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Yikes, what did I get myself into…it’s 2:30 am, pitch black, and I am motoring across Lake Tahoe to the start of the Thunderbird crossing. It seemed like such a good idea when I decided to take on this challenge to celebrate my 50th year on this beautiful earth.   In the weeks leading up to the Swim I was having a serious case of the imposter syndrome. The Thunderbird crossing is a new 13.5 route dreamed up by my pilot Tom Linthicum AKA Reptile from Homewood CA to the Thunderbird Lodge South of Inc seeline NV. . By Marathon Swim standards this was a relatively modest objective.  My friend and observer Sarah Roberts had recently become the 8th person to successfully swim across the Monterey bay a challenging 25 mile swim from Santa Cruz to Monterrey. 

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It’s 3AM and Pitch black. Reptile pointed the spotlight at the shore indicating where I needed  to start my swim near the house where the Godfather film was filmed. Jumping into the cool clear water helped me to shed the pre swim anxiety. Swimming to shore I gingerly made my way onto the rocky shore raising my arms  indicating to my Observer when I was on shore and back into the water to start the clock. Finally I was in my element and ready to calm down and settle into the meditative rhythm of my stroke and breathing. I found swimming in the dark oddly calming. In hindsight, as a rookie marathon swimmer, I should have spent more time side sighting off of the kayak. 

Sarah’s Husband David and John Grunstad were my support crew. I was extremely lucky to have such an experienced crew.  They would take three hour shifts in the Kayak. I sighted off the Kayak as they received route guidance from Reptile in the powerboat. After the first hour they also would provide me with signal to feed on the agreed  30 minute intervals. 

After the first two hours the ambient light started to brighten the horizon leading up to magical sunrise. Mountains that surround the lake began to come into focus.

As the sun moved higher in the sky the sun beams penetrated the deep blue water creating an amazing natural laser show like display. This visual stimulus gave me a boost as I was able to temporarily forget about the large distance ahead and simply SWIM! In the future I hope to find and maintain this headspace for bigger portions of long swims. 

On a subsequent feed stop my crew indicated to me I had reached the halfway point. Although an exciting milestone, this brought my head back to the enormous effort ahead. As I settled into the second half of the crossing I began to feel the intermittent shoulder and arm pain that would really challenge me towards the end.  Instead of obsessing on this pain I recalled a conversation I had with Kilo-pod my Utah swim partner….he talked about a meditation technique that uses pain as a focal point for strength vs weakness (thanks Kilo).

I mentioned the shoulder pain on one of my feeds and Sarah observed a noticable drop in my stroke rate. They offered me Ibuprofen on my next few feeds. I stoically declined the offered pills in stubborn defiance to the pain. In subsequent conversations after the swim, I came to realize my crew knew what I needed even if I couldn’t recognize it at the time. This too was an important lesson for me as a novice Marathon swimmer.

In the last few miles as the Thunderbird Lodge came into view I began to gain confidence that I would complete the swim despite the increasingly debilitating shoulder and arm pain. I still had good energy but I was not getting much propulsion out of my weakened stroke. Ultra runners talk about a pain cave. I think I spent a little time in my pain cave during this phase of the swim.

As we approached the finish I could begin to see the bottom through the beautiful Turquoise water. My Family formed a welcoming committee on a paddleboard and accompanied me on the final hundred meters to shore. Finally 8 hours and 52 minutes after I started I walked onto the dry sand and celebrated the successful swim.

I am so grateful for all of the people that made this swim happen. It truly takes a village:

• 🏊‍♂️Will Reeves who introduced me to Openwater swimming in Utah and then became my Covid Great Salt Lake swim buddy
• Malaika who helped keep me accountable to to a training plan and reminded me “we can do hard things”
• Jen Celia, Nate for putting up with me and my moods
• Neil Heller for introducing me to the wonderful South End Rowing Community and cold water swimming in the San Fransisco Bay
• Stevie Hurwitz for cementing my addiction to Bay swimming by letting me join the ASSes on Alcatraz adventures…
• Sarah Roberts for being my confident Marathon Swim mentor and inspiring me with her swims
• David, Jon and Reptile for guiding me through this swim
• Jim and the PC/ Jordonelle swim pod
• All the Marathon Swimmers who’s Story continue to inspire and amaze me..