Frigid Waters don’t stop Swimmers at the LOST Race

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Temperature always plays a big role in open water swimming.  This is often especially exemplified in Lake Ontario.  As one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world Big Lake O has a reputation in the open water community for its unpredictable temperatures.  This Saturday saw the 8th Annual LOST Race (LOST standing for Lake Ontario Swim Team) at the mercy of one of the lake’s notorious “rollovers.” The Race is one of the founding members of GSS and is always a hotly anticipated event on the open water calendar featuring swimmers of all abilities including first timers, triathletes, Canadian Varsity swimmers, NCAA athletes, elite marathon swimmers, world champions and Olympians.

In the 7 previous editions of the 3.8km race the temperature has always been mild and has never been a real factor in the race, there is often even a favorable current helping swimmers post fast times.  And with water temperatures at 70F 2 weeks before the race it looked like this year would be the same.  Then the rollover happened.  The cold water from the bottom of the deep lake got brought up to the surface and plummeted temperatures down to 43F a week before the race.  While temperatures were warming up the week before there was a lot of discussion (a few hundred emails worth) of whether to host, cancel or alter the race.

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When race day arrived and the water temp was at 52F race organizers chose to go with Plan B and alter the race.  Rather than hosting a point-to-point 3.8km race the event was setup at the finish area and had two races in a loop swim: a 500M race and a 1km race.  Fortunately in terms of organization the race could not have been smoother.  There were plenty of eager volunteers, tons of on-water support and a great finish area setup.

The race featured Zack Chetrat, recent silver medalist from the Toronto Pan Am Games, Canadian Record holder in 200m Fly and favorite for the Rio Olympics next year as the celebrity starter.  Long-time Oakville Mayor Rob Burton also came down and wished the swimmers luck… and told them all they were crazy!

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(Left to Right): Race director & GSS President Rob Kent, 500M winner Dylan Kent and Pan Am Silver Medalist Zack Chetrat

In addition to the cold there were also some decent size waves and chop for the swimmers to contend with.  The altered setup for the course actually allowed for some great spectating, which was perfect as both races ended up being very entertaining.

500M Race: The 500 went off first and the start was interesting to watch as the swimmers hit the water and fully realized how cold it was.  Dylan Kent got out to an early lead and did not relinquish it for the rest of the race coming in a decisive 1st place winning by over a minute.  Kristen Sanhueza came in 2nd overall, also being the 1st female and 1st non-wetsuit swimmer, a very impressive swim given the water temperature.  Overall Global Swim Series leader Trevor Connors came across the line in 3rd overall (2nd wetsuit).

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(Left to Right): Charles Bolduc, Kristen Sanhueza, Lisa Pickering, Dylan Kent

1000M Race: The 2nd race of the day was a 2 lap race that started just as the 500M was finishing.  This one quickly into and epic 1 on 1 battle between former World Champion in the 25 km distance, Greg Streppel and Samer Yagmour, a seriously fast open water swimmer and Varsity swimmer at U of T.  They both know how it’s done.  Yagmour took the early lead for the 1st loop and a ¼ with Streppel dragging right behind.  It was clear when the swimmers came around for the 1st loop that they were moving at a blazing pace.  About 700m into the race Streppel made his move on Yagmour and took the lead, over the rest of the race he solidified the victory, winning by about 10m.  Bud Seawright came in 3rd overall and the 1st female to finish was 4 time LOST Race Champion Lynn Rodgers.

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(Left to Right): Loren King, Greg Streppel, Lynn Rodgers, Sara Nicholson

All in all, despite the cold, it was a very successful race that gave swimmers a serious challenge and was well organized by race officials and volunteers.

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FULL RESULTS 

PICTURES

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