Twelve swimmers and a full support team spent Saturday making history as they crossed Georgian Bay in a double relay, coming home to a picture-perfect sunset that silhouetted their front strokes while they glided into Collingwood Harbour, touching the end of the pier to finish their swim.
"I don't know if it could have gone better," Erich Rohmann, one of the team of 12 who swam the crossing, said after climbing the ladder to the top of the pier, feet on dry land for the first time in almost 12 hours.
"We had beautiful weather ... a great crew ... it was more or less on schedule."
The crossing was a team effort by members of Georgian Bay Squall Masters Swim Team and their support volunteers — almost another dozen on the water and lots more on land cheering them on.
The goal for the day was to complete a major challenge and to raise money and awareness for the work of Georgian Bay Forever in preserving excellent water quality in the bay they all love to swim in.
The crossing is about 30 kilometres. The team left Christian Island at about 7:30 a.m. and arrived in Collingwood around 7 p.m.
What made this crossing unique was the use of a double-relay, where swimmers were paired up based on their typical speed and ability for stretches lasting between one and one-and-a-half hours. Some swimmers did back-to-back shifts, while others did one shift at a time.
"Most of us have been swimming open water, at least throughout the summer," said Rohmann. "Nancy (Black), our head coach, made sure we had training logs submitted and everybody was good to participate in the event."
The biggest challenge in a big, open-water swim like the Georgian Bay crossing is weather, said Rohmann. In fact, the original swim was supposed to take place on the weekend of Sept. 7, but forecasted five- to seven-foot waves put a damper on any chance of making the crossing last weekend.
"We're at the mercy of the weather," said Rohmann, who swam most of the race alongside his brother. "Most of it was just keeping each other going and having a good time."
The idea of completing the crossing has been floating around in the minds of Squall members and leadership since last year. It came together this year as a fundraiser for Georgian Bay Forever, a locally based charity working to conserve, protect and restore the aquatic ecosystems of all Georgian Bay.
"We have great water quality here, and it's an amazing resource ... we want to make sure we keep it that way," said Rohmann, citing the recent issues in Paris with the open-water swim portion of Olympic triathlon races.
Squall coach Nancy Black explained there were lots of supports to co-ordinate in order to make sure the swimmers could make the crossing.
Some of the support came from volunteers from the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary Central and Arctic, including Darren Lortie, a unit leader from Penetanguishene, who helped man the Beausoleil Fire and Rescue Services rescue boat to offer navigational support and an option for emergency medical help and evacuation if it was needed.
"It was a great day," said Lortie. "A lot of times when we're out on the water, it's not days like this, right? It's usually the exact opposite. So to be able to come out and help out with this event, it was quite an honour."
Black is grateful to all of the businesses, individuals and volunteers who came together to make the crossing possible.
"It's so great we accomplished it at all, and I'm so emotional about it and I'm deeply, deeply proud, because I have a range of swimmers and everybody did so amazing, everybody was so positive," said Black.
In the future, Georgian Bay Squall wants to host more events in Georgian Bay, and Black has committed to continued support of organizations like Georgian Bay forever.
"We will honour the water in which we swim," said Black.
Donations can be still be added to the Squall's fundraiser for Georgian Bay Forever at this link.
The crossing made by Squall has been made before, but differently. John Scott swam from Christian Island to Collingwood in 1996 ahead of the Special Olympics World Winter Games taking place in Collingwood in 1997. Scott was the first to make the solo crossing.
