My Point to La Pointe swim in Lake Superior
Just about a month ago, during an early Saturday morning, I stood on a small Wisconsin beach with over 600 swimmers and their supporters preparing myself to swim further than I ever have in the waters of Lake Superior. I wish I could say I was calm and ready, but honestly I was a bundle of nerves and quite frankly, regretting a few of my life choices.
I was a part of the 18th annual Point to La Pointe Open Water Swim. The race has both competitive and non-competitive divisions. It’s a 2.1 mile point to point swim that starts in Bayfield, Wisconsin, and proceeds across the waters of Lake Superior to land on beautiful Madeline Island. I believe this is the only open water swim on Lake Superior.
This was my second time attempting the swim (I only made it halfway last year) and it took me over two years of training to get to that beach.
It all began when I started seeing Sheena, with Springfield Physical Therapy, for sciatica pain. Somewhere in our conversations, I must have mentioned that I enjoyed swimming as a child. I now know what I did as a kid was playing in the water, not drowning and most certainly not swimming.
Sheena suggested I listen to a podcast about open water swimming. I thought it sounded like a great thing to try and found the Point to La Pointe swim. I talked to Sheena about it and asked if she thought I could do the swim. I remember her making sure that I knew it was over 2 miles in open water. At the time, I was completely ignorant about open water swimming and quite blithely said sure, no problem.
Now for those who don’t know this about Sheena, she has participated in Ironman Triathlons for at least a decade. Ironmans begin with a 2.4 mile swim and continue to a 112 mile bike ride and finish with a 26.2 mile run. With her years of experience, she absolutely knows how hard a multi-mile swim is.
Sheena explained to me that I could do anything I wanted and if I wanted to do the swim she would help train me. That’s when the real work began.
See complete story in this week's issue of the Springfield Advance-Press.