24 miles in 20 hours: Kim Bowler's epic swim across Priest Lake

Kim Bowler just swam the length of Priest Lake.

That’s more than 24 miles, and it took nearly 20 hours. 

She endured choppy waters, headwinds, an aching right arm, then an aching left arm, bumped into things in the night and wanted to quit more than once. 

She didn’t. 

Her husband, Chris Bowler, who kayaked alongside her, said that somehow, she got stronger in the final hour.

“She suddenly started digging,” Chris Bowler said. "I don’t know where the strength came from. It was pretty amazing. Mentally, she shut off. Her arms just went and her legs went.” 

Kim Bowler began her quest at 1:55 p.m. at Upper Priest Lake and swam through the night to finish near Bishop’s Marina in Coolin about 9:45 a.m. Tuesday.   

The Liberty Lake resident became the first woman to swim the length of Priest Lake and the second overall to do it. 

“It's something special to be the first,” Bowler said.

But why do it at all?

Bowler chuckles at that question. It wasn’t because she’s the fastest or the best.  

“I just know I can go longer. I kind of wanted to prove it to myself,” she said, then adding, “I can do something.” 

Indeed, she can. 

Swimming long distances isn’t new to the 41-year-old. 

In 2022, she swam the length of Lake Coeur d’Alene, starting at Heyburn State Park and finishing on the shores of Tubbs Hill. It took her 16 hours and 38 minutes to cover the 24 miles. 

Compared to what she just went through, that was a swim in the park, with calm, warm waters. 

"Coeur d’Alene was magically perfect, beautiful. Flat water the whole way,” Bowler said. 

That turned out to be a blessing and a curse, because Bowler imagined Priest Lake would be much the same.

“It definitely wasn’t,” she said. 

Bowler, a masters swimmer, swam four to five days a week and nearly 10,000 yards a day to prepare for this challenge. But looking back, she said it wasn't enough.

"I should have done more," she said.

There were rules so it would count.

She could wear a one-piece suit, swim cap and goggles, was allowed to accept food and drink from her support crew but could not touch them or the boat.

She, her husband and support team expected good weather, and it was nice and sunny early on. But it changed without warning. Wind and clouds rolled in, and the water churned up. Waves were coming straight at them. 

“We were naive as to what we were going to face,” she said. 

Bowler powered through until reaching the 2.5-mile thoroughfare and its calm waters. But as she emerged into open waters again, wind and waves waited. 

And she still had about 20 miles to go. 

“I started feeling like I couldn’t do this the whole way,” she said. 

At night, a supermoon and headlamps helped guide them through the darkness. 

With seven miles to go, her right arm started to hurt, so she relied on her left arm. Then, her left arm "went out.” 

“I was kind of like a T-Rex trying to swim,” Bowler said, laughing. “I could barely get my hands out of the water.” 

She battled frustration, anger, nausea and the urge to quit several times, including with the end in sight. 

“I still was like, ‘I’m not going to make it. We're going to have to call it,’” she said. 

But her crew said that wasn’t happening. 

“We did not go this far to stop this close,” Chris Bowler told her. “We have got to get you to the finish.” 

Still, Kim Bowler had doubts as she looked at the beach where family and friends waited to celebrate with her. 

The final few hundred yards seemed endless. So slow was her progress, she wondered if she was even moving at all. 

“I honestly thought we weren’t going to make it," she said. 

But she did. 

Once she reached land, there was a sense of relief, some crying and a hug from mom. 

“Other than that, I was exhausted and in pain,” Bowler said.  

Along the way, she raised nearly $2,000 for a church project to build wells in Uganda for communities that need safe and clean water.  

So, are there more Idaho lakes where she feels the need to go the distance?

Her answer comes quickly.  

No. 

“Right now, I am just so proud of what I’ve done. I’m really at peace,” she said. “What I did was enough for me.” 

For her? 

That's enough for anyone.

    Kim Bowler, with husband Chris Bowler nearby on his kayak, swims in Priest Lake at night during her quest to swim from one end of the lake to the other on Monday.
  

    The course of Kim Bowler's Priest Lake swim.
  

    Kim Bowler is joined by her family after completing her swim across Priest Lake on Tuesday.