Crossing Lake Gaston

My husband and I are "in training" for the Crossing, which is an annual charity event here at Lake Gaston. The 2nd annual Crossing is coming up on August 12th - participants will cross Lake Gaston near Eaton's Ferry bridge by swimming, canoeing, rafting or any other non-motorized means that they can think of. The lake is about a mile wide at that point and we will be swimming.





I swam it last year with my teenage nephew and as we were waiting with the other swimmers for the event to start, we saw two young girls with swim fins. My nephew and I looked at each other and both said "Flippers! We should have thought of that!". And of course, those two little girls swam to the other side of the lake much faster than I did. But then again, so did almost everyone else. Let me stress (as the promotors did) that this was not a race, but if it was, I would have placed next-to-last.


That in mind, when we came across some swim fins at a yard sale in Florida last winter, we jumped at the chance to spend $2 for each pair. Well, those flippers have not been the panacea that I'd hoped for, at least for me. Every once it awhile I can get into a rhythm and cover some distance, but most of the time I struggle - blister on the toe, foot cramp and general frustration - why don't those fins move right?. So once again, I will be swimming across the lake with just skin on my feet, no flippers.









My husband, on the other hand, has had no trouble with them. Twenty years older than me and some fairly serious asthma, he still outpaces me - effortlessly flippering along.
Below is a photo from last year's event - my nephew and I eating our celebratory ice cream after we finished our swim.





Lake Gaston