It hasn’t happened for me yet, but the moment is coming soon. Oh yes. I can almost feel it now… the hot sun on my face as I whip off my hat and sunglasses, the cool breeze past my sweaty shoulders as I take a bounding leap… Splash!
Like a tall glass of cold lemonade for mind, body, and spirit, nothing beats the refreshment of diving off the docks of Donner Lake or the boulders of Tahoe’s EastShore after a long day of summer fun. As your body hits the water, all greasy, grimy feelings are forgotten. Doesn’t matter how far you ran, pedaled, or paddled – the luscious cool water and the shock of instant immersion erases all memory of aches or discomforts.
While my ‘Casper’-looking legs haven’t seen a swimsuit yet, swimming has been on the mind, as not only have I wondered when I might surrender my sweat to the icy meltwater, but once again there has been recent news in the local sporting world of water.
Fresh off a successful 22-mile lengthwise crossing of Lake Tahoe last August, local ultra-swimmer Karen Rogers wasted no time setting herself up for a bold new challenge. During the first week of July, Rogers will attempt to be the first woman to swim nonstop from the Farallon Islands to the Aquatic Park in San Francisco. The Farallones sit nearly 30 miles offshore and are famous as a known breeding ground for great white sharks! Only two men have ever successfully swum the Farallon crossing, both having taken shorter routes than Rogers’ proposed route.
The Farallon swim attempt will be Rogers’ longest open water swim yet, but she has already shown she’s in top form, setting a new women’s record on a recent 23-mile San Francisco Bay swim. On May 15, Rogers swam from the Golden Gate Bridge to the San Mateo Bridge in a little over seven hours. For the Farallones swim, Rogers expects to be in the water for twice that long and has enlisted the help of both a tide expert and a marine biologist to help her safely navigate the notoriously treacherous waters. The ultra-swimming community is already lauding Rogers’ intended route as the ‘World’s Most Dangerous Swim.’ You can follow Rogers’ swim in real time at karenmrogers.com.
As Rogers reels in success in the Bay Area, she’ll be trading places with another ultra-swimmer from San Francisco. On August 13, all-around endurance hardman Jaime Patrick will attempt to be the first person to swim the length of Lake Tahoe both directions in one push. Patrick’s 44-mile Jake’s to Jake’s route will also be a record attempt as no one has ever accomplished such an audacious Tahoe swimming feat.
Unbelievably, the double crossing will be but a warm-up for Patrick as he hopes to make it a stepping stone towards his 2011 aspiration to swim the length of Tahoe not twice but thrice! That 66-mile epic swim will conclude a project Patrick has dubbed ‘T3’ and also highlight a documentary movie he is creating about the fragile beauty of water with cinematographer Martin Sundberg.
Before you go writing off Patrick’s triple crossing attempt as ludicrous (or down right impossible), take note that he has successfully completed 15 Ironman triathlons including a Triple-Ironman (7.8-mile swim, 336-mile bike, 52-mile run). He admits the double crossing of Tahoe will be his most difficult challenge yet, as spending 20 hours staring into Big Blue will no doubt test his outer limits of mental stamina, let alone his physical strength.
To fuel his fire mid-swim, Patrick is planning on eating a wide variety of foods including a bite or two of a turkey sandwich and a few glasses of ice-cold milk. He’ll make food decisions on the fly as it gives him something to look forward to while swimming, says Patrick. The milk is supposedly his secret to avoiding belly cramps as it coats his stomach. To catch up on Patrick’s mission, check out thetahoetriple.com.
In other aqua news, I thought I’d also give a quick update on the status of the proposed indoor aquatic facility located adjacent to the new Truckee Rec Center. The design for the 30,000 square foot center has been agreed upon and will likely include a 25-yard by 25- meter cold water competition pool, as well as a warm water recreation/therapy pool featuring play obstacles and a water slide. The facility is expected to cost $12.5 million. The Truckee Rec and Park District board has committed $3 million plus the land. To fill the funding gap, the TDRPD is focusing their efforts on putting a bond measure on the ballot. No word yet on when we might vote, but here’s hoping our pockets feel fat when we do. Truckee desperately needs a new pool and an approved bond measure just might extend our swimming season from three months to 12.
