Kendal's Swim for SPCA - Bowen Island Circumnavigation Attempt

POST-SWIM UPDATE:

Wow, Bowen, you were everything I expected a lot I DIDNT expect and more!

At dawn this past Saturday, August the 10th, 2024, my swim team picked up the safety boat provided for us by Sewells Marina and puttered over to Snug Cove on Bowen Island. My swim then commenced at 6:30am: I touched the rocky shoreline just before the lighthouse off Crippen Regional Park, then swam North for my attempt at a full counterclockwise circumnavigation of Bowen Island a 30.5 kilometre route. The water ranged between 20-22C, the waters were calm, and I felt stronger and faster than ever before as I crested the north side of the island, swam West, and finally South towards Cape Roger Curtis. My team worked in perfect synchronicity to guide me, keep me fed, and create a cohesive record of my attempt.

The wind and waves picked up on the west side of the island, however, and as I further exposed myself to the wild and choppy waters of the Georgia Strait, I encountered a challenge Id heard talk of in the marathon swimming world, but never experienced myself: a gradually increasingultimately crippling nausea. Likely from the unpredictability of the chop coming at me from the south/back-splashing against the coast.

This seasickness caused my form to deteriorate. Breaking from bilateral breathing, I lifted my head when I needed to inhale in order to stare at the horizon and seek some relief from the rolicking-induced nausea. In doing that, my speed inevitably slowed, and my core body temperature began to drop along with itand rapidly. 22km and 7 hours from my starting point, despite repeated bursts of trying to put my head down and fight, my legs fully gave out from kicking, and I knew I was too cold to recover to a sustainable speed and body temperature.

After brief consultation with my team, I came on board the safety boat and ended the swim with a smile (albeit also a feeling of desperately needing to puke!). Honestly, despite not succeeding in my circumnavigation attempt, this swim has been a landmark accomplishment for me in a number of ways:

1. It represents my longest continuous swim (i.e. featuring no supportive contact with a boat or a break on land): 22km, up from my previous stretch of 14km before a break.
2. I achieved my to-date fastest, most consistent pace of any of my marathon swims, swimming an average of 3.2km per hour across initially smooth, and later quite choppy conditions.
3. It left me feeling contemplative and excited for the future learning to combat nausea and what else I could do to make a reattempt at Bowen a success is top of mind for me now, and I have faith in my abilities to continue to train and overcome challenges in the future.

And, like always, it left me feeling grateful! Please read the following to understand just how many people are actually key players in a swim such as this, and how much they meant to my attempt:

To my crew members

• Thanks to Chris Ketcheson, who holds the honour of being the person who has crewed the most of my swims (3 out of 4!) since I embarked on this sport in 2021. He consistently goes out of his way to support me and my swim dreams, regardless of all the other stuff he has going on in his life (like moving across the country this week!). I feel completely safe and comforted when he is kayaking at my side. He also was the only crew member who slept on the floor in the hotel room the night before (lol, sorry Chris!). What. a. champ. Im going to miss him and his partner Paula so much as they move on to the next exciting stage of their lives in Nova Scotia.
• Thanks to Luke Mulder, who came onto the crew relatively last minute and picked up not only chief observer duties, but a kayaking shift during the waviest portion of the swim! He also took the amazing photographs at the beginning of my slideshow here. Welcome to the world of marathon swim crewing Luke, you crushed it and I was so, so happy to have you on my team.
• And thanks to Shaun Stephens-Whale, my partner and coach, who not only was the Captain of this swim and its primary escort craft but also supported me through the best training block of my life ahead of it. You are ceaselessly pragmatic and thoughtful about the concepts and realities of training and performance, and you make me feel powerful, capable, and excited about the future.

Additional and special thanks to

• Sewells Marina, who supplied the safety boat to my very first marathon swim in 2021 and did so again this year! Their boats are the perfect escort craft for this kind of event, and their support was the linchpin of the many logistics it takes to pull these kinds of swims off.
• Terra McKenzie, my boss at Camp Fircom and dear friend, who is not only endlessly supportive of my commitment to getting in the ocean and training on my lunch breaks, but who also loaned the guide kayak, kayak rescue gear, and radios to my team the other key elements of this swim happening!
• Squamish Titans athletic club, especially Coach Kelly Kaye, who helped me improve my stroke by leaps and bounds this year.
• Jessi Harewicz, for the beta and debrief on the specific technical challenges of swimming around Bowen.
• Horseshoe Bay Motel, who let me leave my car parked in their lot that day (and thus avoid a long walk or hefty parking fee!)
• My parents, who have believed in me and supported me since day 1.

And last, but certainly not least THANKS TO ALL WHO DONATED THIS YEAR! Wow. Thank you for giving to the cause I chose to raise money for with all these efforts, one that is near and dear to my heart: the rescue and rehabilitation of abused and neglected animals by the BC SPCA. Thanks to you, all my training, planning, and swimming that day resulted in over $1000 being donated to helping the animals in their care. You guys, alchemy-like, turn my swim dreams into something that has real meaning and value in our community.

All in all, Im incredibly grateful and cant wait to be back in the ocean, chasing my dreams and making a difference, next year.

- Kendal

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TRACK MY SWIM: track.rs/swim4spca/

CATCH THE PHOTO/VIDEO UPDATES: Instagram @kendal_nc

Dear Animal-Lovers, Squamish and Howe Sound Community Members, Swimmers and Dippers:

Hi! Kendal here. One of the best parts of open water swimming to me has always been the amazing animals I've encountered on my saltwater journeys. Likewise, one of the best parts of my life outside the water this past year has been two very small and special animals: Kuzko and Kronk, two rescue rats my partner and I adopted from Vancouver Animal Services.

Kronk and Kuzko show me daily how much curiosity, intelligence, affection, and love can be contained in beings so tiny and often overlooked. They remind me of the duty of care we as humans have towards the smallest and most vulnerable among us. Inspired by them, I started volunteering at my local BC SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), which last year assisted over 118,000 animals in the province.

This August 10th, I will be attempting to swim all the way around Bowen Island to raise money for the Sea-to-Sky SPCA and their lifesaving and life-changing work rescuing neglected, abused and abandoned animals.

If you'd like to support my effort to help our local SPCA give animals second chances at lives free from cruelty and neglect. Donate here or call 1-855-622-7722 and mention my fundraiser: Kendals Swim for SPCA.

Thank you so much for your support!
Kendal