July training swims

    Many people ask about my training.
     Once the water warms up and I can do longer open water swims, there are 2 key swims that are important to prove a swimmer can do the distance.
     In 2 weeks I will be doing the long swim, which will be 75% of the distance of Lake Tahoe. This year, I will do 3 laps of an 8.5 km circuit. In past years, for the long swim I have swum a lake, such as Lake Muskoka, Lake Joseph or Lake of Bays. In 2011, for the long swim, I swam Lake Simcoe, which was 34 km, the same distance as the English Channel, This was to prove to myself that I could still do it because it was my first year out of retirement. In 2015, I swam the 3 Provinces, which was actually 4 km further than the Cook Strait, but the point was to prove I could swim for a long time in 15-16 degree C. water.
     Towards the end of the month, I will do the split swim, which is an English Channel training concept. The goal is to do the distance of Lake Tahoe in 2 to 3 days.
     Another swim that I will also do in July is the Swim for the Cure. I have swum it 10 of the last 16 years. This swim is organized by a nurse friend from St. Joseph's Hospital, Debbie Bang, to raise money for breast cancer research. Over the last 16 years, this swim has raised over $238,000. The swim is 12.8 km down the Trent-Severn waterway. For more information:  www.swimforthecure.ca  If you are interested in supporting breast cancer research, the link for my donation page is:  http://convio.cancer.ca/site/TR/Thirdpartyevent/IFE_ON_CommunityPartnerships_?px=6939560&pg=personal&fr_id=23019#.WVCCHPkrLIV