Athletes across the sea & right here in our lake

The Olympics are starting!! And usually I watch as much of it as possible... I love the displays of athleticism but really gluing me down to the tube are those stories about heart!  Of course there are the expected winners, but you have to love the come from behind winners, the underdogs, the ones battling the odds, not just there but to get there.  Then there are also the stories of medal hopefuls missing the finals or crashing or getting DQed or coming dead last, not meeting expectations happens to many Olympians, but the way these heartbreaks are handled can show real personality.  Some Canadian athletes had disappointments, but still presented themselves in a way that made them winners in my mind (think Jared Connaughton in the 4x100 track relay).

There are so many ups and downs, tears of sadness and joy!  I can sort of relate to putting in a huge amount of time and work for one day (Ironman) but I can only try and imagine what participating at the Olympics must be like, it must be such a jumble of emotions, excitement, pressure, how to put all those years into one performance of your life?!?!
I also enjoy (even though I cry through it) Rick Hansen's difference makers segments; hearing about the people/supporters behind the athletes is really touching and inspiring.  I know I'm never going to the Olympics, but maybe I can help someone realize/build their dreams still...

So what could tear me away from the television the weekend the Olympics began?  Well, there were other great displays of athleticism, stories of heart, ups and downs happening right here on our Lake, and I would bear witness to them, live.

Francois at the 2011 LOST race

I was part of the crew on Francois' Lake Ontario crossing attempt which began on the evening of July 28th.  Almost a year prior Francois asked us to be on his crew.  He wanted me to pace with him, but with my shoulder injury I had to hold off committing.  Thankfully sometime in February I told him things were looking promising and I was getting excited for him.  Then he asked me to fill in as coach for him during his trial swim (pre-requiste for doing a crossing) since his coach couldn't make it; so on July 2nd, I coached him through a great 16k/6 hour trial swim.  This was fun, sitting in a zodiac & suntan! jk ~ I was timing feedings, getting him his food, making notes on his intake, doing his stroke rate, etc and really pushing him near the end to get it done in good time and I was getting sunburnt, this was a hot hot day and with water all around it was a real tease!... Anyways the last bit of his trial swim, I was waving my arms & cheering him on (Christine commented she could tell I coach little kids, but it worked!) and he got the job done!

At the same time I was out on Francois' trial swim, husband Bill was out helping on Rob's trial swim, also with success.  And the 1st weekend of the Olympics Bill and I found ourselves again on different crews for crossings.  I was on Francois' and Bill was on Madhu's.  Planning to be on a crossing isn't the easiest and here we were on 2 different ones from different locations and everything, but we figured it out with a little help from some friends :)

the zodiac beside Francois

I had a very bouncy ride across the Lake with Thomas on his boat in the afternoon.  It was so wavy that we could not go very fast and were late getting to Niagara on the Lake, but thankfully the conditions were ones that suggested Francois' leave a little later, which he did.

In the end due to Francois' changing his crossing date, I ended up being his coach for the crossing too.  This means I'm in the zodiac for basically the whole crossing, timing and administrating feedings, doing stroke count, keeping a watchful eye and communicating with him, seeing how he is feeling etc.  Francois decided to wear earplugs for the 1st time during the crossing, this proved to be difficult as he couldn't hear us during feed breaks, he was taking the plugs out to listen and then putting them back in each feeding, it sounds small but it is lost time and eventually I suggested forgetting the earplugs, and communication was made much easier.

sunset feeding

I also really saw the huge task the zodiac driver beside the swimmer has.  This job is not easy.  To try and go at the swimmers pace, close to the swimmer, to try and keep them in a straight line.  Things were particularly challenging during feeds, stopping, drifting/turning and starting again & then and doing it in the dark and waves!  In truth my appreciation for my crew, and particular my husband who did this for me on my crossing, just doubled by being in this boat during Francois' swim and seeing what was involved from a different perspective.  Francois' wanted us on his left side as his predominant breathing side, but he kept swimming slightly to the right, but as his sighting boat we can't just follow him because then we are off the line, we had to keep calling him back.  I have to say the night swimming is stressful for the beside the swimmer crew, every stop for a feed, it is hard to see the swimmer, the light on their head which is easy for seeing them while swimming disappears as they treadwater upright (I would suggest glow bracelets to avoid this) the boat drifts and turns as you are trying to administer feedings and then when you look up to see which way to go you've become disoriented.  I had trouble distinguishing the sailboat light from the city lights, so tricky to tell which direction to go. 

I mention the sailboat, it is the navigator, the lead boat in the diamond flotilla, the zodiac follows it in formation, unless of course it breaks down.  Engine problems, diesel fumes not good!  The sailboat was out, the zodiac was now trying to navigate as well from the hand held gps... And then the zodiac has a leak.  Francois floats while they cut the line and clamp it back together or something, I wasn't involved in the repair I was just eyes on Francois.  Then we are back moving but Francois is already having problems, his shoulder is hurting.  He has reverted to breathing almost solely to the left I suggest changing back to bi-lateral.  In fact everyone is suggesting everything we can think of, off-stroke, one arm, kicking, rolling... But he keeps suggesting he thinks he should call it quits, that his shoulder is injured, not just discomfort.  I want him to go to morning, to hopefully see things in a different light, to get a pacer in the water with him to pump him up and get him back in the game.  But in the end it is his decision and his body.  I tried not to think of my own injured shoulder, to not put my own experience into his, but couldn't help but wonder if he looked at me and knew what my shoulders went through.  Despite encouragement from the crew, he pulled out at approx 20k after 8 hours in the water.  On a 52k swim and with the conditions we saw in the next few hours, it was, in my opinion the right decision to pull out.  It was far to early to push through an injury especially when the conditions would become rougher before they would calm. 

It is sad to not be able to complete something one has worked so hard for, but Francois' handled it well, thanked crew for the support and he was mostly concerned with letting people down.  He raised over $10,000 for juvenile diabetes as well.  Francois' swim for Juvenile Diabetes
Regardless of the outcome he did a great job!and we all hope his shoulder injury isn't too serious.

Bill ready for a night in a zodiac too

So we head back to land, it has been a long night... and on the positive side of an early end to Francois' swim is getting updates on how Madhu is doing on his crossing and knowing I'll be able to see him finish.  On the way back to shore I manage to contact Madhu's crew and pass on a message that I'm sending him positive thoughts across the water.



I get home around 11am, take a one hour nap and then go get the kids.  I was extremely tired, but missed the kids and couldn't really sleep with trying to continually find out how Madhu was fairing out there.  So the kids and I have a lazy day, pressing refresh on the laptop lots and wait.  The updates are starting to indicate it is going to be a long swim, over 20 hours.  After some debate trying to decide when to go to the lake, we leave to ensure we are plenty ahead of the most recent ETA of 9-9:30pm.  I grab some glow sticks, the head lamp and the bell.  We see lots of friends out there as well to welcome Madhu to his home town local Lake Ontario beach.  When we finally see the lights of Bill's zodiac, I have Dahlia flash the head lamp and it looks like the boat lights flash back, I tell her dad sees her and she is helping bring Madhu in.  She enthusiastically rings the bell too.    It was really exciting to see Madhu finish!   And after 24 hours in the water, he comes out smiling!  Incredible!  Big congrats to Madhu!

Dahlia helping bring Madhu to shore

What a wild weekend!  It was a thrill to be part of these adventures!
Bill and I had lots of stories to share with each other from our busy weekend on the lake over the next couple days, during ads in the Olympic coverage, of course.