Lake George Marathon Swim

Something new this year. This afternoon swimmers departed from Ticonderoga for a 32.2 mile swim to Million Dollar Beach. 13 individual swimmers and others in relay teams.

You can see the swimmers progress on their link. Right now they're just past Anthony's Nose.  Long way to go yet.

http://www.lakegeorgeswim.com/

Pretty amazing.  Apparently one of two test swimmers set a new record in Feb.  The 46yo swimmer had swum the English Channel too.  The organizers used what they learned in Feb to make adjustments for the swim going on this weekend.  For one thing instead of having everyone start at 5:00pm, there were staggered starts every 30 min beginning at 3:00pm.  With all the support boats, makes sense to space out the swimmers.

http://marathonswimmers.org/swims/2016/dammerman-lake-george/

The event expects to raise $14,000 for local charities.

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate this weekend. The race was cancelled due to high winds and rough water. Sounds like they will try again next year.

http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2016/09/lake-georges-turbulence-is-too-tough-in.html

" . . .
There were a lot of hopes, dreams and goals swimming on Lake George. But the dark clouds and stiff wind did not bode well for a tranquil lake. "There was a strong headwind in Ticonderoga," said Olympic marathon swimmer Alex Meyer. "There were white caps on the lake and a 15 mph headwind coming straight up the lake [and right into the faces of the swimmers]."

The escort kayakers were having problems under these conditions as the winds continued to build. "One crew boat was taking on water and there were two kayakers in the water and another had to be replaced," reported a pod leader.

It wasn't looking good as the sun started to set and the race still had to continue through the night.

It was a telling sign when the most experienced English Channel swimmer of the group, Marcy MacDonald called her swim. Soon thereafter, the race was called off for safety reasons. . . ."

Tough break.

We were on the St. Sacrament for our class reunion brunch cruise noon to 2 when we turned around at the beginning of the narrows we were wondering about the swimmers. Sorry it didn’t pan out I think Lake George at this time of year could be perfect for that race most times. It was a nice day at the south end at 2pm.