The beginning of the swim as the sun was rising. July 27th/24

When deciding to take on a marathon swim, I don’t waver on the commitment. It takes a lot of energy to train for it, and I know I’m not doing it just for me, so it will require the involvement of others. Saying “yes” to doing it, also means I will rely on others to help me promote it, do it safely, and to get the message behind the swim out to the world. If you’ve ever read anything about marathon swimming you may have heard that as much of a solo endeavour as it sounds and looks like, it can’t be done alone. Behind every marathon swimmer is a team of support. I want to acknowledge everyone who played a part in allowing this swim to unfold as beautifully as it did.

As a transplant recipient, it is challenging on a few levels to train to complete a long swim, like the 30km across the length of Lake Muskoka which I can happily say I completed on July 27th this year!

In the past 5 years, I have been proud to be part of an event called the Organ Donor Swim. This event was first introduced to me through a good friend of mine, Grey Brett. Another liver transplant survivor I met at the 2017 World Transplant Games in Spain, who also loves to swim.

I saw a post on his instagram account that he was going to join a small group as a relay effort, and swim 30km together across Lake Muskoka from Gravenhurst to Port Carling.

The message behind the swim began as a search for a living donor for our friend Ricky’s father, who was in need of a kidney transplant, as well as generally spreading the message to register as an organ donor, and the quest to encourage our government to change our legislation to an opt-out system for organ donor registration, instead of our current reality which requires people to opt-in to become an organ donor.

Any funds raised from the relay were donated to Camp Kivita. Camp Kivita is a special week long camp experience for kids who’ve had a transplant or are waiting for a transplant, to connect with other kids with similar health challenges, and create friendships and memories to build confidence and give them an experience in a safe environment equipped with nursing staff to accommodate their special and unique needs as transplant recipients.

This event in Muskoka was something I wanted to be part of. It involves swimming, and promoting organ donation, two things I love. I also quickly realized that the people that are part of this event are really special people. Ricky and Livy Jacobs, a power couple have been putting on the Organ donor swim for 9 years now, and have gathered such lovely people around them to also be part of this event. The swimmers, kayakers, supporters and friends involved are people that I look forward to seeing every July since I’ve been part of it. I am honoured to be included in the organ donor swim, as I know it’s not an event where just anyone can sign up and go.

Last year (2023) on the organ donor swim relay!

Early this year, I approached Ricky with the idea of swimming the 30km across Lake Muskoka solo, in conjunction with the relay. I’ll be honest, at first I was hesitant and unsure of how that idea would be received. I never wanted the relay event to be overshadowed by my attempt to swim it solo, instead, I was hoping that together we would be able to spread the word of the event and our message even further.

Fortunately, Ricky was keen about this idea and leaped into action to see how we could make this idea a reality. Grateful for his support, I was fully committed in January to doing this swim.

It requires a healthy body to train and complete this length of swim, which I am so grateful to have. I kept an eye on my blood tests with the help of my transplant team at University Hospital here in London, Ontario, and the special attention to detail that my friend and transplant dietician Lynne Sinclaire took to make sure all of my levels were sound and healthy to take on this challenge.

It then takes a lot of time. Time to train, time in the water, planning, recovering, eating…

When taking on a swim like this, I don’t pretend to know exactly how to build up to this distance safely, and over the course of 6 months. Even though I have done a marathon swim before, I wanted to take the guessing out of the equation, and so I hired my trusted coach, Craig Lewin from Endurance Swim.

Fortunately, when I told Craig about the swim, he already had faith in me that I’d be able to finish the swim without too much worry. We had check ins together every month to go over the training plan that he had written out for me, go over any obstacles and mental challenges that came up along the way. His support and experience is greatly appreciated - he always says what’s on his mind and tells me what I need to hear…like “you need to eat more than that on your next long swim”, or “I don’t care how you get it done. If the water is too cold, you can wear a wetsuit”. He knows there is always a way to get it done, and there are always excuses but I don’t think I could let excuses slide past Craig, and so I never gave him any reason not to put the work in. I thank you Craig for holding me accountable and believing in me!

As I have maybe mentioned before, swimming outdoors in Canada can be tricky. Fortunate for the pools being open (as they weren’t always open when I trained for Lake Ontario in 2020 and 2021) I had the pools to fall back on in the winter and early spring when the lakes were too cold to swim in for more than 10 minutes!

A chilly training day in June at our friends Paul and Jackie Maddens cottage at Miller Lake! Their hospitality and letting Zach and I spend the weekend at their lake spot is always a highlight of the summer!

Our great lakes aren’t overly comfortable for long training swims, until late June if lucky, but usually July. The smaller lakes are often fine in May as they warm up a little quicker, but then quickly become too warm, and then run the risk of e-coli or high levels of bacteria.

Many swims through March, April and May were completed in a pool. Swimming 2-5 hours in a pool can be a grind. Especially when its two, back to back 2-5 hour swims on consecutive days. This was a big part of my “bulk” training weeks.

Short Course Pool training in the spring with Jackie and Andrew!

These simply wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my friends. A huge shoutout to my friends Jackie Benn, and Crissy Pastorius for supporting me in these long hours. These two ladies swam with me in short course (25m) pools back and forth for hours. I am forever grateful for their time and encouragement. A few other friends, Andrew Lee and Brandon Schaufele, and Ricky Jacobs to name a few, were also there for me when I needed a companion for support or to swim with me!

Training buddies Jackie Benn and Crissy Pastorius <3

So, between my training swims with my Middlesex masters club team all year and the added swims I put in every week, I felt well on my way to being mentally and physically prepared for this swim.

I so look forward to when the weather warms up and I can complete these long training swims in the lake. Honestly, it’s hard in June when the sun is hot but the lake is still cold, “it looks like I should be able to swim in that lake for 5 hours today, but risking hypothermia is not a good plan!” Swimming in a wetsuit is never my favourite thing, but was necessary a couple times to get the distance in to build my confidence and gradually build to swimming 30km without stopping.

Looking at the lake before a 6 hour swim in Lake Muskoka…in a wetsuit.

I spent a weekend on Lake Muskoka in late spring, staying at Ricky and Livy’s family cottage. We spent nearly 8 hours in the lake over the weekend, training for the crossing. Ricky was beside me in the water on his kayak - this experience and training was key. I would be doing the crossing of Lake Muskoka the end of July with kayakers beside me for support. Swimming alongside a kayak isn’t necessarily easy. There must be communication and trust between swimmer and kayak. Essentially, the kayaker is your guide and your eyes. When swimming in a lake, you can’t see much, except a little glimpse when you turn to breathe. The kayaker must know where you’re going, and lead the swimmer in a straight line, avoiding any dangers on the lake, other boats, docks, rocks, and buoys, all while keeping a safe distance from the swimmer. On my part as the swimmer, I must monitor at all times that I am keeping beside the kayak and not drifting off one way or another. This training weekend with Ricky on the kayak helped me prepare for the real crossing. Thank you Ricky!

This blog wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention my friend Jim. If you know me, you’ve probably heard about Jim. He’s probably one of my biggest cheerleaders. He’s happy to paddle on the lake beside me almost any time I am available. I don’t take this for granted, as he’s actually a very busy 82 year old with a family and a busy training schedule himself. But I am so grateful for his excitement for my swims, his incredible effort with the fundraising, and his ability to share and talk about the swim with just about everyone he crosses paths with. These adventures wouldn’t be the same without his help and support. I had a few awesome training swims with Jim, my mom and our friend Deb along side me on paddle boards this spring/summer - those are extra special swims.

Left to right- Deb, Mom, Jackie, Andrew and Jim. Training swim in July!

I am fortunate to say that I’ve learned a lot from my past marathon swim. A big takeaway from the first time around, was the importance of listening to my body. I know when to take a rest day, when my body needs a break, and I know when it’s time to push and put in the work. Managing training load with my job and the rest of my life requires constant monitoring and adjustment. Just because something is written on paper and in the training plan, it doesn’t mean it will always fit into what is going on with the other priorities in life that inevitably come up.

Equally as important to me as being ready for the swim, was promoting the reason behind why I am doing it. I’ve recognized the importance of community and support, which is why I was happy to get behind fundraising for Camp Kivita. I’ve written a blog about this HERE, if you want to check that out! While you’re there, please read a blog that we’ve posted HERE written by a nurse that volunteers at camp kivita, who started out as a camper there herself.

Camp Kivita, a place where transplant recipients transform their confidence!

I had a lot of help from my Move for Life team to help me share the campaign, and encourage donations. I thought the goal of $15,000 was a bit steep, but thought I’d put it out there anyways, and see what we could accomplish. Wow, was I blown away, when a day or two before the swim we reached the goal, and each time I looked, we had raised a little bit more, and then a little bit more. To date, between my solo 30km swim and the 6 person relay across Lake Muskoka, we have raised $24,645! I want to acknowledge my Move for Life Team, and Nicole and Tasha from Ember2Action for helping promote this event and maximizing our potential to help send as many kids to Camp Kivita as we could.

The support I’ve received as you have read comes in all forms. Whether it’s physical, mental, financial or virtual support, it all counts. The two sponsors that came on board, have sponsored Move for Life and our campaigns in the past. Tricar Group and Integrated Digital Solutions both believed in us (and me) and our cause. That says a lot to me and gave me confidence that someone was willing to give large amounts of money to support what we’re doing. Duh, I know that’s how sponsorship works, but when it comes down to it, and the people involved, it warms my heart to have them back us up again!

I knew this blog would be long. In hindsight, maybe I should have been writing a bit more all along the journey this year and made this blog into more than one. But, here we are.

I’d like to describe my swim experience across the lake as it was on July 27th as best I can.

Actually, it began the evening of Friday, July 26th. Everyone involved in the swim and the relay gathered at Rickys cottage for a delicious spaghetti dinner together before sitting atop of the boathouse to go over the plan for the next day.

Gathering on the boathouse the night before the 30km swims!

The relay crew and swimmers Wendy, Ricky, Grey, Gabe, Daniel, Tim and JJ were all there (side note and amazing story - Tim is a living organ donor. He gave about 70% of his liver to his friend JJ, and saved his life! It was amazing to see these two together and thriving).

Ricky’s Mom Nellie was there, and kayakers Denise, Cam, John, Blake, Bernie and Jason.

This year with the addition of my solo swim, we had a whole other set of helping hands. My crew and who came along with me on the lake that day was Crissy, Jackie, my dear husband Zach, John Scott, and Scott Ferguson.

We chatted together on the details of how things were going to go as the sun began to set. Everyone understood their role, how they were involved in the swim and that set the positive tone for the day ahead.

The night before- Crissy, me, Zach and Jackie

Knowing the forecast for the Saturday was in our favour, we all went to bed excited for a day on the lake.

Waking up around 4:00am to pack my bag and get my morning routine underway, we soon hopped into a boat at 5am to head towards the Gravenhurst wharf where we’d start the swim. Once arrived, the priority was the washroom break, applying sunscreen, media interview and saying hello to friends and community members who came to see us off- my dad, Brad, Mai and Logan, Jim and his brother Paul. I’m thankful to have so much support and people willing to get up for that hour to see me off!

Taking a moment to talk to the local media before jumping in the lake.

The relay and my swim were going to start at the same time. I had the pleasure of starting the swim beside Grey. We jumped in the water just after 6am and were pleasantly surprised that the water was warmer than the air.

Grey and I about to start off the relay and my solo swim.

We both looked at each other before we started swimming, smiled and exchanged a sigh of relief! Grey led off the relay with a 30 minute swim before they switched swimmers, which allowed for a really beautiful way for me to start off my 30km adventure. Two liver transplant survivors thriving and enjoying the the beautiful water of Muskoka.

It was from that moment that distance between myself and the relay began to grow. It would have been logistically impossible to coordinate a relay of 6 and a solo swimmer to swim tandem across the lake. Not necessarily beside each other, but swimming the same path to the same location.

Leading my swim ahead of me was my crew. Scott Ferguson, a Lake Muskoka local who heard about the need for a navigator for my swim from a Facebook post. I think it’s safe to say we’re all so grateful that we’ve met Scott, and he wasn’t shy to share how excited he was to be part of this event. He knows the lake like the back of his hand and I had full faith that he’d lead us in the straightest line possible to the finish of the swim in Port Carling.

Crissy and Jackie were sorting my food and ensuring I got the right amount of food and liquid every 40 minutes. They’d have it prepared to hand off to one of the kayakers who would retrieve it and bring it back to where I was swimming, about 200 meters behind the boat.

Zach taking a quick dip (pee break) part way through the swim.

It brought me comfort to know that my husband Zach was on the boat, who always loves and supports what I am doing, and also my friend John. John was my swim master when I swam 52km across Lake Muskoka. I knew having his calm and positive presence was important to me. His experience as a marathon swimmer, and accompanying over 20 other swimmers on marathon swims would ensure my safety, and that any decisions made on the boat would be the right decision for me as the swimmer. I’m forever grateful for my small and mighty crew that safely assisted my swim across Lake Muskoka.

John - watching my stroke and observing the swim from the back of the boat.

Every 4 strokes I took a breath to my right, seeing kayaker Cam there by my side. Occasionally I’d breathe to my left to see Denyse there, also guiding the way.

They’d wave me down every 40 minutes to hand me some food. Denise quickly caught on that eating while swimming was something I had to do, and not something I wanted to do. I think it’s easy to assume that I’d be hungry and wanting to eat a lot to fuel this crazy swim, but for me honestly, its quite the opposite.

I eat because I have to while I am swimming. It takes more energy to tread water, chew and/or swallow, stop my forward momentum and keep going than it does to just keep swimming. All that said, I know that to keep swimming I have to eat. It became almost humorous to watch me struggle to get all the calories in, but I think I did a pretty good job.

The first 10 kilometres went by really quick. I was surprised when Scott yelled out from the boat, “we’re 10km in!” This is when the mental math began. We’re a third of the way through…in about an hour and a half I’ll be half way through the swim, and then I just have to repeat it all, then I’ll be finished!

The lake looked like this in the morning!

The first half of the swim was the flattest the water would be all day. It was beautiful and silky. Before the halfway point, we went through a few choppy areas, which is where the real challenge of the swim began. Choppy water from the headwind, plus the waves from boat traffic all around us made for some washing machine-like conditions. From kilometre 19-26 was the hardest part. Waves from currents and winds are different than the waves created from boats. They come on really quick and can knock you off your stroke rate and rhythm. To help me keep my pace, Crissy, Jackie and John each took a turn swimming along side me. This is when things started to hurt; back, hips, arms, elbows, my neck…

Jackie- after a 40 minute swim beside me.

Having someone else to look at, match pace with, smile at and share the experience gave me the emotional lift needed at that point in the swim.

When I tell people about the pain of a marathon swim, I’m faced with two questions. The first is, “why do you do that to yourself?” And I think thats a fair question. I know the pain is temporary, and I know that what I gain from the pain far exceeds the desire to stop when it gets hard. I also believe in (yes, listening to your body) understanding the difference and need to stop because of injury, and wanting to stop because something is hard or uncomfortable. The best things in my life have come from continuing to push on when it becomes difficult. This is where you break out of your comfort zone, inspire others to try hard things, proving to yourself what you’re capable of, and showing and seeing what is possible even when odds are against you.

The second question I get asked, is “what do you tell yourself to keep going when it becomes painful or you want to quit?” Also a great question. This comes up in every training swim I’ve ever had, and in each marathon swim I’ve ever done. I remind myself why I am doing it.

For this particular swim across Lake Muskoka, I’m not just doing it for myself as a personal goal - I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to prove to myself that I can do it, but I am doing it for others, too. Transplant recipients across the globe and in my community who might not realize that having a transplant doesn’t mean life is over. In fact, a new life begins and we have the choice to take it by the reins and life it as fully as we possibly can! I’m doing it for Camp Kivita, to be an example to the kids that they too can do wonderful things with their body and their life, and I hope that my message comes along with what I am doing, and that message is to encourage healthy active living, and leaning on your support network as we are always stronger together than we are alone.

Through the last half of the swim, we had a few others find us on the lake on their boats to wave and show their support. As I had a job to do, a quick wave hello was all I could offer, but seeing the effort that those people made to come see the swim means more to me than they know!

My friend Jim and his brother Paul brought my dad out for a boat ride to see me swim, and another transplant community member Tim and his daughter Izzy found us on the lake with their signs and waved hello! This kind of encouragement goes a long way!

It’s cool to me how the mind and body are connected. When I knew I only had about an hour left, some of the pain started to dissipate (not completely!) but it’s like my body knew that I didn’t have much longer to go, and allowed me to finish with a big smile on my face.

The last kilometre was through a part of the lake that looks more like a river, with cottage docks lining the sides, with people out and about enjoying the sunny afternoon. The water was more shallow so I could see the bottom. This was a nice change from the darkness and depth of the lake that I got used to looking down into.

The route across the length of Lake Muskoka

Up ahead I could see the end where the park is, with people waiting there. Once I touched the dock, the swim was officially over! I finished the 30km in 10 hours!

Climbing out the ladder, I was greeted by my friend Mai with a huge smile and hug, she snapped a few beautiful photos, and I let out the second sigh of the day…relief to be done, and that I did it! Another friend Brigitte gave me a hug and some flowers, and for the next hour I conversed with my crew, my dad, Jim and another recipient in the transplant community named Todd who was excited to meet me and congratulate me on the swim.

All the familiar feelings of gratitude, happiness and amazement washed over me. I knew I had it in me to complete the swim, but doing it, and experiencing a swim of that length brings on feelings of accomplishment that are hard to describe.

A little over an hour after I finished the swim, I got to watch the relay swimmers finish together. Usually being part of that group, I knew the joy they felt in that moment, to conquer the lake together. Sharing the 30km distance is something I am looking forward to next year. The camaraderie on the boat, the music, beautiful sights of the lake, snacks and conversations are always a big part of the fun and worth celebrating at the end of the day in the park with a group hug and pizza to follow.

The relay group finishing all together for the last 500m of the swim.

None of this would be possible without everyone involved, the entire support crew, including the kayakers. Their effort and contribution is HUGE and so necessary for safety and for guiding us swimmers. Most of the kayakers spent the entire day in their kayaks, only stopping maybe once to get out to stretch their legs and take a washroom break. That is a feat in itself. I know they can and do paddle a lot further, but going at a swimmers pace and keeping us safe and not bumping into us through the waves of the lake is something that only experienced kayakers can do.

Cam and Denyse. Two kayak superstars who paddled beside me for 10 hours.

Grateful to Ricky and Livy for again organizing this event that we all love, and allowing us into your space to enjoy Muskoka and the lake.

Something I felt after my transplant, my Lake Ontario swim, and felt again after swimming Lake Muskoka, is that I want my friends, family, crew, supporters, and everyone who donated to the cause to know how thankful I am for their help. It feels like I can’t thank them enough, and there aren’t words that say it well enough. So one last thank you to all from the bottom of my heart!

At the end of August, I am looking forward to visiting Camp Kivita for a day, and meeting the kids that are attending camp this summer!

Length of Lake Muskoka

The Courage of Families Awaiting Organ Donation: How Move for Life is Helping Saskatchewan Families in Need

The Magic of Camp Kivita