Another successful Tour de Trout is now in the books.
The event which is closing in on ten years, keeps swimming enthusiasts in shape gliding across the water while raising money for the North Bay YMCA.
“I volunteer at the ‘Y’ every spring, helping triathletes improve their swimming skills,” explained founding member and Tour de Trout chair, Johanne Brousseau.
“And I would say to them ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to swim around Trout Lake?’ It went in one ear and out the other, but finally, in 2015 when I said that to the group, one guy came back the following week and said ‘I’ve got it all planned out. Let’s do it’,” laughed Brousseau.
The ”guy” she was referring to is Mike Burke.
“I guess it was a bit of a sense of adventure that I had thought about swimming across the lake, but Brousseau was thinking much bigger. She wanted to swim around the perimeter of the lake, and I thought that was a good idea,” Burke grinned.
“So, we just started doing a few nights swimming and the next thing you know we were at Olmsted beach and it was time to go back. Back by One Mile Bay, Portage Park and some big open water spots. It was just great bragging rights.”
And so it began.
”For five consecutive days three of us swam from Olmsted Beach all the way to the end of McPherson, and on day three we arrived at then-mayor Al’s dock,” Brousseau reflected.
At that point, introductions were made with an explanation that it was Brousseau’s idea and that the plan was to make the swim a fundraiser for the YMCA the following year.
“So, the next year we organized swims with different dock hosts. So host ‘A’ would allow us to enter the water at their dock and host ‘B’ would allow us to exit the water from their dock and the following swim we would enter the water from ‘B’ and swim to ‘C’ and so on,” Brousseau explained.
A total of 14 dock hosts made their property available to the swimmers over the course of the summer.
Swimmers range in age from early 20s to mid-70s.
Despite the wide age range, participants are like-minded people who enjoy getting out in the lake and meeting new people.
Swimmer Kelly Wallace has been swimming with the group since 2016.
“The camaraderie is really important especially through the COVID years because there wasn’t a lot of other things we could do in a group, but we were able to maintain this in a different way,” said Wallace.
“Fundraising is really important I think, to help kids learn to swim is such an important skill living where we live and having all the lakes and all the water here. And I just love being in the lake. It is such a nice way to see Trout Lake and get to know the area and feel the character of the lake in a different way. “
Wallace isn’t the only participant who appreciates the camaraderie.
“I had a very professional person in a high-stress job telling me that this was the second year they were participating and how they looked forward to it, and when they think about it, the only colleagues they had were work colleagues, now there is a camaraderie, there is something in common more than just work, and they’re realizing how good it is for their well-being,” shared Brousseau.
Brousseau calls this season, a post-pandemic version.
“We were not 100 per cent back to where we were for 2019 for the amount of swims that we’re doing, but we did have a lot more participants. We had 50 people register for the Tour, and 42 have participated. We have two land coordinators, we have 14 kayakers, and one wave runner who is always there keeping us safe. We also have two high school students helping, one is a kayaker, the other is a land coordinator,” Brousseau noted.
“The distances are short distances this year because we’re not as in shape as we were in 2019. So, we vary I think from 1.2 km to 1.8 km, so you’re talking about a thirty-minute to, depending on the swimmers, a 45-minute swim. And again, the kayakers are in the water keeping us safe. They surround us so that we’re visible and they herd us if somebody starts to move toward the centre of the open water, they will kayak towards them and help steer them in the right direction.”
At times the weather was challenging, resulting in cancellations, but the swimmers always looked forward to getting back in the water on the next scheduled swim.
“They’re avid swimmers, they’re loving it. Some of them started off in mid-March with me training at the ‘Y’ for 20 sessions getting in shape, then we moved on to Lake Nipissing for about 10 sessions, just to get used to swimming in open water, and wearing wetsuits. And then at the beginning of July, we started the tour,” Brousseau explained.
At the end of the season, money raised by swimmers and sponsors totaled just over 73 hundred dollars.
“This year was different in that we registered the event through CanadaHelps. Everybody is registered and you have the option of sending an email to all your friends to say you’re swimming in the tour, and would they like to donate money towards the ‘Y’”, explained Brousseau.
“And all this money helps to subsidize children’s swimming lessons. So, for those who cannot afford to pay for swimming lessons, this will help them. We’re avid swimmers and we would like all children to learn how to swim.”
Over the years, Tour de Trout Lake has raised nearly $ 36 thousand for the ‘Y’.
“It means a lot to us on many different levels, but most importantly it is really members of the North Bay community that have coordinated this incredible event and continue to do it year after year in support of our YMCA programs. So, for us it speaks to the fact the community really wants the ‘Y’ which is invaluable,” said YMCA CEO Helen Francis.
Original participants are astounded by how the program has grown over the years.
“I was looking back at a picture of our dock, and I think there were maybe eight or nine swimmers and that was 2019, and I thought well I guess that’s it, the open water swimming in North Bay looks like it can handle about 10 people and now we’re at some crazy number that is just so great to see,” said Mike Burke.
When asked if the Tour de Trout will return next year, Brousseau’s response was a resounding “yes.”
