After four years of swimming collegiately at the College of Saint Benedict, Abbey Brau has a new goal in mind.
Brau, a 2010 CSB alumnae, is shooting for the Open Water Swimming Triple Crown – which means completing three marathon swimming events. With one already completed after swimming 28.5 miles around Manhattan Island in New York last year, that leaves her with two more marathons to go. The other two swims that make up the series are the English Channel and Catalina Channel swims.
As a communications major in undergraduate study, Brau went on to work for a marketing and advertising agency in Minneapolis called Periscope. She is currently a Senior Account Manager at the company, and has been working there since her internship she participated in when at CSB.
Besides her job at Periscope, Brau greatly defines herself as an open-water swimmer, but has had to overcome substantial obstacles to get to where she is today. After competing in the MIAC Championships her senior year and less than one month before she was supposed to graduate, Brau was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.
Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the body no longer produces the hormone insulin that helps to move glucose from food out of the blood stream and turn it into energy. The disease causes blood glucose levels to reach extreme and toxic levels and has to be carefully managed throughout each day. For Brau, the fact that she wanted to continue swimming post-graduation meant that she would have to make a lot of adjustments to her athletic routine.
During her time at CSB as a swimmer, Brau was encouraged by her coach to try open water swimming because he believed that she could excel in distances longer than a mile, which is the longest race offered in collegiate competitive swimming.
"I'll never forget the moment my coach came to me and said, 'You will never be a swammer' Referencing the somewhat-witty T-shirts the seniors put on after their last swim at conference," said Brau, who is still has the second-best time in CSB history in the 500 and 1,650 free and is third in the 1,000 free. "It was that moment that I knew I would continue swimming and not worry about whether I could or could not accomplish something because of Type 1 Diabetes."
Eventually, after figuring out how to manage some life changes, Brau finally got back into the water and began to train for open-water races. "Over the last seven years, I've been slowly building my goals and lengthening the list of open-water swims around the world that I want to complete," she said.
She has completed many open water swims in Minnesota lakes such as a swim across Lake Minnetonka (five miles), in Lake Superior, in Lake Michigan, across the San Francisco Bay (10K), around Key West in Florida (12.5 miles), and finally, the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (28.5 miles) in New York in 2016.
Prior to the marathon swim, the longest race Brau had completed was a 12.5-mile swim around Key West. For every race, each swimmer has to provide their own kayaker to follow them during the race and provide nutrients during the swim. Brau's sister was her kayaker for this race, and since Brau was competing with Type 1 Diabetes, she had to be a lot more cautious about what she was using to fuel herself during her race.
"I remember learning a lot about how my body reacted to such a long swim with the sugary options I was using for fueling — great blood sugars at the beginning of the swim and the longer I went, they exponentially dropped," she said. "I have since changed my nutrition strategy for swims, opting for products that are more slow-release carbohydrates and pairing proteins with sugars to slow down the spike in blood glucose levels and ensure my blood glucose level stayed elevated, longer."
Another obstacle to add is that during races, the swimmers are not allowed to touch the support boat that is following them. This way they can ensure that they are swimming for the entirety of the race. "One of the biggest challenges with being an open water swimmer and also Type 1 is that you need to check your blood sugars manually every 30-60 minutes," Brau said.
This meant that every time she had to check her blood sugar levels, she would have to do so while treading water beside the boat. Brau mentioned another challenge to the Key West swim was being in the sun and the intense heat she experienced during the race. "We had to wear pure zinc oxide instead of sunscreen, and I still got a really significant swim cap tan line," said Brau. The Key West swim took Brau five hours and 13 minutes to complete.
Then Brau took on the marathon swim around Manhattan Island in New York. This was the longest swim – time- and distance-wise - that Brau has ever completed, and it was a solo-attempt. When swimming open water, there are a lot of outside factors to consider that could affect the race such as water temperature, location, and currents in the water. Brau trained for this race for about four months, swimming hour-long practices during the week and long swims on the weekends. "The longest swim I did leading up to MIMS (Manhattan Island Marathon Swim) was a 6.5-hour swim after swimming on a relay team during the Life Time Triathlon. So close to seven hours in one day with a slight break," she said.
When it came to the race itself, Brau could not have had a more perfect day for the swim. The water temperature was in the low 70s and it was about 75 degrees in the air and slightly overcast, so not too sunny. Brau had her mom and sisters as her support crew, and they kept track of her feeding schedule, her blood sugars, her distance, her time and her mental well-being throughout the race. "The swim felt amazing—one of the best swims of my life. For the most part, I felt great and strong the whole time," Brau said. "I ultimately swam 30.5 miles instead of the typical 28.5, due to currents around the island and how I hit them at a certain time of day."
By the end of the race, Brau had been swimming for seven hours and 23 minutes, with her blood sugars staying in a good range during her swim. "This was one of the most amazing accomplishments I've done and I can't even explain to you what it feels like to accomplish that swim. I just know I was grinning from ear to ear for hours after," she said.
As far as her time at CSB, Brau remarks that swimming in college introduced her to the idea of open-water swimming, and she had the full support of her coaches to do it. But the most important thing for Brau was the supportive teammates she gained throughout her time on the team. "I was encouraged and pushed and believed in," she said. "That is a big deal and very important. I graduated with a lot of challenges ahead of me and yet, I knew the goals I had set before diagnosis were still accessible to me."
There are a lot of factors that contribute to Brau's motivation to accomplish her goals, and set out to complete these insane distance swims. "First, how amazing it feels to actually accomplish an event like this. Second has to be Type 1," she said. "Type 1 is a challenge, but it should not be the reason you can't accomplish something."
This disease, although challenging, did not take away from the athletic life that Brau wanted to continue to maintain. She now uses her Type 1 diagnosis as a way to inspire others to work towards their goals as well. "I have the ability to do these swims and I feel as though I need to use that ability and opportunity to encourage and inspire others. I was diagnosed with an annoying and life-threatening disease, yes, but it didn't take away my ability to move and be active," she said.
As if swimming marathons was not enough, Brau also participated as a member of Team Bike Beyond where she rode her bike across the country from New York to San Francisco. The bike ride was a fundraiser to benefit Beyond Type 1, which is a non-profit organization that informs people about Type 1 Diabetes. The team she rode on had 19 members, all of which have Type 1 Diabetes. The team rode a total of 4,205 miles in 70 days and raised $750K during their cross-country bike ride. "It was an opportunity to show others living with Type 1 that you can do anything you set your mind to, even if it's something you've never really done before," Brau said.
Going into college Brau was not even considering swimming, but now looking at where she is in her life she is so thankful that she decided to join the team. She said the CSB athletics program has had a tremendous impact on her life from opening her mind to open water swimming and meeting her best friends to encouraging her to work for her goals. "I fell in love with swimming during my time at St. Ben's. Whether it was my amazing coaches, the team, the experience of Division III athletics, my own success, or all of the above that helped push me into the swim world, I fell hard. And I love that I did, and I love that I still love it," Brau said.
Brau's life was changed when she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, but despite the obstacles she faced, she persevered and accomplished everything she set her mind too. From not even wanting to swim in college at first, to completing her first marathon swim, swimming for Saint Benedict had a huge impact on Brau's life, and it would not be the same without it. "I can't imagine my life without the people and experiences I've taken from my time on the CSB swim and dive team. The support, strength and talent of those women, in and out of the pool, have truly inspired me to work harder, reach further and accomplish any goal I set my mind to," Brau said.
