Lake Ontario Swim

Swim Update...

2009-09-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

9:42pm - Unfortunately Colleen had to abort the swim after 48km. The conditions were just to cold to complete the swim. Great effort Colleen!

Swim Update...

2009-09-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

7:00pm- 7 miles to go! Go Colleen Go! Looking forward to a great finish!

Swim Update...

2009-09-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

6:30pm - ETA is between 9:15-10:00pm. Go Colleen Go! We are all behind you on this final stretch!

Swim Update...

2009-09-02T14:00:00.001-07:00

1:50pm - 30km complete. 3.1km/hour average. Go Colleen Go!

Swim Update...

2009-09-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

HALFWAY POINT!!

11:40am - Colleen has reached the halfway point. Water temperature is very cold.

Stay focused and keep up the great work Colleen! Updates to follow...

Swim Update...

2009-09-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

A Beautiful Sunrise...

Colleen is looking strong this morning and has completed 13km as of 7am.

Keep up the great work Colleen! Updates to follow...

Swim Update

2009-09-02T03:15:00.000-07:00

Colleen entered the water this morning at 3:00am. The water is very calm which should make for excellent swimming conditions. Updates to follow...

Disappointment

2009-08-23T11:20:00.000-07:00

Well Mother Nature is definitely not on my side. Being a swim master I discussed the weather with Marilyn Korzekwa (my swim master) as colleagues. I told her as hard as it might be I would accept any decision she made as a swimmer.

After Thursday night's horrific weather, Friday and Saturday still remained quite unsettled and after a discussion with marilyn and my "buddy of the deep" Nikki - my gut said not to go - so I cancelled.

You can imagine my disappointment when I awoke saturday morning to no wind and not a cloud in sight. I thought I had made such a huge mistake. However, not long after this I got word that a huge storm had gone through NOTL and Hamilton and I've got to say I was really happy when the storm went through Toronto around 5 - 6 pm last night. So - it ended up being the right decision.

I am done with this year. it is too hard to pull boats together last minute if a window were to open up.

The thought of training another year does not sit well with me but to look at it positively - I can only get better and stronger thanks to my personal trainer Mike from Catch a Wave Fitness. He is awesosme and I will be ready for one last try next year. Hopefully it will be successful because I can definitely promise you I will not go through another year after this. I need to dry out for awhile.

'til then - Col out!!!
Thanks for your comments and support!

2ND ATTEMPT

2009-08-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

I guess I am a brute for punishmnet. I will give this one last shot this coming weekend. My plan is to start at 3:00 am saturday morning and basically swim through the day. If Mother Nature is with me - I am fast enough to arrive Toronto before dark saturday night. Clearly the full night swims are not working for me - so have decided to try something different.

I have lost most of my crew. My old stand by buddies are with me one last time - Nikki and Larry. I won't let you down this time. it is no longer about the speed record but rather just finishing my marathon career on a successful note. This I know I can do if the winds are not too much against me.

Ryan will keep this updated this time on a regualr basis - last time my crew didn't know they had to call Ryan to keep it current. We'll try to do better this time.

DOGGED AGAIN!!!!!

2009-08-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm not sure what to say. I gave it my best shot. I am in the best physical condition I have been in - in years, and so ready for this swim.

I flew out of the river and in 2 hours had covered almost 10 kms. The waves started about 2 hours into the swim from the southwest - which is pretty much broadside. I was okay with these as they were not huge. Somewhere between 2 and 5 hours the waves were coming from the North. As one of my crew said - very confused seas. The waves were choppy anywhere from 3 - 5 feet and every once in awhile we would get a rogue wave of about 6 feet. This kind of wave actually flipped my kayaker - poor Larry - he got a birds eye view of what I was going through.

Even with all of this nastiness coming at me - I was still under the record at 7 hours. By 8 1/2 hours the speed record was gone and all I wanted to do was finish and retire on a positive note. I was very seasick and quite dizzy from the waves and I made the decision to end the swim.

Now I have had 2 people suggest that I consider trying it again this summer. I'm not sure and I will take the rest of the week & weekend to not think about swimming and enjoy a weekend up at Camp Ak-O-Mak.

Swim Update...

2009-08-08T05:55:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately Colleen had to abort the swim at 5am after battling 4-foot waves for 8 hours.

The crew is heading for the Etobicoke Yacht Club at the foot of Park Lawn Rd...est arrival time of at least 7am.

And the Lake Ontario Swim begins...

2009-08-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

Colleen has entered the water at 7:22pm. Go get em' Colleen!

2009-07-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

8 days and counting!!!!

I did an 8 mile trial swim last weekend in the Trent Severn waterways. The water temp was about 70- 71 F - which is definitely not an issue with me. I swam really well - 3hrs 38mins. This is a best ever time for me and I was so pleased . My hard work seems to be paying off now and I am seeing results.

Jade who is trying to be the youngest to come across has been delayed for a week now. That is so difficult when everything is out of your control and you have been training so hard for "The Day". She is planning to go tomorrow night and then there is a relay of 2 young girls who will be attempting Sat/Sun. I wish them all the best of luck. I will be interested to get accurate water temperatures from them.

I am in countdown & taper mode now and will try to write my thoughts between now and when I get in the water next week. I'm nervous (no doubt about that) but excited as well!!!

2009-07-24T05:41:00.000-07:00

So - the Lake has been quite unkind so far. Natalie lambert cancelled her swim due to cold water. Brenda Lussier lasted 3 1/2 hours before she was pulled out and now Jade Scognamillo is in a holding pattern again due to cold water. This summer (what summer!!!!) has been the pits.

I have to keep moving forward and pray that I will get off on my dates. I have my trial swim tomorrow.

Not sure if anyone is even reading these postings but if you are - I have added 2 new sponsors this week. The Granite Club has been kind enough to let me come and swim with them during the strike as my team is swimming at a so-so pool. Hully Gully has just come through for me with a 9.9 motor for my second zodiac.

2009-07-20T06:21:00.000-07:00

Well - Mother Nature was definitely not with us for the 3k race. Water temp was 67 - 68 degrees (I loved it!!!) However, there were 3 - 4 ft waves crashing on us broadside (I really need to learn to breathe on both sides). It is very shallow where we were swimming so the waves tended to be crashers instead of rollers.

I had to stop many times just to see where I was. Sometimes you had to wait until your were on top of the wave before you could actually see the buoy. Kudos to all us Master swimmers. Out of about 30 swimmers only 2 asked to be taken out. The rest of us persevered.

At the end of it all - I was only 3 minutes behind my time from last year - which, by the way, was done in 72 degrees, flat calm water. So, even though I was slower - I believe I am stronger and faster this year - Thanks Mike :)

Trial swim is this weekend - will write next Monday on how it goes.

2009-07-17T14:10:00.001-07:00

Was up at camp Ak-O-Mak again last weekend. The weather was fairly cool (again) and so I got some good training in. Coach Herb basically told me to suck it up and go to the outdoor pool that I dislike so much for a workout on Monday. I swam hard and not too badly but that doesn't mean that I like this pool any more. This strike is really playing havoc. Mind you we've been spoiled always having the Olympium to swim in!!

Luckily my brother has been able to get me into the Granite Club to train with the Masters group. Their pool is very nice and I got some good training in on Wednesday. When I expressed wanting to swim more their coach was kind enough to offer me a longer workout this coming MOnday - so we'll see.

I have a 3k race tomorrow and I am hoping to better my time from last year. I think too much but I am and always have been a need to see on paper result. Brent has told me to just get in and enjoy the swim - try to descend each lap. I will try. I don't expect the water to be much more than 66 degrees - which I happen to love - but I'm not sure how many others will.

I will write my result on Monday

2009-07-07T13:14:00.001-07:00

Was up at Camp Ak-O-Mak last weekend doing some training and swimming with Coach Herb de Bray. I love going back there as it allows me to revert to my childish ways (if I so choose) :)

The first early bird swim was quite rough & wavy which was some good training for me. The Sunday morning swim was relatively calm but brisk - 65 F - again, good training.

With the strike going on in Toronto, I am becoming a bit antzy with my training. I am not always able to get to open water for a swim. Our alternate pool arrangments aren't always the best but it is better than nothing. So that being said - I am headed to Ak-O-Mak again this weekend. Hopefully I can get 2 x 5 mile swims in.

This morning I went to Mike, my personal trainer. Big time hurt!!!! He said that muscle endurance conditioning can be gruelling - he wasn't kidding. Not complaining because in the end - it will be all good!!!

2009-06-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

With all this hot weather the lake is warming up nicely. I don't think it will stay but every degree helps :)

Nicole and I went to Fifty Point Conservation area on Wednesday. Temperature was anywhere from 18 - 20 degrees C. Nice...........perfect for me. I swam 5k and it felt great!! On the way home I took a wrong turn and ended up at the yacht Club. We met some interested boaters who unfortunately will be away on my swim date but we're going to post flyers on the weekend in hopes of securing a 30 foot powerboat. Fingers crossed.

Hopefully the strike will be over soon. It is playing havoc with Etobicoke's and my pool time.
All for now!

2009-06-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

I did a 5k swim on Saturday June 20. I was swimming with "kids" - 14 - 18 yr olds. I came 7th out of 20 swimmers. It was a rainy cool day with water temps around 18 C. This temperature is perfect for me and I actually did a really good time. Better than I have done in years.

Next up - alot of training at Camp Ak-O-Mak on the weekends of July 04 & 11. Will keep everyone posted of my progress.