Wednesday, July 1st, 2026
Hello Kal Lake Swimmers:
We just completed two swims in the last 24 hours and the conditions for the second swim this morning were the same as last night's.
We had eight of us convene at the park last night plus one phantom swimmer who was already heading out when we got there. Tim, Carole and David were in rubber while Cindy, I, Keighley and her guests Dave and Steff from the coast were all naked. The threatening clouds held in abeyance leaving some sun on us as we set out in the 22 degree choppy water. The water cooled quickly as we slogged out to the Point, curious to see who was ahead of us. There the temperature was 19.5 degrees in rough water. That's when we noticed the phantom swimmer approaching us from the far Point. To our amazement it turned out to be Monty. He had started early so as not to keep us waiting and then checked to see if conditions were better around the corner. They were not AND we were happy to take his word for it and surf back to Juniper Beach.
A few of us, David, Cindy, Carole, Tim and I, did the double by swimming again this morning. We were joined by Barb and John from Kelowna, Sarah, Kylie, and Phred, all swimming naked, and by Alison, Darin, and Cammie in rubber, although Cammie was a wannabe naked. Before getting in we all had to display our Canadiana swag. The group was quite creative, as can be seen by John's Canadiana bandana, Tim's strapped on baseball cap, and Darin's flag. We had to take some pictures - the first two of the Canadiana Channel swimming suits that Phred, Kylie and I wore or are going to wear (Watch the hand in that second picture Phred!). We took bets as to whether Darin's flag would make it to the first set of white buoys.
After the photo session we peered out over the lake and heard a few "Okay we're done now, time to go home" comments but everyone ventured into the water which, it being Hump Day, had lots of humps. The water temperature had dipped to 18.5 overnight and the sun was nowhere in sight. We stopped to gather at the Point after another slog and bounced around while deciding what to do next. True to form, insanity prevailed and we set off for Cosens Bay. Five of us stopped at the corner while the rest ventured on to the Painted Rocks. We enjoyed the help of the current guiding us back to the beach. Darin, who had ditched the flag at the big white marker that is halfway minus 10 strokes between the Beach and the Point, actually found it and retrieved it from the bottom on his return leg!
Once dressed on shore we all wished Kylie good luck with the conditions as she and Robynne will fly out to England tomorrow for their solo Channel swims. They will be joined by Phred and Kurt who are Kylie's and Robynne's watchers respectively. They are so well prepared that, if the conditions are anywhere near decent, they will both be crushing it!
We do this all again tomorrow at 5:30pm. It would be nice to have some flat water for once.
Cheers,
Mike
Note: The pictures that Phred sent me are in a high efficiency format which some of you may have trouble opening. For less than a toonie there is a program that you can download to use to open them.
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