La Ronge, Sask., woman hopes to make a splash in record books
No documented case of anyone completing this swim before.
La Ronge, Sask., resident Dionne Tatlow hopes to get into the record books this weekend by swimming 50 kilometres across Lac la Ronge.
She's somewhat apologetic she doesn't have an impressive reason for her venture, however.
"I wish I had a more grand answer, other than, why not," the chiropractor told Morning Edition host Sheila Coles on Friday. "
"I got it in my head and it stuck there."
Tatlow, who has been training for months and has participated in previous distance swimming events, plans to make the trip over two days. She'll swim up to 12 hours on Saturday and then come back on Sunday to finish the journey.
With less than a day to go, the weather forecast was generally favourable. There's a 20-40 per cent chance of rain with winds of 10 km/h expected.
The water temperature is supposed to be about 20 C this time of year, although Tatlow said it was more like 16 the last time she went out.
She'll wear a wet suit for at least part of the swim.
I wish I had a more grand answer, other than, why not ... I got it in my head and it stuck there.- Dionne Tatlow explains why she's swimming across Lac la Ronge
She was spending her last pre-swim day Friday getting her food and beverages ready. The next meal, she says, is something long-distance swimmers spend lots of time thinking about.
"It's actually quite funny," she said.
"I have this fashioned device of a deep fryer basket duct-taped to the end of an extendable pole that they'll just kind of hang out from the boat, let me grab my banana or have a little oatmeal mixture, these carrot cake kind of bowl things and gels."
And so, the hours tick down and Tatlow prepares for her rendezvous with history — there's no documented case of anyone completing this swim before.
