Last week I traveled to Lake Tahoe to attempt the 21.3 mile true length swim. Starting at Camp Richardson, California, the swim stretches north to Incline Village, Nevada. It was an experience; here are some reflections.

Lake Tahoe sits 6200 feet/1890 meters above sea level, so getting out early to acclimate was the plan. I arrived Wednesday afternoon, so I’d have four full days to adjust to altitude before my swim began Sunday evening. An evening start allows the wind to settle down for a less bumpy swim through the night.

We had pushed the start time to 8:15 p.m. as boat traffic slowed as the sun was setting. The wind continued stirring up the water for what I recall was about 5 hours or so. I expected this and knew it was only a matter of time before conditions would flatten out. In the meantime, I was adjusted to sighting off the boat traveling next to me. This was made easier by glowsticks hanging from the starboard side of the vessel. 

I had taught myself how to bilateral breathe (breathing left and right) over the winter and was hoping to do more of this through the swim. I’m dominantly a left side breather; when breathing right, my body would move closer to the boat on my left. Touching the boat, or my crew and pilots, would disqualify my swim. So, each time I breathed to the right the bow thrusters on the boat would rumble to reposition to avoid contacting me. Ultimately, I kept most of my breathing to the left. If I was swimming during the day, which ultimately, I would be, my pilot would have allowed me to swim further away from the boat. Given the bumpy conditions and darkness, I had to stay closer to the boat. 

Initially the only illumination came from a green light on the back of my Speedo and a blue light clipped onto the back of my goggle straps. Slowly I could see a full moon taking shape and rising on my right. As the moon tracked higher in the sky it provided more clarity of my surroundings as I peered through my clear but hazy goggles. Here’s where I found the fun—let’s track the moon! These are the mind games one must create to remain present and neutral while swimming long distances. There’s not a lot of talking with crew as my job is to swim. With earplugs in and my face in the water, it’s quite an isolating sensory experience that requires a clean head space.

I had fun watching the moon move through the sky as it brightly shined down on me. Periodically, I would have to remove my goggles and clear them which opened my eyes to the stars and galaxies above. Simply breathtaking. Eventually, the moon began to lower and I knew daylight was around the corner. Sure enough, sometime after 5:00 a.m. light began pressing against the mountains on my right. By 6:30 a.m., “Here Comes The Sun” was playing through my head as the rays of light gently warmed my back. This provided me with a huge psychological boost. I’d never done a night swim that lasted till daybreak, so this was inspiring.

Nutrition is essential when swimming long distances. Liquid “feeds” tend to be more efficient and faster than consuming gels or solid foods. My feeds included carbs and proteins so I could give my body what it needed despite being in a calorie deficit through the swim.  The challenge is physical, mental, and with your stomach. Keeping nutrition down even though you’re horizontally moving through the water is not natural.    

This is where things started unravelling. I had the bad luck of food poisoning from Thai food before traveling out to Tahoe. I was feeling better by Saturday but the side effects plus elevation were challenging when taking in feeds. Several hours into my swim I was unable to keep my feeds down. I tried a banana to settle my stomach, didn’t work. I began feeling cold despite the relatively warm 65-degree water. The only thing that would stay down was hot green tea, and I only had a liter of it. So, I alternated between green tea first then a swig of liquid nutrition every 30 minutes. My head was clear, my arms were moving; my stomach and GI system were suffering. 

I remained grateful for the opportunity to do the swim and thought a lot about staying present and just arriving at the next feed which perhaps would stay down. I prayed a lot, and through grit and determination was able to climb out onto the beach at Incline Village 13 hours, 29 minutes, and 40 seconds after my start. I was estimating a ten and half or eleven-hour swim, I got a lot more swimming in than I had planned for! Just as important, I finished what I started and was able to handle adversity. All my prior ultra marathon swims have gone well; it never crossed my mind for a second that I could have an experience like I did. Odds are, sooner or later, I was due a humbling swim that took every ounce of concentration to complete.

It’s always a team effort. I couldn’t have done this without my two boat pilots, Sylvia and Kelly; Vinnie, my crew person who stayed positive and kept feeding me; and Makenzie who was my observer to ensure I followed all the rules. I’m back on the east coast now, taking a week off for family vacation. In eight weeks, I’ll be back on the west coast to attempt another big swim, stay tuned.