Mel's send off in Port Dalhousie! (click to enlarge)
This is my story about how I enjoyed almost every moment of my 18 hourLakeOntario swim crossing,,,
Leaving atmidnightwas a good plan. It meant the least number of hours in darkness and without pacers. However it was extremely hard to rest before midnight as the anticipation & the nerves were too much to actually get any sleep… It was also somewhat challenging for the crew and I getting ready in the darkness. Although most of it had been done earlier, there were last minute things to do.
Shortly beforemidnight, I said “See you soon” to my crew and got a drive over to the beach. There was a small gathering in the parking lot. They got a chuckle out of Rob applying the grease to my lower legs, armpits, and neck before the final walk down to the water. I took the walk with Rob and absorbed his final words of wisdom and experience.
It was pretty dark and I yelled out “Cadence”, as I needed to find my oldest daughter before taking the plunge. She said I smelt bad (the grease, sunscreen, A535), and I said I won’t smell any better on the other-side… Quite a few people were on the beach waiting to see me off (atmidnightThursday) it was fantastic! Thanks everyone! But then I had to do it, I said “Goodbye” and stepped in.
Taking the plunge (click to enlarge)
My first thought: the water temperature is great (for LakeOntario)! And away I went… I caught up to Zodiac 1, which had husband Bill (nutritionist), Dave J (coach) and Colleen (SSO official) who would be by my side the whole way. At first they were shining the light right on me and it was impossible for me to tell how far away they were. So we sorted that out and they came around to the other side of me so I could see the string of glow lights they had hung along the side of the boat like Christmas lights. It really was a pleasant sight! They kept the light shining in front of me for the rest of the night. Although it didn’t actually make a lit path for me to follow, it did make a iridescent effect in the water. The waves were coming at me, it was choppy and although I had done a few night swims, they had been calm compared to this. I felt like I was fighting the waves that first hour, as I couldn’t tell where or when they would hit from next. At the second feeding Dave told me to engage my core as rolling more would help me with the waves. Doing so made it possible for me to roll with the waves instead of trying to plough through them. It was much better. I don’t really mind waves, it just took some getting used to in the dark.
I could see the lights from the distant shore on my left the whole night, intermittently between waves. And with the almost full moon it was picturesque and if I got caught up in a wave or found myself a little off course, I reminded myself how lucky I was that the temperature wasn’t freezing and what a beautiful evening it was for a “little” swim.
I wasn’t allowed to wear a watch, but with the feedings being every half an hour (I remain in the water while feeding), I was sort of keeping track of the time. After approximately 4 hours (around 4 am) I asked for a ‘legal’ pain pill. I was feeling it more then I wanted to be so early into the swim. That first hour before I figured out how to work with the waves in the dark and lifting my head to sight on the lead sailboat was straining my back and neck, and it was taking its toll. I wonder how much of the pain relief is mental, as I did feel a bit better very quickly.
Finally... sunrise! (click to enlarge)
On it went, a few more hours and the sun would be rising. To pass the time I sang the theme song from Gilligan’sIslandand I pretended my crew were characters from the show.
Then the sun was rising and they were radioing for Petrato join me in the water. I felt pretty chipper to see her and we commented on the beautiful sunrise. It is great pacing with her because we naturally have a similar turnover. It is amazing how clear the water is, and how nice it is to have a smiling face look at you under water and when you breathe. That first hour with a pacer went super fast! Stacey was up next. During the trial swim, we had roughest leg together and now on the real swim, I think it was even rougher. She paced me through it no problems again. Stacey is a regular lane mate in practice, so I just let my mind go with the familiarity of swimming with her. It helped to break it down into segments like this… and not think too much about the whole thing.
It was starting to feel like I would be against the waves the whole way. I realized the difference between a “crossing” and the other long swims I had done, which had been repeats out and back or loops, which meant you got a little “headwind” for one section and a little “tailwind” for another, whereas this was looking like it would be all against me. A daunting thought as I tried to do the math and figured I had done about 8 hours of swimming and was hoping I was around nearing half way. This is the other big difference – I had no idea how far I had gone. There were no landmarks, no mile-markers. I didn’t really want regular updates, as I just wanted to swim in the moment. But it is a hard habit to break and I asked to be told when I was over 20k. I thought it would be a pick me up to think I was swimming further then I ever had before. However waiting for them to tell me I was past 20k drained some of the positive effect out of finally hearing it.
Bill setting the pace! (click to enlarge)
Denyse came out next, I said “Punk, it’s better then the wave pool” and then we swam. I watched Denyse’s perfect stroke, tried to follow it, knowing if I had a better stroke, I’d probably be feeling less pain. I thought of Denyse doing her first 200m fly this year. I drew strength from her, and did a little one arm fly in honour of her accomplishment.
Andrew was the next pacer. He was also the official photographer for the crossing, capturing many fantastic pictures and sending them to land for people to see almost live (thanks also to the tracking done by Accipiter Radar, people on land felt very connected). So during our swim I pretended he was paparazzi. Around this time I think the waves were starting to die down a bit too, which I welcomed.
Next in was Maisey (Rob’s daughter). She was the one pacer that I don’t regularly swim with. She’s just 16, all the rest of us are “old masters”. She was interested in taking part, had some experience from being around her dad’s marathon swims, and she doubled as a lifeguard. I also thought the experience would be great for her as I suspect she’ll be doing this in the not so distant future! (no pressure Maisey) I think I said “you shouldn’t be in your wetsuit” to her as she seems to have a natural ability to handle cooler temperatures, so she really didn’t need it. As well the wetsuit made it harder for her to go slow enough with me. I could see her putting her legs up to get some drag, although she did well to not let on and not get away from me. During the feed break I told her how I worried the crew could hear me fart and she was laughing at me.
The next pacer in was Fiona, who also was the manager for the crossing. Fiona put in countless hours behind the scenes. Bill later told me Colleen (who has been on and in many crossings) was in awe at how well she had everything organized. The organization behind this is a gigantic task! Fiona is a true gem for all her help and ensuring things ran so smoothly!
cruzin... (c'mon, tell me that's not beautiful water!)
Towards the end of the swim with her, I saw Bill putting on his wetsuit and let out a little shriek of joy to know soon he would join me in the water. When he got in, I jokingly asked everyone to close their eyes so I could have a kiss, but of course we couldn’t as purposeful contact like that would get me disqualified. Similar to Fiona, Bill did a ton of work long before we left atmidnight to get us prepared. He was selfless and understanding during the training, he kayaked beside me for hours, he talked me through lows and made the daily grind more fun! He also got his boating licence and worked with me on my nutrition plan. During the crossing, he drove the boat, got my feedings together, and now he paced me. Underwater it looked like he was mouthing words to me. I though he was saying “Elephant shoes” ?
Well all the pacers had been in and it was time to start the rotation again. I think it was around the beginning of the second rotation that the wind actually seemed to turn and be behind us. Also I was told we had under 10k left. At this point, I made a bit of a mental error. I let myself think thatLakeO was saying I had earned it and was granting me a smooth ride in. On a misjudged high, I paced withPetra like we were out for a two hour training pace. It was invigorating and I felt great, but later I learned never think you are there until you are actually there!
With the next few pacers I switched more to breaststroke to give my muscles a change. Breaststroke is my natural stroke and my strongest stroke (unfortunately it is the slowest stroke). But now it wasn’t feeling that great either. It still requires arms upfront and oddly my ankles were hurting. I guess because they had been pointed so long in freestyle that the ankle flexion in breaststroke needed some oiling.
Port Dalhousie Auxillary Coast Guard! (click to enlarge)
Although I didn’t see David L during the swim, (as much as I tried to catch him), he played a major part in the crossing. He was the navigator, volunteering his time and his sailboat Kachina. Thank you David L! I followed his boat eagerly, maybe because I thought its shape from the back resembled a bottle of beer. I sang “99 bottles of beer on the wall” in my head, and had to count down 30 bottles while doing freestyle before I could switch to breaststroke or backstroke or some variation…
Also special thanks toTyler, another swimming friend on the crew, who also volunteered his time and his motor boat. Since they were the tail-boat, I only saw them occasionally during feeds and they seemed to be having fun on the water! If Dave’s boat was the beer,Tyler’s boat was the party, and I was in the middle!
I also want to thank the Grimsby Auxiliary guys, who volunteered their big red / orange zodiac and time. It was great to see them jump in the water a few times and cool off too!
only 1k left... but nothing left in the tank! (click to enlarge)
I didn’t think I would be cycling through all my pacers again, but the good tides turned. I hit a current, the wind and waves were back in my face and the waves picked up again. I could see shore and she wasn’t getting any bigger/closer. I started to realize I was going to have a really hard time finishing. I didn’t feel I was strong enough or fast enough to beat the current, waves, and wind. I was getting discouraged. I was down to about 2k left and I didn’t think I could do it. I will also mention I was tired, sore and hungry. We had already adjusted feedings down to more frequent intervals. But now my bladder felt full, yet I wasn’t able to pee, and it was becoming incredibly painful. I wanted to quit, but even thinking of quitting so close was breaking my heart.Then I figured since I didn’t think I could make it to shore, if I just fell asleep I would get pulled from the water and although it would be an awful ending, it seemed more and more like the only acceptable option I had… breaststroke in this would take me backwards, and freestyle was so spent by this point it would not be much better. I closed my eyes and tuned the crew out, not wanting to face them in such a low. I’m not sure how long I was like this but, somehow my mind was still churning… I did some calculations and thought the last 1500m could take me 1.5 hours (which is around 3.5 times what it should take). I looked for the sun in the sky. It hadn’t set yet, so I knew it wasn’t 9pm yet. Since I
the crowd trying to cheer her in!!!
had told people that the crossing could take anywhere from 15-21 hours, I resolved myself to keep trying until the 21 hours were up and see where that got us and then I would allow myself to re-assess my options. So although my hopes were low, I put myself back in the game and had a few Reese mini cups as some happy food (it wasn’t a cinnamon donut but it was the next best thing) Then with my amazing team around me (all the pacers and Dr John and lifeguard Jennifer all got in the water) I felt their strength and encouragement and I gave it my all, my everything, more then I knew I had. I thought about each member of my crew, individually, what they had done for me to get me this far, I thought of the people on shore (Fiona told me she could hear them). I thought of each person who had told me they would try to be there at the finish.
I thought of the people who had sent me well wishes. I thought of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and hoped that finishing would mean more donations for them. I thought of my girls and my husband and how this swim has been so engulfing for our family and how much we had all sacrificed. I thought of my parents, and how worried they have been about the whole thing. I thought about my family, my extended family, my friends on shore and how I just wanted to be able to swim up to them for hugs and kisses!
the anticipation builds!!! (click to enlarge)
I put my head down. I listened to Dave J’s legendary ‘GO’; Fiona was up front, organizing the last push forward, in amazing Fiona spirit. Bill was beside me as he had been all along. Many of my team went ‘naked’ and we had some cold patches. Petrareacted with a squeal to a cold spot and it gave me a laugh, a much needed smile. Slowly I was getting there. I could see trees. Eventually I could see people on land, and the orange shirts. My amazing team and the spectators were in my head, cheering for me, giving me strength, hope and the will to finally touch that rock!
Touching a rock has never felt so good or so overwhelming! The emotions swelled over me, yet I was still in disbelief. At6:09pmonAug 12, 2011 I completed swimming over 40k acrossLakeOntario. But I can’t emphasize enough, this was not a solo swim, it took a fabulous team of great friends on the water and lots and lots of supportive friends on land! When my belief in myself got washed away with the current, my incredible team kept believing in me and wouldn’t let me give-up! Thank you all! Thank you again and again!
The now famous "touching of the rock!"... she made it!!!
I learned later that the current pushed me east, so that I didn’t actually land at my original destination; and that those on shore had to hop into their cars and drive along the shore and then had to run through people’s backyards and through sprinklers to see me touch a rock! How crazy is that! Later at the hospital to get my vitals checked, we see our friend John A and learn he cut his head on a sign running to see the finish, now I have to live with the guilt of him having 8 staples in his head. What a chaotic ending to an incredible experience!
That was an awesome and inspiring read. Thanks for sharing!
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