An International Swim~USA to CANADA

NO LANES~ NO LINES~NO BORDERS

In search of Memphre an International Swim, No Lanes~ No Lines~ No Borders

The whirlwind of swims in August has come to a close, a revolving door of tapering for one swim, recovering and preparing for another the following weekend…. here’s what was swum in August

2 way Crossing of Lake Champlain 16.4 miles: August 4th
Boston Light Swim 8 miles:August 13th
Lake Willoughby Swim 4.75 miles: August 20th

Time to ease off the throttle right? Well you would think so BUT back on July 26th, I received the following email, here is a bit of the content to give you a feel for the potential mischief I am considering……

Hey Charlotte:

Elaine Howley, Greg O’Conner and Jen Dutton and I are organizing a 26 mile swim on September 10^th— In Search of Memphre, International Swim. We (I mean they) will be swimming the length of the lake from Newport to Magog or Magog to Newport depending on the wind direction on the day of the swim. It is intended to be a small, by invitation only, group of good spirited, swimmer scouts. We figure with 5 or 10 in the water our chances of a “sighting” will increase significantly. We know this is short notice, but we’d like to invite you to join us.

There has not been an organized international traverse of Lake Memphremagog since at least 2001. Part of our goal is to return this type of a swim to Lake Memphremagog and also to “break the border” so that more of these swims can occur. We have already started communications with border officials to pave the way for this swim to happen.

And, if we spot Memphre during the swim, well, wouldn’t that be wonderful.

Hope you can make it.

PS If you have a felony conviction in your background, forget it.

Phil

Well, I read the email, I am honored that these fine swimmers have extended me an invite, I ponder a reply, “hmmmm well it is very close to home, no flights required, I have a conditioning base started, these are terrific swimmers I am sure I will learn lots, I don’t have any criminal convictions and I do LOVE an adventure………better check in with the family first”, I think to myself, with that I call out to my daughter Heidi and son Soeren ” hey I’ve been invited to swim to Canada, what do you think?”, ” Awww go for it Mum”, they reply together, I ponder for a few more minutes, ” better check in with Jeff, my husband”, rats he’s not around to ask right now, and with that I type the following email reply…I’ll give you a hint before you read on…..”Canada Oh Canada”

Hi Phil,

WOW what a tremendous swim, I am honored to receive your invite and YES I would love to join the

group of swimmer scouts, no felony conviction, although I am a KIWI equipped with passport and

resident alien card to cross the border. I have the date set aside, what an exciting thing to potentially

open these waters up to future swims. Charlotte

You can find out more about the swim, the 10 other swimmers and the cause it supports here at the www.insearchofmemphre.com , this swim poses many challenges, here are a few, it is:

An international swim, starting in the United States, finishing in Canada
At least half of the course will be swum at night with a midnight start time on September 1o
Distance = 26 Miles, my longest attempt
Estimated time of completion: 13-14 Hours
Water Temperature 60-65 F
Air Temperature : Night 49 F/ Daytime 72F

Next up EAT, SLEEP, SWIM and LIFE……..

That has been the drive for the last 3 weeks, adding big miles, eating to fuel my swims, sleeping and fitting it all in around day to day life of work and family, PHEW!

Here is how the list of swims from week One:

Monday August 22nd 4800 meters Pool

Tuesday August 23rd 5.75 Miles Open Water

Wednesday 24th 3800 meters Pool + 2 miles Open Water

Thursday 25th 5.75 Miles Open Water

Friday 26th 5.75 Miles Open Water

Saturday 27th Split Swim: Dark 5am start 6.75 miles + Daytime Swim 3-5pm 5 miles TOTAL 11.75 Miles

Total for week One= 58,682 Meters or 36.4 miles

Total for the week Two = 58, 927 meters or 36.6 miles

Total Meters in the last 2 Weeks : 117,600 meters

Calories Consumed: A Whopping 84,000 Calories

So….here we are 117,600 meters in the last 14 days, that includes 2 rest days, 4 sessions of strength training, 4 sessions of Yoga and teaching a handful of group fitness classes, oh and a bucket load of eating, literally a bucket loader full of food.

What about the Training Swims….

How can I describe the training swims to you….. beautiful yet painful, elating yet miserable, all at the same time, yes the dust has settled from 4 weeks of events and races and now it is the reality of back to the meat and potatoes of my training…. early starts, tired eyes, tired body, struggling to focus on a part of my body that feels good and that end of summer chilly feeling in the air, it comes fast here in Vermont, a point I was thrilled to demonstrate to my crew.

Cool morning air of 43 Degrees combined with a warm 66 degree in the water makes for a steamy lake swim

The Cool Vermont Air, Fall is on the way…..

Sunday August 20th I send my crew an email with the training schedule for the next 4 weeks, it includes 16.5 hours of swimming per week, many of the sessions an early start time meaning getting up at 4 or 5am, the email is delivered with a chipper little note that says this…….

Subject Line: Summer comes to a close

Content:“Hey Crew, attached is schedule for late August and early September, big miles and early morning swims in preparation for Canada on September 10th”

Well, I got a quick smart reply, it is a ………THE SUMMERS NOT OVER memo right back at me from Deb, I quietly read and snicker to myself, next thing you know it is time to meet for our next swim. I notice a change in the air, during the night I find myself burrowing under the comforter, you guessed it there IS a chill in the air, I roll out of bed at 5am and go about getting ready for my swim, out of the house at 5:45am armed with feeds, a thermos, woolly hat and warm clothes, I glance up at the temperature prominently displayed on the bank in Morrisville, the little town I drive through to get to the lake, 43 degrees it proudly boasts, I am BEAMING, infact I am currently grinning like a Cheshire cat, I can’t wait to see Deb, I purposely stride over to her on my arrival to the lake and say” it is cold this morning Deb, the summer is coming to a close”. Deb is tight lipped as we take all our gear down to the canoe launch, I can’t take it anymore and finally blurt out the following with a mischievious smile ” Bit cooler this morning don’t you think Deb, specially with it being summer and all”, Deb looks up and smiles and I laugh a very ” I told you so laugh”.

It is in fact the only bright spot of the swim, the cold air bores into my head and my shoulders burn as I swim as strong as I can to keep my heart rate up and my core warm, the water Is 66 degrees, it was much warmer than the air and I drive my head under water to escape the cold early morning air. Deb later tells me she had never seen me so powerful in the water, here is what she reported…

Strokes were powerful and your wake was very impressive. We made it to “naked man rock” at 18 minutes, which is a good time.

The loons were flying this morning. A little different behavior. There was a school of fish,(little ones) near the big island and when you got close they all dispersed at once creating a bubble show of a thousand bubbles. Wish you could have seen your creation.

Swimmer girl Doolittle…………

That was just one of the last 2 week’s adventures, there are many more little snippets of swims that just keep bringing me back for more, all my training swims have all been tough yet achievable, painful, yet enjoyable, each one with a lesson, each one making me stronger.

Tuesday August 30th was just one of those days, I have taken to taping my turtle thermometer to a kayak paddle to allow Deb to get a temperature reading out in the deeper part of the lake, none of this balmy surface layer stuff, I have decided I want to know what is going on under the surface where my belly is, Tuesday morning I arrive down to the canoe launch to take a reading at the shore, Hurricane Irene has just pummeled Vermont, the water level is way up and I plan to be on the look out for floating debris while I swim this morning but before I navigate that I am going to get a snapshot of how the heavy rain effected to water temperature.

It is the quietest of mornings, so still, it feels like mother nature is exhausted from the wrath of Irene, even the loons are silent which is eary in itself, Deb and Paula are still up by the car and I step onto a rock and bring my face right down to the water, I slide the paddle and turtle under and wait, as I wait I notice a little fish swim up, he looks at me and turtle and waits too, then another little fish comes along and parks besdie him, another, another and another, before long there are 12 little fishys lined up, I am amazed, ” hey little fishys how goes it today?”, I ask, no answer but the fish keep on staring, ” you know little fishys you are leaving yourselves wide open, that is exactly why you get caught”, they look at me with a ” we know what we are doing look”, then a bigger fish swims up, the little fishys are about 6 inches long, big fish is 8 or 9 inches and he stops and looks too. So there we are all hanging out, me, turtle and the 13 fishys, suddenly the fishys eyes seem to widen, amazing that it could seem this way but it does, next thing as if it is perfectly planned they all turn and dart away in perfect harmony….Deb and Paula are walking over to see what I am doing and the little fishys got a fright. “WOW, look at that I am a fishy friend, back away so you don’t frighten the fish and watch this”, I say to Deb and Paula, and with that they back away, in goes the paddle with turtle and I lean close to the water once more, one by one the 12 little fishys pull back up to their little fishy parking spots and before long big fish Mr 13 joins us, what fun, I am in the ” I don’t freak out the fish club”, guess that’s what 16.5 hours per week hanging out with these guys will do.

Finally it is time to swim, I pull myself away and announce to Deb,” time to swim, be rude not to right” and with that I strip down and wade into the cool fresh rainwater, it only feels cold for a bit then I am away laughing.

Turtle puts on a brave face as he prepares to take the first swim of the morning, " this is the LAST time", he squeals as I plunge him under the water near the canoe launch, what a trooper.

Countdown to the big international plunge…….

So there we have it, training is complete, my last swim was yesterday Tuesday September 7th, now I rest up and wait, hundreds of thoughts spin around my head tonight and every night for the last week, thoughts of planning, visualizing and contemplating the challenges of this swim, these thoughts visit me constantly, will they visit me during the swim, or will I be able to remain calm and strong through mental focus during the reality of the swim itself, or should I say the “unreality ” of the swim, my body and mind often feel detached from real life when I’m in the thick of a swim and ” in the moment”

You and I will wait patiently and discover the answers September 10th when we start the swim at midnight, my crew will tweet progress if cellular signal permits, they will be at the mercy ” bars or SOS No Signal”.

Will I make it across the border? I’ll keep you posted.

Closing Thought:

A successful person is one who is productive to the peak of his capacity and who is comfortable with his or her own self

President of John Hopkins University, address to graduating class of 1974 from the University of Maryland

One Lake Two Countries, the Goal and International Swim