Swimming Impossible

12th Annual Swim across Lake Champlain raises money for Greater Burlington YMCA

Story by Max Galanty

On your marks, get set, swim. That's what the caravan of swimmers will hear on August 2, 2008, at the 12th Annual YMCA Lake Champlain Shore to Shore Swim. There will be goggles, swimming caps, one-pieces, two-pieces, and even a pair of Speedos or two, as swimmers get ready for a long dip in the lake.

Actually, the dip is more like an aquatic adventure across state lines. It is eight miles from Willsboro Point, NY to Burlington, Vermont. If the swim were done in an indoor Olympic size pool it would take over 500 laps to complete.

"My friend was following me in the boat. She gave me a power bar while I was mid-swim."

The swim is a fundraiser for the Greater Burlington, VT YMCA. The proceeds will go directly to swim programs that the YMCA offers. Water programs like free senior swim, arthritis exercise, therapy swim, pre- and post-natal exercise, and adaptive swim lessons for people with all types of disabilities, benefit from the money raised from the swim.  The money comes from the $250 entry fee or participants who raise $250 in pledges. "Much of the costs are offset with donations of food, drinks, boats, and volunteers," Peter Hoehl, Greater Burlington YMCA Aquatics Director, explains. One year, the total amount of money raised from the swim was $16,000, which is the most money they have raised in one year.

With assistance of boating traffic from the Vermont State Police and the Coast Guard, the swim is watched closely and therefore it is seemingly safe to compete in. Each swimmer is given their own chase boat; it’s like a guardian angel in the form of either a motor boat or a kayak. "My friend was following me in the boat. She gave me a power bar while I was mid-swim," Lauren Elizabeth Honrath, the winner of the 2007 Lake Champlain Swim, recalls. All of the guard boats keep an eye on the water and their ear to the phone; they call Hoehl every thirty minutes to "ensure everyone's safety," Hoehl says.

Proving that there is no such thing as being too safe, two mission control boats are also making the journey across the blue lagoon. "The mission control boats are there to respond to any situation such as a capsized kayak," Hoehl says. According to Hoehl, there haven’t been any emergencies at past Shore to Shores, "but last year's choppy waters did make for some difficult situations," Hoehl says.

There haven't been any photo finishes in last five years, but there have been some close calls. According to Honrath the closest swimmer was behind her by four minutes. A 50-year-old man who had competed in the swim a few years ago took seven and a half hours to finish. "I was going to pull him out of the water because I was worried about his core temperature and I believe he'd been in too long, but his spirits were so high and I didn't have the guts to pull him out," Hoehl remembers of his first year running the event. "His final time was seven hours and forty seven minutes; that's almost a full work day," Hoehl adds. Honrath was the youngest competitor in the race and she came in first place. "I either finished the race in two and half or three and a half hours," Honrath says.

Competitors pretty much compete against each other for the personal accomplishment aspect. In other words, swimmers don't come from all over the country to competively swim to win t-shirts and fleeces. "Some swimmers wear wetsuits, some don’t," Hoehl explains of the fairness, or lack thereof nature of the race. "We all just jumped in, and I think they blew a whistle to start us off," Honrath says. "I just remember trying to get away from the pack as fast I could."

For swimmers like Honrath, who is on the University of Vermont's swim team, the swim is good practice for the season. "My swim coach at UVM told me about it; the coach said it was a good way to get ready for the season," Honrath says.

It is a long distance swim, but according to Honrath it is doable. "My arms felt like rubber, and I was really tired running up to the beach when I finished it. But my parents greeted me with a towel and they had pizza for us," Honrath recalls.

As the potential competitors still practice and get in swimming shape for this summer, the water has some warming up to do. With ice currently all over the lake it is hard to imagine that the water will be in the 70s in a few months. 

What is the longest distance that you have ever swam?