Great Salt Lake Swim with Kate Greene

This morning I met Gordon, Goody and Kate Greene (winner of Jamie Patrick's Swim Adventure Contest).  Kate is traveling from Tennessee to San Francisco and is swimming all along the way.  We heard she was coming to Utah and we had to meet up with her for a swim in the Great Salt Lake.  We got to meet Kate's crew for the day who where there to support her and take photos.

It was a little chilly this morning and there were some decent waves on the water.  I've wasn't feeling well last night or this morning, so I opted for a shorter swim than we had planned.  Once I made the decision to do a shorter swim, everyone else decided to come along.

Kate taking a break and getting a drink to wash out the salt.  Photo by Gords.

The salt was a real shock to Kate (as it was for me and everyone else who has ever swam in the Great Salt Lake).  We swam out to the first red buoy and regrouped.  Kate took a drink of her Gatorade to wash out some of the salt.  We had her lay on her back so that she could see how easy it is to float.  After laying back she said "that's not right".  It really is kind of an unnatural feeling to be able to float that high on the water without any effort.

We swam out the the second red buoy and decided that was enough of an experience and headed back to the marina.  The swim back was much more enjoyable and Kate seemed to be a little more relaxed.  She told us how she could picture the lake on another planet (or moon of another planet) because it was so otherworldly.

After rinsing off, Gords and I went to breakfast with Kate and her crew at Market Street downtown.  We had a great conversation about some of the other swims she had done and some of her other planned swims.  We talked about other swimmers, swims, swimming books, etc. and had a really enjoyable morning.

Even though she may not have enjoyed the salt at first, I hope that she had a great experience.  We send her off with some Got Salt? shirts and other goodies.  I got to work pretty late, but it was well worth it.  I wish Kate the best of luck on the rest of her adventure and hope that our paths cross about someday soon.  You can catch up on her adventure and follow her progress on her blog, Rivers and Roads.

I also got this message from my friend Kris on Facebook today that made my day:

Hey Josh,
You changed my life in a good way forever. I just went outside and with the North wind blowing I smelled the lake. I used to think ew stinky but I got a smile on my face and thought of swimming :)

 We are changing people's perceptions about the Great Salt Lake, one swimmer at a time!