....this year's Lake Windermere Open Water Swim was perfect! My sixth, I did worse than any other year since I started in 2013 and only figured out why when my fire fighter son-in-law helpfully treated me for hypothermia at the finish. Until then, I had no clue what had gone so badly wrong?!
The swim this year was three weeks earlier than every other, which apparently had a huge impact on the water temperature. Half way to the 1K buoy, I could feel neither my hands and arms, nor feet and legs. I was swimming on auto-pilot, trying not to think about how cold I was. I literally crawled out of the water and stumbled across the timer -- to great cheers, mind you because I was the oldest. As usual. Son-in-law saw my uncontrollable shaking and quickly realized I was in trouble. He and B helped me to the car and turned on the heat full blast.
A very sweet woman and her little girl stayed with me the whole swim in their kayak because they too could see I was struggling in the cold water. Lake Windermere, after all, is not really a lake. It is part of the mighty Columbia River. No wonder everyone else always wears a wet suit! I usually do the 2K swim in just over an hour, 1:05-ish. This year? 1:38! Yes, I was slow, but I would not give up. Here are a few souvenirs:
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| Just before the start, when I hadn't realized how cold the water was. Note the wet suit on the other woman. (I always wear a Swim Buddy, just in case. Didn't need it, thankfully. |
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| Daughter and me before her Olympic Distance triathlon. She won, by the way. I didn't! |
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| The grands did a Kids' Tri. Reed came second, Hilary third. Chips off the old block, as they say. |
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| Family dinner the night before. |
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| Enjoying myself the night before. No clue about what was to come! |
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| Every year, a pair of Osprey Raptors nest atop a hydro pole in Invermere. Fascinating. |
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| The Three Sisters Mountain range in Canmore. |
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Daughter on the right collecting her first prize medal. The woman on the left is someone I swim with every day. Was surprised to see her there!
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