Rough Water Swim Oceanside CA Pier Rainy Swim

Now when I say that I had the beach to myself, I mean it literally Sunday.  I was hurting so much (low back) that I went for a swim.  I think the buoyancy helps take the pressure off the bones or discs.  I'm still hanging in there with no wet suit, just trunks.  The water is pretty cold.
Sunday was truly a 'rough water swim.'  Actually, I think that swimmers who lke a good, rough swim would have loved it Sunday.  It was hard swimming out.  Waves were washing-machine quality at about a good three-foot chop.  Very windy.  I got around in 32 minutes.  I swam about 3:30 PM. 
A lot of the swim was trying to time my breathing with the swells so that I would try to breathe when a wave was bouncing me upward.  On the north side (I went south to north) close in to the shore there was a sretty strong north pull of the water.  The south side had a northward pull in the first hundred yards or so, but not strong enough to be a real concern. 
I walked the beach on the south side for a while afterward and collected a bunch of seashells.  The rough water threw a lot of good shells onto the beach. 

"The first time you quit is the last time you try."