Open-Water Swimming With San Francisco Ballet’s Jacob Seltzer
The water of the San Francisco Bay has an average temperature between 51 and 61 degrees Fahrenheit, can have currents as strong as six knots, and is home to herds of seals, with occasional great white shark sightings. For San Francisco Ballet corps member Jacob Seltzer, swimming in these active waters has become the perfect cross-training exercise.
“When I was 12 or 13, I had a really intense swim coach. I half-drowned in his class every time,” Seltzer tells Pointe. He explains that he began swimming again to face his fear: “Open-water swimming is very scary.”
Diving In
In 2021, Erika Sydow, a massage therapist at SFB, invited Seltzer to join her group swims in San Francisco’s Aquatic Park. Since then, swimming, both in open water and in a pool, has become part of his weekly exercise regimen, in addition to Pilates twice per week and weight lifting twice a week. Last year, he completed Swim Across America’s San Francisco Bay Open Water Swim (this year’s event is too close to SFB’s tour to Madrid, Spain for him to participate, he explains).
“I always do open-water swimming during the rehearsal season,” says Seltzer. “During the performance season, I stick to indoor swimming and lower my cross-training.”
Seltzer swims a mile whether in a pool or the open water. When he’s swimming in the Bay, he sticks to freestyle strokes. In his experience, it’s the safest stroke to stay consistent with his breathing when contending with waves.
Deep Breaths
“In order to get good at swimming you have to learn to pace your breathing, even when you’re doing something hard, and that translates really well into ballet,” says Seltzer. “Once you get good enough at swimming, the ability to utilize oxygen stays with you.”
To optimize his lung capacity, Seltzer will increase the number of strokes between breaths. Rather than taking a breath on every fourth stroke, he will hold his breath until every seventh during his indoor swim workouts.
Stabilizing His Core
Swimming has also complemented Seltzer’s natural core mobility.
Seltzer has a hypermobile spine and, before he began swimming, that flexibility lacked corresponding stability, he explains. “I have a very limber spine, and swimming allows me to understand core strength with mobility. I switch sides for freestyle for evenness. If you pull too much to one side, you can create spinal imbalances.”
Cooling Down, Staying Warm
Doing an open-water swim in the Bay allows Seltzer to cool down figuratively and literally after challenging weeks in the studio. He regularly joins the swim group’s Sunday-morning workout.
“The Sunday swim is great. You get a cold plunge in the morning, you hang out, and get a pastry. It’s a great vibe all together,” he says. “Doing a cold plunge does lower inflammation, if you can handle it. It’s like diving into a bucket of ice.”
To withstand the cold, Seltzer wears a neoprene vest in addition to his swim trunks and two swim caps to keep his head warm.
Cold Sunday mornings are preceded by warm Saturdays. “Saturday is usually a day of rest—to cook, go to the hot tub, get acupuncture,” he says
Fueling Up
Seltzer has been experimenting with variations on roast chicken and potatoes, a meal that makes an excellent dinner and fuels him as leftovers during the week. When he is performing, he relies on three staples: peanut-butter–flavored Perfect Bars, Liquid I.V., and Fage Greek yogurt.
“If I was stuck on an island, Fage and peanut butter is all I’d need,” he says.
Sandy Surprises
One downside to open-water swimming is getting free of sand.
“I’ve definitely come from an open-water swim, gone into class or rehearsal—and realized I was tracking sand into the room and having to surreptitiously, with my sweater, sweep it up without anybody noticing,” Seltzer says. “I’m pretty sure I wasn’t successful.”
