Even though the 61st Annual Across the Lake Swim is in the history books, the Gyro Loop Time Trials are continuing every Saturday! This is a great training tool for your triathlon or the FINA Open Water Swim on August 21st and 22nd (click here for more information). Come out to the Gyro Swim Loop at Gyro Beach and register at 6:45am. The time trials start at 7am and you can swim a single or double loop (800m/1600m). Your results will be posted on our website so you can track your progress!

Dirk Handke spent the day photographing like a madman and took over 530 shots! You can view the Across the Lake Swim page he created by clicking here. Or view all the wonderful 530 shots here. We’d like to thank Dirk for taking so many great shots of the race! Stay tuned as there are even more photos arriving soon!

The 61st Annual Across the Lake Swim took place on July 18, and turned out to be the biggest and (we think) best race ever! People signed up in record numbers, and we had everybody racing from total novices (who were reportedly jumping up and down with excitement during the ferry ride to the start line) to seasoned open water swimmers, looking for a new personal best. And personal bests they got! The majority of repeat swimmers improved their times, thanks to the favourable conditions and seamless organization. Connor Vander Zalm was the first to exit adding to his consecutive wins.

The houseboat option proved to be popular and much appreciated; the entertainment and food options at the finish line made the time fly by; and the weather was perfect with a variably cloudy sky that kept the temperatures down. The water was warm enough to swim without wetsuits; however, most swimmers chose to wear a wetsuit nevertheless.

Favourite moments happened when swimmers got off the houseboat on the west side of the lake in “lemmings” style, walking to the edge of the deck and jumping one at a time into the warm water; when our announcer Nick Rabinovitch finally discovered that he himself was the recipient of this year’s Jan Morrow Award; when the oldest participant, Charlie Burns arrived as the last finisher with 44 seconds to spare to the cutoff time; and how the crowds cheered on as the youngest swimmer, 8 year old Taryn O’Neill, exited the water after swimming the entire distance. We have lots of wonderful pictures that will be posted on this website as soon as they become available.

Thank you again to all our sponsors – this would not have been possible without you. We also much appreciated the coverage in the local media, print and radio, and hope that you will continue to support this seasoned local tradition.

A huge thanks to all the volunteers! We’ve had so much positive feedback about how friendly and organized you all were! We really do appreciate all your efforts in making this race the best open water swim event in Canada.

Rest your tired arms – stay safely out of the fire’s way – and enjoy the rest of the summer.
The ATLS team.

We want to hear from you! Please let us know how your swim experience was this year by sending an email to: feedback@acrossthelakeswim.com. We’d love to get your input – good or bad. What did we do well? What needs to be improved? We’ve already started to work on next year’s race and your feedback would be invaluable!

The 2009 race results are now posted online. Click here to view.

When you pick up your race package, open up the zippered pouch on the inside – you could be a winner! … and who says you never win anything?

The online registration is now closed, but you can still register in person at the Fresh Air Concept store only until 6PM tonight. Hurry though as we’re almost sold out!

Race package pickup is Thursday, July 16 and Friday, July 17 at Fresh Air Concept store, 555 Groves Ave. Click here for a map.

Wait till you see all the goodness we stuffed into these environmentally friendly green bags! We guarantee you won’t find a better race package anywhere. Psssst… be sure to look in the secret zipped pouch on the inside – you could be a winner!

If you’ve reserved Houseboat Shuttle tickets, don’t forget to pay and pick them up as well.

So come down and get your race packages – before we start selling ‘em!

For those joining us this Saturday from out of town, and for those locals who are lousy at directions, here is a map showing the race start and end. Click here to view.

The date is rapidly approaching and if you wish to register, you had better do it soon! Registration closes this Friday at 6PM. We’ll see you at the race on Saturday!