My apologies about the tracker link not working. The problem was that I set it up too far in advance and then it timed out before the swim started. I set up a second tracker link at the last minute and didn't have time to publish it. Then my tech crew person couldn't make it so there was no blogging.
The forecast was for 0% chance of rain and wind from the northwest at 9 to 15 km/hr. We had a pre-swim water temperature from the south end of the lake of 20 degrees C. My big concern was that the air temperature was going to be 13-15 deg. C the first couple of hours. But we had to start as early as possible because the winds and boat traffic would pick up in the afternoon.
June 21 was beautiful, almost calm, sunny morning in Rosseau around 7:45 when I stepped into the chilly water. Turns out the water was 15.5 - 16.5 deg C the first two and a half hours and then settled in at 17.5 for most of the swim. There were big patches of 18.5. In the afternoon, it was more cloudy and windy. At the decision point, about halfway, the water temp plummeted to 16 again but the wind pushed me around the corner towards Port Sandfield. Not a hard decision. The miraculous thing was that the wind was almost always at my back except for one bay that was about a kilometer long where it was more broadside.
We were all excited that I arrived in Port Sandfield after 7 hrs and 43 minutes of swimming, over an hour earlier than predicted, due to the favourable winds. The distance is 18.2 km.
It is a beautiful lake with spectacular cottages and boathouses and even a few float planes landing. Windermere Marina was most helpful and accommodating in renting the pontoon boat. Thank you also to my family and crew, including Paula Jongerden who paddled almost half of the swim, and Colleen Shields, the Swim Master, who made this swim official.
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