Friends and Relatives Annual swim across Perkins Pond.

The swimmers, accompanied by a safety boat, go across Perkins Pond, around a raft, and then return back to the start. The swim takes approximately 40 – 50 minutes minutes.

Swimmers and Safety Guards - Perkins Pond One-Mile Swim

History

The history of this swim started when my 7 and 6-year-old boys, Shaun and Tim, asked to drive our six-hp motorboat by themselves. Cathy and I knew the boys could swim and drive the boat, but if an emergency should occur in the boat, we were skeptical about their ability to swim a long time.

We told the boys they could only take the boat alone if they could swim across Perkins Pond, and then swim back, all without a life vest. Of course, we would accompany them by boat to ensure their safety.

Our challenge proved to be an incentive for these young boys to improve and practice their swimming skills. Later that summer they fulfilled their swim agreement, and they were allowed to use the boat, always wearing a life vest, by themselves.

Now, annually for the last forty-plus years with close friends and family, we gather to repeat this original challenge. This year also offered another celebration, as four of our group accepted proposals of marriage.

The Swim

As you see in the video, the eleven swimmers are accompanied by a motorboat, canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards, all of which have life-vests plus throw cushions for each swimmer. Utmost is ensuring the safety of the swimmers with immediately available help in case of cramps or exhaustion and keeping recreation boats away from the swimmers.

To participate, one needs to be an experienced swimmer. Moreso, they need to be in good physical condition to make this one-mile 40 - 50 minute swim. This requirement may seem obvious, but my experience finds some swimmers in the past have underestimated their skill and endurance needed for this one-mile swim in open water. The result is they were pulled from the water into one of the lifeguard boats.

As you will hear in the video, there is good-natured ribbing and chatting throughout the easy-going swim.

" Everyone must do something. I believe I will go outdoors with family and friends"

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Steve’s books are available as hardcopy and e-Books at Amazon's Kindle and hardcopy at Harborside Trading Company, 81 Main St, Sunapee, NH, Morgan Hill Bookstore, New London, NH, Bookstore at Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Gift Shop, Lebanon, NH, and Village Sports, New London, NH.

Outdoor Play has trip preparations, routes, and narratives of bucket list places to go. The book will motivate friends and family to make the outdoors a key component of their daily life. If you want 5 or more books signed, send Steve an email and we can work out the logistics. 




Additional Sources of Books at:
Hardcopy at: http://outdoorsteve.com and https://www.amazon.com/dp/098503842X
E-book at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/098503842X

Swim Challenge Across Sunapee Harbor

Seventy-seven years young Skip Hause made a swim challenge to Helaina Sacco, Head Swimming, Diving Coach & Aquatics Coordinator for Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH. Skip has challenged a celebrity swimmer in a fund-raiser for the past seven years; a half-mile open water swim from Sunapee Harbor’s Lake Avenue to Dewey Beach.

 The Handicap

Given Skip has 46 years more practice than Helaina, BUT Helaina has been an elite college swimmer, they agreed Skip needed a handicap of a twelve-minute headstart. This means both swimmers begin at Skip’s dock in Sunapee Harbor, but Helaina must wait a full twelve-minutes before she starts her swim. This twelve-minute time came from using Skip’s best time four-years ago of a 26-minute crossing for the half mile swim.  Helaina, never having raced in open water since her teenage years, and given her estimated time for the half-mile swim, both felt comfortable the twelve-minute lead for Skip may result in them reaching the Dewey Beach shoreline at the same time.

 Oh, one other thing, Helaina must use four different strokes during the swim: the freestyle (crawl), backstroke, butterfly, and breaststroke.

 The stakes for this very sociable race is raising funds for the Colby-Sawyer College swim team.

Here is a 60-second trailer promoting the "Swim Challenge Across Sunapee Harbor."

This is the race condensed in a 20-minute video. 

The Results

Helaina caught up to Skip 22-minutes after his start.  Given Helaina waited for 12-minutes before starting , it took her ten minutes to reach Skip.

 
Swimmers and Their Coaches

Upon reaching Skip she began a breaststroke, switched to the butterfly, then the backstroke. Just before reaching the beach, Helaina turned and returned to swim alongside Skip, and both finished together. This display of sportsmanship was rather emotional to me. Finishing together demonstrated the respect Helaina and Skip had for each other.  Each, in their own way, were the winners of this friendly challenge.

Donations:

Check payable to: Colby-Sawyer College
Helaina Sacco, Head Swimming, Diving Coach
& Aquatics Coordinator

Colby-Sawyer College
541 Main St,
New London, NH 03257

" Everyone must do something. I believe I will go outdoors with family and friends"

---------------------------------------------------

Steve’s books are available as hardcopy and e-Books at Amazon's Kindle and hardcopy at Harborside Trading Company, 81 Main St, Sunapee, NH, Morgan Hill Bookstore, New London, NH, Bookstore at Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Gift Shop, Lebanon, NH, and Village Sports, New London, NH.

Outdoor Play has trip preparations, routes, and narratives of bucket list places to go. The book will motivate friends and family to make the outdoors a key component of their daily life. If you want 5 or more books signed, send Steve an email and we can work out the logistics. 




Additional Sources of Books at:
Hardcopy at: http://outdoorsteve.com and https://www.amazon.com/dp/098503842X
E-book at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/098503842X