A few people might be certain that they spotted Ogopogo in Okanagan Lake on a recent Saturday morning. They in actual fact saw “monsters” of another kind.
Dubbed the OMSC Lake Monsters, five members of the Okanagan Masters Swim Club (OMSC) braved white-capped waves to do their qualifying swim for crossing the English Channel as a relay team next summer.
In order to swim the 35-kilometer crossing (if swum in a straight line), team members Denise Cesselli, Leora Dahl, Paul Duffield, Phred Martin and Tracy Sutton had to do a two-hour qualifying swim in 15 degree Celsius (or less) without the aid of a wetsuit during which they each covered approximately 7.5 km.
The sixth OMSC member of the relay team, Mike Stamhuis, is currently recovering from shoulder surgery and will do his qualifying swim at a later time. The OMSC team was joined by Mike Humphreys from Seattle who trained for six hours. Humphreys is hoping that his next solo attempt at crossing the Channel will be successful.
Supported by friends and family members, the team is mentored by another OMSC swimmer and open water coach, Brent Hobbs, who successfully crossed the channel as a solo swimmer in 2008 in a time of 10 hours and 43 minutes. Just how demanding the Channel crossing is, is evidenced by the fact that fewer people have successfully crossed the English Channel than have climbed Mount Everest.
“It’s a childhood dream come true,” said Cesselli. “I get to swim the English Channel and the best part — I get to do it with a group of friends.”
For Dahl, it’s about the thrill of a challenge.
“This seems like one of those once in a lifetime opportunities to really see what I can do.”
Duffield is going back to his roots.
“For an Englishman the English Channel is steeped in history. From the Roman conquest of Britain to the Second World War, and of course the first successful swim across by Captain Matthew Webb in 1875. As part of the OMSC Lake Monsters I am looking to make my own little bit of history.”
All six members of the relay team are either competitive swimmers or triathletes who hope to join the record books for crossing the Channel. Two of the relay swimmers are keeping blogs of their experiences leading up to the channel which can be found at NothingGreatIsEasy.com and LeoraEnglishChannel.com/. Hobbs’ experience is captured at http://englishchannelogopogo.blogspot.ca/
