Chad's Open Water Adventure's: Playing with the Monster

After taking a couple of day to let my swim sink in I figured I better do a report of it. I went up to Bear Lake Tuesday morning after I got off work to check on water temps. When I got there I took a temp from the marina and it read 63 degrees. I walked over to where we started the 7 mile swim and waded out to knee deep water and it read 61.8 degrees. I walked back to the truck and called Gords. he said lets do it. I then sent out texts to my crew and drove home to get things ready. On the way up to the lake I was picking up Sara and Gords, Sue met me and Chandra at our house. we were talking about swimming and other things and drove right past the exit to get Sara and had to turn around to get her. I was then smart enough to get off the exit to get Gords and we headed straight to the marina. We got everything loaded into the boat and I went over my feed schedule and asked Gords if he wanted to be in charge. I told him that if I needed to be pulled to not second guess himself and to pull me. with the colder water temps hypothermia was an issue. I asked Sara for a prayer and we launched the boat and were off to the north shore. when we got there the bank was perfect if I was going to go duck hunting but not good to start a swim. Gords looked at hid GPS and we were about 1 mile away from the marina and headed that way. it was really dark the night sky was only lit by the stars and we almost hit the break wall. Sara turned on a light in just the right time. we decided this is where I was going to start and I started to grease up. I got out of the boat and pushed them off and crawled over to where I thought I could get in easy. I started my watch and stepped into the water to fall down, so much for easing into it. I stood back up and walked to where it was deep enough I could swim and took off. my first feed was scheduled for an hour away and I got myself into a good groove and at the first feed I said has it been an hour already? swimming thru the night was quite fun with every breath I could see the sky full of stars and the Milky Way was lit bright. my feet got cold but with every swim I do they tend to get cold, so no worries there. every 30 minutes I would take a feed and try to get back into a good groove. the lake was smooth as glass for most of the swim until I got into the middle. there was some good chop but nothing like I haven't swam thru before. I got thru the chop and the lake returned to glass. I remember saying at one of my feeds that it was a great day to be swimming. At my 6 hour mark for the EC qualifier I asked how the temps were doing and Gords said not good. I was kinda pissed off that the water was not cold enough but I was here to swim the length of Bear Lake, so I stuck my head in the water and kept knocking off the miles one hand in front of the other. Towards the end of the swim I knew my stroke had gone away and I was slapping the water and not getting a good pull. I was getting tired. After a feed Gords told me anchors and made a stroke motion and it sunk in what I needed to do. My lower back was killing me and my right shoulder was now trash and my left hand was numb. Gords yelled 1 and 1/4 miles to go. I said no more feeds. Gords got in the kayak and was going to paddle the rest of the way in with me. the wind picked up and started blowing right into my face and I was swimming thru white caps. I raised my head and told Gords that I didn't thing I was going anywhere. I could see the bottom, I could not touch it and it looked like I was moving 1 inch per stroke. My mind was all over the place then I thought scuba, if its rough on the surface go under water. I tried to swim under water but that didn't work either, so I pushed with everything I had. I finally made it to where I could stand up and started walking out. while I was walking out I ran into some broken off reeds and fell down a few times trying to get thru them. Gords told be 20 yard away was a clearing to head that way. I finally made it out of the water and walked up to the beach and sat down. I had just swam the length of Bear Lake in just over 13 hours. Gords came over to me and gave me a High Five, it was one of the best high fives I have ever had.

here is my information from the swim stolen from Gords!

Mile	Time	Elapsed time this mile	Temp	Stroke rate	Feed *	Conditions	Notes
1	1:18 am	33 min	62° F	65 spm	None	Glassy	Sue learning to drive and doing well
2	1:51 am	33 min	62° F	65 spm	Liquid mix	Glassy	Sue is an awesome pilot! Chad looking smooth
3	2:24 am	33 min	63° F	63-64 spm	Liquid mix	Glassy	Chad is a machine! Gords concerned about the higher than desired water temps, but no reason to stop.
4	2:58 am	34 min	65° F (two separate readings)	64 spm	Liquid mix	Glassy	Water almost feels warm to the touch. Extending the thermometer to about 2 feet down. Same reading on thermometer
5	3:33 am	35 min	63° F	62 spm	Liquid mix + Swiss Roll	A little breeze from the north (tailwind)
6	4:10 am	37 min	64° F	61 spm	Liquid mix	Air temp is 62°, water is warmer than air temp.	Chad says his back hurts.
7	4:50 am	40 min	64° F (two separate readings)	61 spm	Liquid mix and aBuzz Bite	Wind from the south, getting choppy.	Like a doofus I accidentally stepped on the mercury reading thermometer and it broke. I will submerge my watch to get a digital reading. I'm getting really sleepy. Asked Sarah to resume observing duties while I sleep for one hour and I should be good.
8	5:29 am	39 min	65° F	60 spm	Liquid mix	Still pretty choppy	Chad's stroke rate is dropping, but he is in good spirits. Doesn't say much. Feeds are very quick.
9	6:15 am	46 min	64° F	59 spm	Liquid mix	Less wind, chop turns to ripples now.	Light on the horizon. When I awoke from my 1 hour nap I feel very. Chad's stroke rate is slowing. Says his feet are cold, but his core feels fine. His speech isn't slurred. Will continue to monitor his condition at feeds for hypothermia.
10	7:02 am	43 min	63° F	59 spm	Liquid mix, Buzz Bite and Swiss Roll	Less wind, chop turns to ripples now.	Chad asked what the temp was. We told him and he seemed a little disappointed. I explained we still submit, and if it isn't accepted as a qualifier we try a different swim at the needed temp. He went right back to swimming.
11	7:53 am	51 min	62° F	59 spm	Liquid mix	Hardly a breeze now, just some ripples	The sun is up and it feels great.
12.5	8:59 am	N/A		61 spm	Liquid mix, Buzz Bite, Ibuprofen	No wind now, nice and smooth!	I ask if Sue wants to pace swim with him so I take over piloting the boat while she changes. The throttle has a little "click" that takes it into first gear and then after only a few seconds of steering throttle to neutral and coast. Chad is now at a point where he's never swam this far before. Chad tells Sue he is feeling a little cold. He puts on his tinted goggles.
13	9:23 am	N/A	63.1	62 spm	Liquid mix	Glassy	Sue pace swims. Chad's stroke is less efficient. Sue is making him increase his stroke rate though, so that is good.
14	10:06 am	43 min	63	62 spm	Liquid mix	Glassy	Chad comments "What a beautiful day!" I think I saw him smile. That is extremely rare. Sue got out a while, ago but I continue to drive. It's kinda fun. Easy to observe him and pilot cause I gotta keep the boat right at his pace.
15	10:53 am	47 min	63	64 spm	Liquid mix, Buzz Bite	Glassy	Chad's stroke rate is up. He asked how much further. Seemed to like the "3 1/2" response. In good spirits. Air temp is toasty!
16	11:36 am	40 min	64	60 spm	Liquid mix, Swiss Roll	Slight ripple	Sarah gets in to pace swim. She has to slow down. Chad seems tired, but steady. Chad requests Advil next feed. Beach is visible from here. Sue takes over piloting.
17	no reading	N/A	no reading	no reading	Liquid mix, Ibuprofen	Slight ripple	At this feed Sarah accidentally loses the pen and it floats away while Chad takes his liquid and Advil. I untie the kayak and jump in to get the pen. We're close enough now that I can paddle and be ready to capture some video.
18	no reading	N/A	no reading	no reading	none	See Notes	Had a slight tailwind breeze, notice up ahead that the water has serious ripples, once we get there the wind completely shifts from southerly to northerly and we have some serious headwind. Very windy. Chad comments to me that he feels like he isn't going anywhere. Wind is directly at our 12 o'clock and we have white horses!
19 (Finish)	13:55:16	N/A	no reading	no reading	none	See Notes	I paddled into shore and noticed a small black patch. When he arrived there he started walking and the black patch were a bunch of reeds that made it really hard for him to walk over, I noticed that the patch ended about 20 yards off to his left and encouraged him to walk around instead of straight in to avoid them. He fell a couple times cause they hurt to walk over and too thick to navigate through. When he arrived on the beach he sat down to soak it in. I let him soak in his success without smothering him. I gave him a high five and he got lots of cheers from the girls on the boat waiting about 200 yards off shore.