Unfinished business…

After several months of training and much anticipation of another successful crossing…it finally happened!

The Hellespont Heros (Tanja, Jeff and I) reunited for a swim across Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) specifically a 13km swim from Lausanne, Switzerland to Evian, France. We were in Evian along with eight other passionate swimmers for a four day swim camp sponsored by the Lake Geneva Swim Association.

We got the green light the night before for an early morning start. In the morning after packing up our swim stuff and walking out the door we got the call from the safety team that the swim was cancelled due to potential thunderstorms. Como?

This was a first for me, never have I had a swim cancelled. Delayed yes but, cancelled no. The whole group took it well, safety first, of course. It took a bit for me to wrap my head around it however I finally anchored on the saying, it’s the journey not the destination.

For the first time, I really had to focus intently on what that saying really means and start focusing on the journey and the things I am thankful for. With that I will briefly highlight the journey to Lac Leman.

This journey has to start at home in Bend, Oregon with my ever patient wife, Shannon that endures endless talk of swimming, pools and swimming adventures-thank you. Second, I am thankful for my friends and lane mates at the Juniper Park Pool that I train with that make it fun (often type 2 fun) and a place I look forward to going to four our fives days a week for 1.5 to 2 hours at a crack. Rarely a day goes by where I don’t have someone to train with or at least talk (read: procrastinate) with on the deck or in the lane. I am thankful for this group that helps keep me fit, young and on my toes.

What I most enjoyed in Evian was the swim camp hosted by Coach Jen and her husband Andy. Jen was mine and Jeff’s masters coach in Wayland, Massachusetts. She is a master coach of stroke technique. She herself is a very humble badass uber long distance swimmer. In fact, she is a legend of Lac Leman swimming the 70km (42 mile) length of the lake. Only a small handful of individuals have earned that distinction. Several days after our camp she also the swam the 64 kilometer length of Lake Constance which touches the shores of Switzerland, Germany and Austria in 29.5 hours😳.

Every morning the group of us would meet at the Centre Nautique on the Lac Leman shore. It is an amazing athletic complex and setting with a 50m pool, a sprawling lawn down to the lake, a 100m lake lap lane and a 100m twisting turning water slide. For swimming geeks it is absolutely nirvana. You could literally spend all day there.

The group was split in two with one group swimming in the lake lap lane for an hour under Andy’s supervision and the other group was in the pool for stroke work with Jen. She basically analyzed and deconstructed our strokes and build us back up to a more efficient stroke. It was good for me to have this type Jen instruction again. There is a lot to correct with my stroke however I re-learned (slow learner) some pointers that should help. Stacking my hips and flicking of my foot.

After a group lunch and a several hour break the group would reconvene lake side for some open water swimming. We swam along the lakeshore and/or out and around some buoys.

The lake was refreshing but not too bad. Over the course of the day we got in 6k-8k in the water. And then we would have dinner and lather, rinse, repeat the next day!

Most important was time spent with some really cool, fun and interesting people from all over the world; Belgium, Germany, Scotland, United Kingdom, Australia, Switzerland and the United States (Boston, Santa Barbara, Islamorada). The squad was small enough that we could all really connect with each other personally about life and all things aquatic, past, present and future.

While I know the group was disappointed that we didn’t get to do the crossing I suspect that like me the others were thankful for new relationships and experiences with like minded people. Isn’t that really what life’s journey is really about?

There is still unfinished business in Lac Leman…I look forward to finishing it one day.

My journey extended to Chamonix and the Alps for 48 hours. In one word “Wow”! I took a long, steep and very, very high gondola ride to the top of the Aguille du Midi. Simply breathtaking views of the Alps and Mont-Blanc (Europes tallest peak). I am so happy to know I have no desire to be an alpinist.

Oh and when in Chamonix who would go look for a swimming pool? Me! Needless to say I wasn’t disappointed.

The next day it was up to the mountains for a hike on the Tour de Mont-Blanc trail. It was a 7.5 miles, 5 hour hike with a 3000ft vertical elevation gain with stunning views. Heck, I can swim that distance faster and feel less pain!

Along the way I saw ibexes, ran out of water, and carried a back pack for a French woman (we spoke Fran-ish (French and Spanish)) that hurt her foot while hiking and then spent the night in Refuge Le Flégère. Yes, I got the top bunk in a communal sleeping room for six people as I got there late. Lots of lessons learned on that little hike. Its all part of the journey. See I’m learning 😉.

The next morning I hiked back down and caught a train to Montreux, Switzerland for the infamous Montreux Jazz Fest. Why not? Great vibe, people watch and setting along the lakefront and some good music.

In a little more than a week I had been around Lac Leman (Geneva, Evian, Chamonix, Montreux, Lausanne, Geneva). Basically, I circled the lake by train…I just wasn’t able to swim across it and that is ok (kinda)!

To paraphrase The Rolling Stones’~sometimes you don’t always get what you want…you get what you need.

What I needed a was reminder, a reset, that we should focus on being thankful for the journey not just the destination!

This was quite a journey with great people and experiences.

Looking forward to more in the future…