s silhouette photo was probably the most spiritual thing I’ve ever seen.”
Melissa
“The magic of the day really showed up in this photograph. It’s how you know we are all connected.”
Ana continues, “It’s not a solitary experience. It’s very different to make the photograph of one person in the water on their own but when we’re all doing it I think that energy that’s generated can connect the women in the Puget Sound, with the women in Lima, with the women in Chile is very powerful to me.”
Ana’s work, Women of the Water, continues to bring deep emotional feelings to the water and beyond.
Kelly
“Afterwards I was very emotional. I started crying uncontrollably I can’t put into words how I was feeling. As I write this I have to admit my eyes are watering. It was an experience I’m so proud of been a part of.
Halley
“The whole event left me feeling even more in awe of women than I usually am!”
Jessica
“This experience was something that I never thought I’d have the opportunity to do, and I can’t wait to see how much more I can accomplish knowing I’ve got this bright, divine feminine power within me!”
Participating in this project helped me reclaim a bit of my soul. Proving to myself that I was able to not only keep up in the water but thrive. Their strength has carried me through a year when I was absolutely not able to take care of myself on my own. These women bring me life. The water is where we practice the art of letting it all go. They encourage and inspire me to give it to the water.
I would love to give a special thank you to each of my truly wonderful ladies of the water who shared their words and experiences with me. I thank you for your trust and support always. To Ana, thank you for providing a life changing experience. Thank you for sharing your time and vision with us.
For anyone interested in supporting Ana Elisa Sotelo Van Oordt’s work, the links are below. Prints are available for purchase.
IG: @anaelisasotelov - like, share, tag
And visit her website at: https://www.anaelisasotelo.com/