I was traveling along in my kayak and saw a person swimming in the lake with a floating yellow pack.  I'd passed this swimmer in the lake before and wondered how long their swim was.  I stopped to give them encouragement and to admire their efforts, half expecting a young teenager training for a swim event, when much to my surprise a smiling Jim McDermott's head appeared. Jim  has had his cottage since 1984, basically located between washing machine point and little Clay Bay in upper Mazinaw and I've met him before on his kite board.  He is 65 years old and an inspiration.  This time his swim was short (only a few bays worth...that alone was amazing but then he recounted his latest feat (all while treading water as he talked to me) and I asked him to write about it so we all could enjoy, and perhaps be motivated.  Here is Jim's story:

My Bon Echo swim was something I had planned 20 years ago, along with my 13 year-old nephew, David. When David was 11 years old we successfully pulled off a 1/2 mile cross-lake swim from Pinecrest Marina to my cottage, followed the next year by a return swim. We then set our sights on something a bit more challenging for the following year: to swim from the Bon Echo Park narrows to my dock - approximately 4 miles with a bit of creative roundup. We attempted the swim but had to bail when a surprise mid-August lightning storm force us to cancel after only about a mile.

So 20 years later, with the swim still on my bucket list, I decided to give it another shot. I started training in late June and gradually increased the mileage until I was able to do a few 3 mile swims. Thanks to the longest stretch of warm water I've seen on Mazinaw, probably ever, by early August I was as ready as I could get. The wild card was the weather. After consulting a number of weather sites I circled August 11^th and although a storm front was on its way, the day was perfect for the attempt. I was dropped in at the narrows and 4 hours later touched my dock. A contingent of friends, family and neighbors (who, of course, I also count as friends) was my welcoming committee. My prize? Well, no giant cheque or endorsements but my nephew's 8 year old son Mateus gave me a chocolate letter 'J' which I really, really needed after burning so many calories.

A few observations:

• The training swims were very necessary, so much so that I'm not sure I would have made the swim successfully 20 years previous when the most training I did was a lot of windsurfing;

• I used a 'My Float' bag which is an inflatable and trails behind you and can carry drinks, energy bars etc. and provides both visibility and a safety net so-to-speak if you need to take a break;

• The mental aspect was unexpectedly the hardest part, something I had trouble with initially since I would be pushing hard to get to the finish line rather than relaxing and getting into a smooth rhythm;

• I average about 1 mile an hour and burn somewhere between 350 and 400 calories an hour;

• Dehydration is a real concern even though you're in water so during training I pick waypoints on shore were I can grab a quick drink. During the real swim I had a boat come out once an hour to make it easier to snag a drink although I did carry one in my float bag;

• Swimming along in front of the cliffs is an awesome experience. I've seen them a hundred times from boats but this viewpoint was quite inspiring.

• Encouragement helps a lot. I mean when my niece, Emily's 4 year old says you're going to 'Nail it' you just have to come through!

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