That's a long swim. Wonder what the water temp is like? Based on data from nearby dams it looks like high-60s.
She certainly has flown under the radar... someone should fly her out for MIMS!
That's a long swim. Wonder what the water temp is like? Based on data from nearby dams it looks like high-60s.
She certainly has flown under the radar... someone should fly her out for MIMS!
That lake is 100% snow melt runoff fed. It's really a pretty cold lake, and the temps at the nearby dams are from a different water source, the Columbia River. It's still probably in the mid to upper 60s, maybe low 70s.
There is a small town at the head of the 55 mile long lake, named Stehekin, which can only be reached by seaplane, or the ferry out of Chelan.
That's a long swim and deserves a big :applaud: for the attempt!
Here's the SPOT track:
share.findmespot.com/.../viewspots.jsp
Maybe somebody can interpret it for me? Looks like she's mostly through, but she started 2 days ago!!!!
Yes! Same person. Emily von Jentzen swam length of Flathead L, 30 miles, last summer, 3rd person and 1st woman to do so.
She's coming around the final bend in the lake toward the final straightaway towards Chelan. Almost to the town of Manson on the north side of the lake (maybe 2 more miles to get there). From Manson to Chelan on the road, is 8 miles, so I'd guess she's about 10 miles to go in the journey! At 2.5 miles/hour or so, that should put her just after midnight when she finishes. At least she won't have to contend with other pleasure boaters out there at this time of night. The lake can get pretty crowded around chelan with boaters.
Here is her FB page:
www.facebook.com/.../252078214804908
I gather she is quite close, but not yet on land. Immense local pride and support.
Update: She did it! 36 hours of swimming!
Here's the news story in today's paper about her accomplishment
From: The Wenatchee World 9/2/11
www.wenatcheeworld.com/.../
She conquers Lake Chelan
By Rick Steigmeyer
World staff writer
Friday, September 2, 2011
CHELAN — Slowed by high wind, choppy waters and extreme exhaustion, Emily von Jentzen completed her nonstop swim of Lake Chelan at 3:51 a.m. this morning, nearly 36 hours after starting the challenge Wednesday afternoon in Stehekin. The feat is believed to be the lake’s first nonstop swim.
The 28-year-old Montana attorney and triathelete said her epic swim of nearly 50 miles to raise money for a 5-year-old Kalispell girl battling life-threatening cancer was much tougher than she could have imagined.
“I feel like I got hit by a truck,” von Jentzen said in a phone interview this morning while sipping a milkshake after a few hours of sleep. She said strong winds came up on the lake after midnight slowing her progress and sapping her strength. She made it just within the west end of Chelan city limits, but decided to call it quits after starting to hallucinate about four miles from her planned destination at Don Morse Memorial Park, which had closed for the night. Von Jentzen had estimated she would complete the swim in 28 hours or less and finish by 8 p.m. Thursday. It took nearly eight hours longer.
“The waves were coming at me. I was swimming as hard as I could and not making any progress. Lake Chelan made me work for every inch of it,” she said. Von Jentzen said she had started arguing with her sister who was on the support boat following her about being off course. She was seeing things and thought she was close to the shore while still a half mile out.
“My sister wanted me to get on the boat right then, but I told her no way. But I did go to the closest shore. It was a little bit scary. I definitely didn’t have four more miles in me,” she said. She had gone without sleep for 48 hours by the time she got out of the water. An EMT checked her out after the swim and found her vitals to be in good shape.
Von Jentzen battled choppy waters at the beginning of the swim near Stehekin as well. The water was also much colder than she expected. She estimates the water was no warmer than 58 degrees. She added layers of neoprene along the way to warm up and asked for something warm to drink Thursday night. Her support crew was able to flag down a larger boat that provided hot water to make her some soup.
“Tomato soup never tasted so good,” she said. Von Jentzen said she thought about Katelyn Roker, the Montana girl battling Stage 4 neuroblastoma, whenever her strength began to waver.
“Katelyn doesn’t get to choose whether she has cancer or not. She doesn’t get to pick when she has to go in for a treatment, von Jentzen said. “It helped me to associate with what she is going through. She’s my inspiration.” Katelyn and her parents were on the support boat for awhile Thursday to cheer von Jentzen on.
Von Jentzen hopes her swim will raise at least $10,000 to help with Katelyn’s expensive experimental treatments that are not covered by her parents’ insurance. Donations can be made through von Jentzen’s blog, alakkeforkatelyn.blogspot.com. Von Jentzen raised a similar amount for another girl battling illness last summer by swimming the 30-mile length of Flathead Lake in Montana.
Asked what her next challenge might be, von Jentzen said she wouldn’t even think about new challenges until she recuperated from her Lake Chelan swim. That could take several months.
“This lake did not want to be conquered,” she said. “There’s a reason why no one has been able to do this.”
Rick Steigmeyer: 664-7151
steigmeyer@wenatcheeworld.com
There is a small town at the head of the 55 mile long lake, named Stehekin, which can only be reached by seaplane, or the ferry out of Chelan.
Or hiking in via Hwy 20 or Cascade Pass...or swimming in from Chelan :)
Here is her FB page:
www.facebook.com/.../252078214804908
I gather she is quite close, but not yet on land. Immense local pride and support.
Update: She did it! 36 hours of swimming!
Nice! :applaud: :bow: :cheerleader: :bed:
Thank you! What a journey. I hope she makes it.
I honestly could drive up there, it's about 45 minutes away from here to the north, to congratulate her on the finish, but I'd have a hell of a time making it to work at all tomorrow.
I think she'll make it. She's on the home stretch.
:cheerleader: GO EMILY GO!!! :cheerleader:
