"I want to swim across this lake someday" I said as I sat on the ferry from Port Kent, NY to Burlington, VT. That was in July 2005 and at that time I had never raced anything longer than the 4.4 mile Chesapeake Bay Swim and I didn't even know if there
was an organized swim across Lake Champlain . I put that thought aside, and continued to focus on triathlon. As 2006 approached, I knew I wanted to try a longer swim. Training was going well and some injuries forced me towards swimming rather than triathlon. I signed up for the 7.5 Potomac Rover Swim in June that year and it was canceled on the morning of the swim due to weather. I created my own long swim that summer, swimming 8+ miles in Deep Creek Lake during one of the
Ironman training weekends. During the winter of 2007, still wanting to do an official long swim I began researching options. I soon found the Lake Champlain Swim and knew immediately that I would participate.
Before going into this past weekend's Lake Champlain Swim, let me quickly re-cap the events leading up to it.
June 10, 2007- Chesapeake Bay 4.4 mile Swim- The conditions were nearly perfect and I finished in 1:46 , faster than my previous personal best. I felt good during the swim, but it was way too much of a sprint from start to finish. I paid for that after the race, feeling nauseous for most of the day. This was the only race I used a wetsuit for this year.
July 7, 2007-
Charlottesville 2-mile cable swim- I decided during the swim that I LOVE open water swimming and want to continue doing these non-wetsuit races. The 2-mile was tough and I still haven't figured out pacing for this distance and was very tired during the swim. I finished in 49 minutes and was the 2
nd woman.
July 14, 2007- 10K National Championships- Huntington Bay, NY- I could write a book about this race, but not right now. It was hard. I was anticipating finishing in 2:30-3:00 . The tide was against us for half of the swim and everyone ended up over an hour slower than expected. I finished in 3:46….that's 36 min/miles and was the 9
th female. Way off any pace I have ever swum before, but so was everyone else. I really liked the distance and was thrilled to know that I have nearly 4 hours of endurance.
The Lake Champlain Swim is a fundraiser for the Burlington YMCA. Each swimmer is asked to raise at least $250 for the YMCA. It was very evident in the weeks leading up to the race that this was a very low key event. It was never advertised as a race and there weren't any previous year's race results or times on the web site. I was excited by this because it takes the pressure off and I could just spend some time learning about distance swimming. Sure I wanted to be the first person to arrive at the beach in Vermont , but I was going to be satisfied with last place if I leaned more about my ability to swim in open water.
Friday, August 3rd- 7:00 am. GOOD MORNING Katie
Davison, and Mary & Al Delaney! Mary and Al Delaney were nice enough to be our
kayakers for the 8 mile swim and also drive us and the kayaks to Vermont. We were anticipating about 10 hours in the car and to make it to Vermont for the 6 pm
pre-swim dinner. Were we way off! Tired and hungry, we rolled into Burlington , VT at about 8:00 pm.
Saturday, August 4
th- The big swim day! I jumped out of bed and was finally nervous for the swim. All of a sudden it hit me that I was going to swim from one state to another. We gathered our stuff, fixed our drinks and food and were off to the lake. We arrived and met Tad, the swim organizer and turned in our donations. "Are you two in High School?" he asked? "NO WAY" we both answered at the same time. Tad, the aquatics director at the YMCA was busy unloading kayaks and organizing the volunteers. Seems that everyone at this event thought we were in either high school or college. We made our way down to the dock to have breakfast and meet other swimmers and support
kayakers.
We ran into
Sydne and Jerry who we had been emailing with before the swim. It was a very relaxed atmosphere and no one seemed nervous. The kayaks were loaded onto a pontoon boat and we all boarded the "Nancy Ann" boat. Sitting near the back, Katie and I huddled together because there wasn't much space.
"Have you heard about the white fish?" Jerry said. "White fish?" someone replied. "No, Wife Fish, W-I-F-E, like husband and wife" he said. "If one bites you, just grab onto it and twist it to pull it out." Yikes! Good thing one of our
kayakers is a doctor. I have searched and searched and can not find any evidence that this type of fish exists.
Then the boat started turning around. Big Al, the boat captain said that the pontoon boat was having trouble so we were going back to tie it to our boat and tow it to the other side of the lake. Once attached, we were off headed towards NY. Katie and I were just looking at each other wondering exactly what we had gotten ourselves into.
"WHOA, STOP" someone yelled. The pontoon boat, which we were towing, was sinking and several kayaks had fallen off. Oh dear! Several swimmers from our boat had jumped into the water and were chasing after the kayaks, gas can, and several other things that had fallen over. They said to make room on the Nancy Ann for the kayaks so Katie and I moved up one level and were now sitting with Captain Big Al. Once all of the kayaks and people were situated, we began the journey across Lake Champlain for the third time. With about 6 miles to go, it was clear that the swim wasn't starting at 9 am .
"I'm going to call that boat the Andrea Doria" Big Al said to us.
Blank stares from Katie and I.
"Oh, you don't know about the Andrea Doria?" he said.
"Nope" we replied.
"Well have you heard of the Titanic?"
"Of course we have!"
He proceeded to give us a history lesson about the crash of the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm . Next he told us about the tar that coats the hemp string that is used on boats, complete with a real piece for us to smell. Then we got a demonstration of all of the gadgets on his boat…the GPS, depth meter, "George", the radio, etc.
We made it to the other side, the kayaks were unloaded, we put on sunscreen, Katie got on her wetsuit and were ready to go. We jumped in the water which was 74 degrees- perfect for not wearing a wetsuit! We waited for a few minutes and then all of the nearby boats blew their horns and we were off!
Katie and I stayed together for the first mile or so. We were quickly able to separate ourselves from the other swimmers. Knowing that there weren't too many people in front of us, I settled into what I thought was a good pace. The water was pretty calm for the first two miles. Big Al had told us that the first few miles wouldn't be too choppy because the wind was coming over the mountains of NY and wouldn't affect the water until later in the swim. I had gotten a little sick in the first hour, but wasn't feeling nauseous at all.
Around mile two we started having a nice tailwind, which was nice except that with the larger waves, it was harder to stay in a rhythm. I didn't complain because I knew that the tailwind was helping! With Al still kayaking next to me, we made it to Juniper Island (mile 5) in just over 2 hours. I had a feeling that the swim was about to go more in the direction of the Andrea Doria and I was right!
As soon as we passed the island, I told myself, "It's only 3 miles, you do that all the time!" I had Al open the can of Coke that I had brought since nothing else was staying down. It didn't either, but at least maybe I was getting some caffeine. With a strong headwind trying to push us south, I tried with every bit of energy I had to keep going towards the finish which was now a little north. I continued to get sick and felt more nauseous then I ever have in my life. I held on to the kayak for a few minutes and just cried. I knew I needed to continue moving forward because every time I stopped we drifted farther south. There were times when I would try to keep my body as still as I could so that I wouldn't feel sick, but continue to move my arms. I figured as long as I was still making progress, it didn't matter what my stroke looked like. Any forward motion at this point was good. I kept thinking, just to make it to shore and then I could just sit down on the beach.
Finally the beach began to get closer and the water was getting shallow. I could see the bottom! I saw a few kayaks on the beach so I knew I wasn't first. There were only 3 kayaks so I wasn't last! Al paddled to shore and put the kayak up on the beach and walked back to me. I had taken my cap and goggles off and just started crying out of pure relief that it was over.
I crossed the finish line in 3 hours and 48 minutes (28.5 min/miles). There were more hugs from Mary & Katie who had just finished 10 minutes ahead. We were so close, yet I never saw them after mile 2. Katie and I walked up to the showers and I instantly felt better, not nauseous at all. We sat there for a while and watched the finishers come in and watched the waves get larger and larger. There were reports that people's
kayakers had to be picked up because they were getting flipped over by the waves. The very last person, our buddy Jerry who told us about the "Wife Fish", finished in 6 hours and 45 minutes. What an incredible effort that was on his part. Way to go Jerry!
I ended up finishing 4
th overall. I wanted to learn about long distance swimming and I certainly did. I learned that I need to get the sea sickness under control before I ever attempt anything like this again. I also learned that I can still have a good swim even in tough conditions. It's so much of a mental game. If I had let myself get too frustrated or negative, I never would have finished. I didn't go all the way to Vermont to NOT finish. I knew I would do whatever it took to get to the other side.
I will definitely do this swim again. For now I'm looking forward to a nice calm 1 & 2 mile swim in Lake
Montclair and a 5K swim in Smith Mountain Lake in September. Then it's back to the long distance with a possible trip to Bermuda for the 10K swim there. Next year, who knows? There are swims longer than 8 miles and I may decide to try one of those!
"Either you decide to stay in the shallow end of the pool or you go out in the ocean." -Christopher Reeve
