Wow! I did not see the legendary mythical creature Memphre during my 25 mile swim of Lake Memphremagog but I felt the beast of that lake in the form of headwinds, adverse currents, rips (similar pull of riptides), and unexpected rapidly changing conditions. I was fortunate to have the highly respected Phil White as my boat pilot/ observer. He knows that lake very well and he was able to successfully guide me to the finish line. My sister-in-law Jean was my sole crew.....she went well beyond the expectations of being a crew member. I could not have succeeded if it was not for the both of them. When I started my swim shortly after 10pm on Wednesday night, conditions were perfect.....no wind, flat water, and water temp in the seventies. After 3 hours of swimming, I noticed that my feed plan of low carbohydrates was not giving me sufficient energy. I was surprised by the lower than expected energy level because I was training for the past five months on a low carbohydrate lifestyle and my swim training was going well on a low carb approach. We had a backup plan of very high carbohydrates and we implemented it after 3 hours. I quickly felt a surge in energy once I started to consume higher carbs. I tried a new product called “UnTapped” an organic maple syrup product. It was fantastic and I plan to use this product on all future swims.
Due to the Vermont air temperatures prior to my swim being near ninety, I decided to have electrolyte replacements added to my fluids to prevent dehydration. The supplement was effective and I did not experience dehydration. I was swimming well and expected an 18 hour to 20 hour finish. But about two-thirds distance to the finish line, I felt spasms in my right latissimus dorsi (AKA lats). As I continued swimming, it progressively got worse. I noticed the only time I had extremely painful spasms was on my right arm recovery. I tried other strokes like backstroke and breaststroke but they were not effective. I didn’t want to quit because I felt fine except for my painful right lats. As a marathon swimmer, I had a backup plan to deal with this dilemma......one-arm freestyle and keep my right arm to my side. It was a much slower stroke but at that point all I wanted was to finish my swim. As the currents got stronger, I started to use my right arm as a modified “doggy paddle” and left arm in full stroke. It was a pitiful sight to see but it worked. I reached the finish line in 24 hours and 8 minutes late Thursday evening.
Records: At the age of 68 years and 180 days, I became the Oldest Person to swim the 25 mile length following the Marathon Swimmers Federation rules. Also, I became the Oldest Person to complete the Triple Crown of Lake Monster Swims. And, slowest time to swim the length of Lake Memphremagog. Swimming this lake was an adventure of a lifetime. Again, my success was due to having a knowledgeable boat pilot and crew.
After my swim, I had the usual wobbly legs walking out of the water, clouded thinking, and mild nausea. These are all typical adverse effects that marathon swimmers will experience from swimming for very long hours. However, I experienced distorted vision for one hour and then it resolved. It was the most bizarre adverse effect.......as we traveled back by car to Vermont (I was not driving) I saw some beautiful shrubbery along the roadside. As I turned my head to watch the center of the road, the identical image of the shrubs were now in the middle of the road for about ten seconds and would disappear. We drove through these images. I looked toward the right side of the road again and saw a beautiful line of maple trees. Then, as I moved my head to look at the center of the road, the identical image of maple trees were now in the middle of the road. Very bizarre adverse effect!!! Thankfully it cleared within the hour. I knew that no shrubs or maple trees were actually in the road but my eyes were playing tricks on me. My young 11 year old grandson Trevor explained to me that he believed I had developed a temporary visual perception disorder that was caused by the repetitive motion while swimming.......face down in the darkness of the water then turn face to breathe and see an image, and repeat for 24 hours. This back and forth motion of darkness, seeing an image, darkness, seeing an image for 24 hours caused my distorted perceptual vision. It was a very unique experience.....glad it resolved. I don’t know if Trevor made the right assumption but it sounds plausible to me.
I would like to thank my husband Jim, children Sarah and Tom, grandkids, family and friends for their ongoing love and support. A special thank you to my good friend and training partner Yoko. And, many thanks to Phil White and my sister-in-law Jean for their incredible willingness to see me get to the finish line.....no matter how long it took.
My next swim adventure will be sometimes in November or December. I am scheduled for jury duty in October. I will post my next swim once my jury duty has been completed.
Please see my 3 minute video posted on my blog. Thank you.
Contact information: patgallant.charette@gmail.com
