Susan Simmons is one half of Victoria’s most prolific swimming duo and now she’s set her sights on a world record attempt, a 105-kilometre route up and down Cowichan Lake.
“This is for sure. I have started training and have the pilots in place for the swim. I just have to select the official days in August,” Simmons said.
Two months ago the 49-year-old data services manager from James Bay conquered the 70-kilometre Cowichan Lake Double with CFB military paramedic Alex Cape, 34. It took them about 32 hours to swim a 35-kilometre route, a touch longer than the length of Cowichan Lake, twice.
Now Simmons is challenging the current flat water (lake) distance world record held by Canadian Vicki Keith, who completed a 104-km double-crossing of Lake Ontario in August 1987.
“It took Keith 56 hours and 10 minutes, and I’m expecting this to take over 50 hours,” Simmons said.
Cape’s commitment to the world record attempt is unknown at this point, as she awaits word on a surgery date to fix a torn ACL, an injury that predates the Cowichan Double.
Simmons is launching a website for the swim attempt in November, which will document her training time in the pool. The website will allow anyone to create a profile and enter their swim training each day. Simmons originally began swimming to counter the effects of multiple sclerosis. She hopes to inspire people from across Canada to train along with her, and to join her for a leg of the swim during the attempt.
“It will be interesting to see how far Canada can swim,” Simmons said.
reporter@saanichnews.com