Swimmers circumnavigate Lake Pend Oreille

ANDPOINT — The words “long” and “exhausted” were uttered often as a group of 10 local swimmers finally hit shore Sunday night after circumnavigating the entire coast of Lake Pend Oreille — a swimming feat unrivaled in both length and scope.

“Historic,” “teamwork,” “incredible,” “glorious” and “inspiring” were also mentioned upon completion of an adventure that lasted more than 46 hours and covered more than 83 miles — or 1.8 miles per hour for those scoring at home.

Eric Ridgway, Jim Zuberbuhler, Eric Mann, Chris Mann, Dave Mann, Jayne Davis, Meleah Nelsen, Karen McClelland, Courtney Sanborn and Imre Schmidt comprised the relay team of swimmers who left Kramer’s Marina in Hope at 8 p.m. Friday night. From there, they swam south down the east coast to Buttonhook Bay in Athol, before returning up the west coast to Sandpoint City Beach, and finally heading west back to where they started.

Each swimmer did seven shifts during the journey, ranging in time from 30 minutes to an hour, as they kept the same rotation from start to finish. Schmidt, at 87 the oldest swimmer of the group, joined the team Sunday morning at City Beach and swam two mile-plus shifts, inspiring everybody during the grueling final leg.

“Everyone became exhausted, no one escaped it,” said Ridgway, who is also the race director for the popular Long Bridge Swim. “We got really tired last night. We’re feeling great now, but we were tired.”

The night swims proved to be the most challenging and memorable portions of the journey. Under nearly full moons, winds kicked up and produced 3-4 foot swells both nights, which made the swimming much tougher. It also kept the mothership houseboat rocking like crazy, making sleep for the fatigued swimmers much tougher to come by.

“It was crazy, but definitely my kind of crazy,” joked McClelland. “I tried to sleep on top of the boat, but had to hang on, otherwise you’d roll off.”

Cindy Aase, one of the team members who didn’t actually swim, never got a moment of sleep as she captained the houseboat — generously offered to the team by owners Chet and Terri Whitney — at a crawl behind the swimmers. Kayaker Dan Krabacher and videographer Scott Rulander were also part of the tight-knit team of friends.

“There is unbelievable camaraderie in this group,” said Sanborn, who originally proposed the idea for the swim. “We’re brought together solely by swimming. The support, effort, everything makes this unbelievably memorable.”

They’ve affectionately named it the “Really Big Swim,” which easily trumped last year’s “Big Swim” in both magnitude and ambition. Last year, most of the same group swam 37 miles from Buttonhook Bay to City Beach — none really knowing what to expect. This year they had a better idea what to expect, yet to a swimmer, it seemed longer and harder than anticipated.

“This one really felt like a challenge, both mentally and physically,” said Dave Mann, whose sons Chris (at 14, the youngest swimmer) and Eric joined him yet again for an historic swim.

The team followed a precise GPS route charted by Zuberbuhler, who said swimming in the night swells was the highlight for him. While exhausted, the group was in good spirits upon finally setting foot on land, even finding time for some humor.

“I drank enough water that there will be no milfoil growing in my stomach,” said a laughing Davis, alluding to the herbicide treatments applied to the lake to fight the invasive weed.

Ridgway says Lake Pend Oreille is the perfect venue for these types of adventure swims, adding that he’s never heard of any U.S. swims that rival what they’re doing. While nothing has been set in stone, Ridgway wouldn’t rule out another historic swim by the burgeoning team.

“We have ideas,” he said with a coy chuckle. “We want to continue.”