Six miles across Utah Lakebut also wanted to reassure myself there could still be quality to my life after the big 6-0 came with my 60th birthday on Aug. 20,” said Pat Christian, about his epoch swim six miles across Utah Lake Saturday Aug.18. With his relatively sedentary profession as a reporter for The Daily Herald, Pat has tried to offset that by choosing rather physically demanding hobbies and sports that include running, swimming and bicycling. He's climbed the third highest mountain in North America, 18,405-foot Pico de Orizaba, Mexico's highest peak. And he's bicycled from Utah to California with his son Christopher and competed in marathons and triathlons. Most recently, he participated in the Provo River Trail Half Marathon earlier this month as training run for his entry next month in the Top of Utah Marathon in Logan when he will run 26 miles with his son Christopher. They both ran this same race last year. But his typical triathlon swims were only a half mile long, and Pat's training swims have only been at longest a mile and a quarter. "Several months ago, I set a goal of swimming across Utah Lake starting from north of the dike at Utah Lake State Park and swimming northwest to Pelican Point on my birthday. The idea was a mile for every decade of my life," Pat said. His wife Sonia, who tried but couldn't talk Pat out of his crazy idea, at least talked him into making the swim on the Saturday two days before his birthday, so family members and friends who wanted to support his swim could do it on their day off. "When I put this crazy plan together earlier this year, I thought I might actually be able to pull it off. "But on Saturday morning, I was confident I wasn't going to make it across. "More recently -- even as I trained hard at public swimming pools in Orem and Provo putting in lap after lap -- I would occasionally drive down to the east shore of Utah Lake, look across to the west shore. "It looked impossibly too far across. " . . . maybe for someone younger, yes. "But for me out of reach." Training required miles running, needed to be in shape for the upcoming marathon, he was not satisfied with his water training. "I would often swim a mile during a session, but when I finished I felt trashed, with little left in me. A half mile swimming session seemed easier, but the longer sessions convinced me, I couldn't swim six miles," he said. Pat calculated that on Wednesday, before the big Saturday, that it would be the last day he could train. And it needed to be his hardest workout. "I drove to the pool in Orem just after 6 a.m. and swam a mile and was beat. "For lunch, I drove to the pool in Provo and swam a half mile, and felt OK, afterward grabbing a quick veggie Subway and eating it in the newsroom. "After work, in the evening," I drove back to the pool in Orem, and swam another half mile. "I was totally spent, but I had swam a total of two miles. Granted, it was a broken two miles, but my longest . . . my hardest day. "I went home, climbed in bed and went out like the final bright flash of a dying light bulb. "Next morning, it felt as if a train had rolled over my shoulders and I hoped I could recover by Saturday morning." The Lake their dawn, and Pat's big Saturday was finally here and Utah Lake was waiting. Pat felt mostly recovered from Wednesday, but not fully. His support crew were in the boat: His wife Sonia, son Chris, daughter Heather, brother in law Carlos Moreno, nephew Carlos Arturo Moreno, Amy Brierley, Chris' girlfriend, and Chris's friend Ron Kelly who was graciously using his boat and excellent navigation skills to help Pat's big adventure. "I'll be happy with two miles," Pat told everyone in the boat. "I'm pretty sure I can do two; I did a broken two Wednesday." Pat would be more than satisfied with making it half way across, he said. Jumping out of the boat near the north dike of the harbor around 8:45 a.m., Pat began swimming. "Under the murky green water, I felt the initial chill, but it didn't seem that cold. "I started to swim and already didn't feel comfortable with the waves the morning breeze was churning up on Utah Lake.. "This was different than the swimming pool or the couple days I trained on the south side of the south dike where Provo River enters Utah Lake. "The waves spelled trouble. "As I swam, my arm came up and I turned my head for a breath. But the water was not the usual smooth air pocket and I accidentally choked on water instead of getting my expected breath of air. "I had to stop every so often and cough out water, and it was a bit frightening because I considered the possibility I could choke too badly and go under. And in this murky water maybe rescuers in the support boat wouldn't be able to locate and save me." Pat kept going and was already feeling taxed. In the excitement and anxiety of the start of his swim, he was going out to fast, but didn't realize it. A half hour into the swimming, he signaled for a rendezvous with his support boat for sips of Gatorade and then continued swimming. "The first hour of swimming in the rough water, just reinforced my assessment that I couldn't make it. At an hour and a half, I was on my second bottle of Gatorade and someone ask, 'How's your breathing?' "Weird," I said. "I really haven't found my pace." "Your going to fast," Chris said. "I sat at the back of the boat and Amy, a registered nurse, took my blood pressure, pulse and listened to my chest. "Everything was OK, but working overtime, so we decided I should slow down. "After two hours in the water, and slowing down a bit, I was finally getting my pace, getting into a groove in my head, and I was getting confident. I didn't know if I would make it, but I knew I had a lot left in me. And the water was calming down. "Farther out in the lake, Amy took my vitals again, and they were better. Slowing the pace seemed to have been a good idea. "My shoulders however were starting to burn with pain, so I took and Advil, and decided to swim with my short training fins to transfer more propulsion from my shoulders to my legs." Pat also figured he was drinking too much and shifted to drinking more water than Gatorade, and told the crew he would stop for a drink only every 20 minutes instead of every 15. He swam on, telling the crew that at the three hour mark, where he thought he would be one side or the other of midway, he would stop about a half hour for lunch -- a sandwich, grapes and fluid. After lunch he swam on with Chris and Carlos Arturo swimming with him for about 15 minutes. "Out here in the middle of the lake, the water was smooth. Temperature seemed around 75 degrees, except for the frequent pocket of cold water I swam through. The water no longer seemed so green. It was still murky, but more like swimming in milk than what had seemed green pea soup at the start. End in sight and I had lost my confidence that I wouldn't make it. But was not sure I wouldn't, and not sure I would. "I was on my pace. I was enjoying my swim, in a zone where there was really not much thought at all, more just experiencing being part of the lake and feeling it and time slip past me. "But maybe at about a mile and a half from the other shore, things became different. "To me at least, it seems in any foot or bike event, no matter how short or long I seem to arrive at a point where the event is no longer so fun. At that point it becomes more of a chore and challenge. But I even come to like that aspect, because that's where I learn the most about myself by pushing ahead even when I don't want to push ahead or almost can't push on. "By this point my shoulders were really hurting me, but I was finally confident I could make it even if I turned over on my back and just kicked with my feet. I actually did this a few times now, just to give my shoulders a break from the pain." Pat swam on, arm over arm, following the crew in the boat and was overtaken by the surprise of meeting his goal.. From their higher perch on the water, the crew first saw the large white patch of pelicans standing in shallow water at Pelican Point, and motored toward it, getting so close the big birds flew away. Chris and Carlos Arturo got out near the shore and were standing on the bottom up to their knees. From his low position in the water, Pat thought he still had about an hour to go before he might reach the shore, but he would really reach it in about five minutes, Kelly estimated. "I swam on. "I could see the big tree next to the pump house and vaguely knew I would make the shore, but was too much in the zone and my pace to be very excited about it. "I was still more of the lake than of the shore." "Up ahead, it seemed the boat had stopped, and I assumed this was my 20 minute drink rendezvous. "I swam closer, and became confused when I noticed Carlos Arturo seemed to be standing in the water. How could that be so far from the shore, I thought. "Stand up someone yelled." "Without complete understanding, I put my feet down and my feet touched the shallow ground under the water for a moment and I stood and raised both hands in victory, and people cheered. "I kept repeating, 'Amazing, absolutely amazing. Is this an island or am I here?'" It was around 2 p.m. "Then I continued to swim until it became absolutely too shallow to swim on and there were more cheers and high fives and hugs. "It was really starting to sink in that I had made it. "I finally waded to dry shore, and got more cheers from my crew. "All right! That's six miles. "I didn't think I could do it." "My son Shaun who was working at Slate Canyon Youth Detention Center called my on a cell phone and congratulated me." Sonia asked Pat, how he was feeling. "I feel Ok actually." "I didn't think I could do it."
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