16k trial swim

Solo Swims of Ontario (SSO) sanctions all solo swims across Lake Ontario to ensure such swims are conducted safely.   SSO requires that an aspirant must complete an outdoor, open water, continuous swim in the same or similar body of water being challenged, of not less than one-third of the intended distance, with a maximum of ten miles (sixteen kilometres), to test the swimmer's readiness for a marathon swim.  
I did my swim on Sunday, starting at the LOST Saturday swim start pier in Oakville going 4k east just past the LOST race start and back and then out and back again for a total of 16k.

sunscreen required!

It was looking to be a beautiful day.  Bill and I meet Lynn and Denyse by the pier around 8am and started getting ready.  The boat arrived about 25 minutes later, with Colleen S (the SSO official), Fiona and Thomas (the boat owner) on board.  By 8:30 Lynn and I were swimming.  (Denyse swam out to the boat to cruise for the first lap.)  

Not even 5 minutes in, the boat hit Bill in the kayak and he tipped.  Lynn and I swam back to him, started grabbing things that were floating away, we got the kayak upright and tried to help Bill as he made an attempt to get back in... wasn't happening.  I said you are close enough to shore, probably best if you swim in and get back in there, we will keep swimming and you can catch up.  Coincidentally, I did hold on to the kayak to help him try and get back in, this is one of the no no's, intentionally touching something, I wasn't sure if Colleen would restart the swim or what, anyways this was going to be the longest "break" I would take (my feeding "breaks" are much quicker)  Bill actually went to the boat to get back in and the boat and he caught up to us soon enough.  I learned afterwards that this was a good lesson for us, because we were informed that in the Lake O crossing formation (boats in a diamond with swimmer(s) in the diamond, if the swimmer is coming towards the boat, the boat is to hold it's line and let the swimmer crash into it, as this is the way to keep the swimmer in the right direction, if the boat moves, we go off course, makes sense.

So Lynn's leg pacing felt a little disorganized and I felt like they were talking about things I should be able to hear but couldn't... we had to change direction a bit to swim out further, again it made total sense because of the boat in the shallow spots along the shore, but it changed the directional cues we normally have when swimming LOST.  Anyways we did finally seem to get a rhythm and get going.

Lynn and I had to swim through a thick carpet of seaweed stuff, it was a bit nasty for awhile...
So we swam past Maple Groove and I was wondering if they were going to tell me when to turn around, but according to GPS we still had 1/2 a km to go...

invasion of the paddleboarders

We turned and Denyse was beside me.  This lap felt great!  We had a bit of waves/wind coming at us, but I also felt like we had the current going with us.  At one point we could see all these people standing on paddleboards coming by, it was quite pleasant to see them (apparently they were racing to Port Credit).  Also around this time the boat traffic began to pick up...



it was clear underwater!



I was surprise how soon I saw the lighthouse and we were at the pier.  I said thanks to Lynn and Denyse as they were off and said hello to Andrew in the water.  The third leg was pretty uneventful, nothing sticks out in my mind, other than I knew we were close to the turn around and I could see Bill point to shore and Fiona looking through the binoculars and eventually Bill kayaked off to the shore.  After the swim I learned that they didn't think it was Stacey (the 4th/final pacer) because all Fiona saw through the binoculars was a bunch of kids.  (Stacey has 3 young ones, including twins, and I think she was already in the water, so Fiona couldn't see her)  Stacey also wasn't sure if it was us, because we were so far off shore (and I had said we'd go along the shore)  Anyways, it worked and Stacey swam with me back.  In the choppiest leg of the swim.  In Colleen's official report she said the waves got up to a foot, not really a big deal and I reminded myself of last year's LOST race, "That's all I have left to do" and that was probably wavier... 

Colleen also said this was my strongest leg, go figure, I like a challenge!  This time coming back though, I couldn't see the lighthouse, Bill said "start angling back into shore" and I was confused because I couldn't see that we were that close, fighting the chop I thought we had gone nowhere, but here we were almost back.  Then I saw the beach and some people there, I pictured myself finishing the crossing... I will use that picture later! 
We climbed up onto shore, Stacey's husband and kids were there.  This was the first time I didn't really start shivering when I've gotten out this year.  Of course, I didn't realize it in the water, but it was a super hot day, I could feel the heat on the rocks and started to feel the warmth (almost enough to jump back in the Lake)  
I felt good!  Not too sore, not tired.

Colleen sent me the official report she submits to SSO, it details where I swam, my lap times (all fairly consistent), total time just under the 6 hours, what and how often I ate, she said my breaks were good and quick, she said the water temp averaged 68F (temperature was not a problem), she said my stroke rate was between 60-64 strokes per minute and never dropped below 60 (good), and she said I finished feeling good and in good spirits (oh ya!).  But the key last line is the most exciting!!!: "Melanie was strong throughout and in my opinion ready for the Lake."
  
Special mention goes to Dave (my coach) and Sandra Judd who gave birth to their 2nd son at 4am that morning!  (A good sign, even though it meant Dave couldn't be there for the trial swim)

Captain Colleen Shields

I also want to say a few words about Colleen Shields, the SSO official assigned to me.  I 1st met Colleen at Nationals this year, where we talked briefly.  Since, she has joined LOST and been out a fair bit which has been a great opportunity for Bill and I to chat with her.  She is very down to earth and helpful.  She crossed the Lake in 1990 when she was 38 (the same age as I am now), which at the time gave her the title of oldest woman to cross the Lake!  She has a long list of swimming achievements from sprinting including Olympic trials in 1976 to marathon swims including the 1st person to cross from Tobermory to Manatoulin Island in Lake Huron where locals dubbed her Queen of the Chichimaun.  Thanks Colleen!  and Good Luck next year, when Colleen plans to attempt another Lake Ontario crossing to regain the oldest woman title in honour of her 60th year!  Amazing!!