OLDS — Two local swimmers turned in dominant performances in the annual Sylvan Lake Open Water Swim, held July 20.
The competition features 500-metre, two-kilometre (K) and four-K events.
Olds resident Graeme Gordon, swimming in the four-K competition, placed first in his age group (men age 40-45) and second overall.
Olds Rapids Swim Club coach Wesley Wilks, 23, swimming in the 500-metre course, finished first in his age category (20-29) and second overall in the male category. He finished eighth overall.
Gordon was beaten for first overall by Karley Blair of Calgary.
“She was about three minutes ahead,” Gordon said during an interview with the Albertan.
This was Wilks’ first time competing in the Sylvan Lake Open Water Swim and Gordon’s third time.
The first year he tried it, Gordon competed in the two-K swim and finished first overall. Last year, he finished first in his age group and fifth overall.
Gordon would have liked to have finished first overall this year, but said he was OK with the result, given that the water was really choppy and he had a sore shoulder.
The four-K competition started at about 7:30 a.m.
Competitors swam out to a rectangular course marked by buoys. In the four-K race, competitors had to swim that course twice.
Gordon said a few boats were out at that time and it was windy.
“I got tossed around,” he said.
“I thought I had started my watch to get a map to see how off course I was, but I know it was nothing like both the previous years, because I mean, I was nine minutes slower this year than last year.”
Gordon said the wind was a real factor.
“It doesn’t take much for the water to kick up in the wind, especially in a larger body of water like Sylvan Lake,” he said.
Wilks chose to do the 500-metre race because this was his first try at open water swimming.
One of the kids in the Olds Rapids Swim Club, Stella Bos, 10, also came out and tried it.
“She got ninth overall. She got seventh in her gender and fourth in her division,” he said.
“She finished only 30 seconds after me, and so it was a really good thing. She did really well. She passed a few people on the way in.”
The 500-metre competition was held later in the day, and by that time the waves were smaller than those that competitors in the longer races faced.
Wilks found open water swimming to be way different than indoor swimming, not only due to the waves, but also due to the fact that competitors started by running from the beach into the water.
“It was way different, because unlike in indoor swimming where you have all the walls that you can push off of all the time, you have nothing to push off of,” he said.
He also encountered another problem.
“Right near the left buoy we had to go over like a five-metre patch of seaweed and it was kind of funny, because you're not used to having that go under with you. Kind of a weird feeling,” he said.
Wilks was asked if he’d do the Sylvan Lake Swim again.
“Oh yeah, I love it,” he said. “I'll probably do the two-kilometre (competition) next year.
“I was just trying it out because if I started off with something large and I had a bad experience I wouldn't be able to recommend it to anyone else. So starting with the 500, then I can recommend it to other people as well.”
