The swim went swimmingly

Jessie Sheppard made the crossing of the Northumberland Strait on Sunday, July 13.

I attempted and completed the swim across the Northumberland Strait yesterday!

We started out at around 4:30 a.m., eating breakfast and preparing to launch the boat. As we sped over to the foot of the Confederation Bridge, I smeared myself in layers of SPF 70 and petroleum jelly (to keep me warmer and lessen the pain of jellyfish stings).  We started out early because Environment Canada had issued a wind warning for 20 to 25km/h winds to pick up late morning and early afternoon, and we figured I might have made it most of the way across by then.

I jumped into the water at the foot of the bridge and swam to shore, raised my arms and walked back in to begin the swim. I was scared to death, mostly of jellyfish, but also a little scared of going near the pylons of that giant bridge, and then every little piece of kelp that touched my hands. Ewww!!  A memorable moment for my crew was when I yelled over "You GUYS!  I need you to bring the boat a lot closer to me because I am TOTALLY FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW!"

For a while I thought I was never going to get into a rhythm, and I wondered what the heck I had decided to do this for.

It wasn't long before I needed to cross under the bridge to stop me from fighting the tides. I flipped onto my back and looked up as I did this, savouring a view that not many swimmers can say they've had. Then it was back to work, with stops for Gatorade every half an hour, and chocolate every hour.

The wind started to pick up very quickly, and before I knew it the rollers were big enough that one minute I would see the boat, and the next minute it would completely disappear. This is where I need to let you all in on a little secret: in the process of my training, I had only swum in the ocean once, and that was about a 10-minute dip in the Strait two weeks prior. I had swum in surf before, when living in Australia, but I have to say I was really hoping for calm waters because I figured the sh&* would hit the fan if things got choppy out there. Strangely, however, this is when I really started getting into a beautiful rhythm. I adapted my stroke to make swimming in the waves more comfortable, and found myself taking a breath the in trough of each wave and then basically body surfing through them. I knew the waves would be southerly, coming from behind me, and that this might actually not be such a bad thing, which it wasn't! I was having a blast! I was singing Beach Boys tunes in my head, and the jellyfish had nearly disappeared in the rough water. (Nearer to shore on both sides there were many jellyfish, and I got stung a few times, but luckily I didn't plow into any headfirst as had been my fear).

One of my favourite parts was looking back to see my crew's smiling/green faces as I was swimming—they were so encouraging and reassuring.

"I couldn't believe the adventure was over so quickly!"

The swim seemed to go so quickly!!  Before I knew it, I was crossing the shipping lane (the part of the bridge that rises up to allow ships through) and I had told my crew that after I got past "the hump," as I was calling it, to phone a swimming friend of mine to come out from P.E.I. and meet me to swim for a while. When I saw her boat steaming towards me I started to giggle uncontrollably. It felt great to have my friend in there beside me to chat with, to pace with, and to share jellyfish stings with. Her captain is a seasoned Strait captain and he told us we needed to get our butts in gear if we wanted to beat the tide and land on the beach where I wanted to land, so we got busy. I felt like I had a second wind, rolling through those waves, kicking strong and pulling hard. Soon, I could see the bottom, and I couldn't believe the adventure was over so quickly!  My friend Kristin hung back as I neared shore and the sand got closer and closer. One of my most distinct memories of the swim was reaching down and digging into the sand with my hands, squeezing it in disbelief. I then pulled my head out of the water, sand streaming from my fingers, and started to cry and gasp.  It was so easy and fun and it was over already!  My mom, relatives and a guy from the Arthritis Society were coming down the beach to greet me.

I slowly pulled myself to my feet, expecting to fall after not having experienced gravity for five hours. I felt surprisingly strong as I lifted my arms up to signify the end of the swim.

I want to thank everyone for supporting me through this Big Adventure!  I have only $167 left in my $9,000 fundraising goal for the Arthritis Society. Now on to Kilimanjaro ...

Jessie Sheppard, a Dalhousie master's student in health promotion, is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in August with a Joints in Motion team.