SOLO SWIMS OF ONTARIO

SWIM MASTER’S REPORT

NAME OF SWIMMER: Rob Kent

AGE OF SWIMMER: 47

DATE OF SWIM: August 13, 2012

SWIM START LOCATION: Port Dalhousie 43.203719,-79.262651

SWIM START TIME:

August 13, 2012

03:15:20 Casio atomic 03:15:21 Garmin GPS 03:15:45 Timex quartz

SWIM FINISH LOCATION: Oakville Navy Street beach 43.441237,-79.665639

SWIM FINISH TIME:

August 14, 2012

00:08:10 Casio atomic 00:08:11 Garmin 00:08:46 Timex quartz

TOTAL SWIM TIME: 20:52:50

DISTANCE SWUM: ~ 42.22 km (beeline)

NAME OF COACH: Alexander McMillin

NAME OF SWIM MASTER: Shaun Chisholm

BOAT # 1: 26 deep hull powerboat “Pursuit of Happiness” 350 CI Bravo 3, 260 HP with secondary 9.9hp outboard, Tony Chisholm owner & pilot

BOAT # 2: Bayliner 245 (25 feet) Mercruiser 5.0l V8 “Quarter Life Crisis” Tyler Shane, owner and pilot

BOAT # 3: 12 foot Zodiac inflatable dinghy, 15 HP / 2 stroke Outboard OWNER: Bill Johnson,

BOAT # 4: Crew - Michael Judd, Jennifer Brooks, Peter Frost Boat - S2 9.1 30Ft (the manufactures name is S2 made in Holland Michigan) 9.1 isalso the length in mtr. 10.5' wide, with an all in weight of about 9000 lbs. Engine - 20 Yanmar diesel & I was towing a 2.5' x 5' drogue + another smallone Navigation - positional fixes ever 2 hrs on paper chart + triangulation byway of using 2 GPS with 1 fixed on Oakville and one on Bronte. This is whatallowed me to determine drift and current strain on the swimmer. Boat wasalso equipped with 3 VHF and full ORC compliancy for off shore racing andcrossings --- save a life raft.

Additional Crew:

Boat & Crew Confirmation Form – Part 2

Name

Boat

Operator

Y/N

Boat

Operator

Card

Pacer

Y(Age)

/ N

Other

Crew

Y/N

Medical

Conditions

Y/N

Attached Medical Details

Y/N/NA

Y/N

Alex McMillin

Y Y Y (49) Coach N N/A

Jenn Strang Y Y Y (33) Manager N N/A

John Strang N N Y (47) Doctor N N/A

Melanie Price

N N Y (39) Pacer Logistics N N/A

Jillian Kent N N Y (15) Communication N N/A

Al Wiggins N N Y (44) NutritionAllergy to Penicillin

N/A

Maisey Kent N N Y (17) Lifeguard N N/A

Colleen Chiki

N N Y (38) Crew Food N N/A

Tony Chisholm

Y Y N Boat 2 Driver N N/A

Tyler Shane Y Y Y (28) Boat 1 Driver N N/A

Bill Johnson Y Y Y (39) Zodiac Driver N N/A

Michael Judd

Y Y N Sailboat Cpt N

Jennifer Brooks

Y Y N Sailboat Crew N

Peter Frost Y Y N Sailboat Cpt N

Joanne Kent Y Y N Sailboat Crew N day

Dylan Kent Sailboat Crew N day

SOLO SWIMS OF ONTARIO

SWIM MASTER’S REPORT – NARRATIVE

Rob Kent organized and successfully completed a solo crossing from Port Dalhousie to the LOST beach in Oakville August 13 & 14, 2012. The crew met at the Port Dalhousie Sailing Club at 2:30am, August 12th for a quick crew meeting covering safety, navigation, crew jobs, weather, pacing, and movement between boats.

I watched the weather carefully the day before the swim. A large system was forecasted to move out of the area leaving clear and warm weather. The forecast for the swim start and finish was just within SSO limits.

The forecast:

St. Catherines EC - Sunday night 40% chance of showers, low 17C. Monday, cloudy, clearing late in the day a high of 28C, and 14 kph winds.

Windfinder Port Weller – Sunday between 2 and 8 knots WSW

NOAA Olcott NY Lake Ontario West – Sunday night W9 knots, 1 foot or less waves, low 68F. Monday, sunny W8 knots, 1 foot or less waves, high 75F. Monday night SW knots (falling) low 68F. Tuesday SSW 11 knots, waves 1 foot.

Oakville EC – Sunday night 40% showers ending early evening, NW 20kph becoming light, low 15C. Monday, mix sun and clouds, high 26C,UV 7. Monday night, 30% showers, low 17C

No lightning forecasted.

I notified Prescott earlier in the day with the swim details and called them again once the swim started.

Rob took a few pictures with the crew on the boat ramp, attached his Guardian light and wasted no time starting his swim at 3:15am. Each boat had VHF radios and a transmission notified the swim start. The zodiac was with Rob as he entered the water and the 3 remaining boats quickly joined forming a diamond flotilla that lasted the duration of the swim. The weather at 3am was much better than the forecast as the winds had almost completely disappeared, the water calm with 6 inch waves, temperature 68F.

Rob fed every half hour at the top and bottom of the clock – a great idea making it easy for the crew to keep track. The night passed by without incident at a pace between 2.5 and 3 kph, stroke count consistently at 60. He fed with gel, CarboPro, Gatorade and Salt Stick. At 8:15am Rob’s safety swimmers entered the water and stayed with him until nightfall. I took 2 turns in the water with Rob when the air and water temperature cooled. At one point he seemed a little tired which prompted me to get in and evaluate him from the water. For the most part Rob joked with the crew and played whiteboard hangman with Alex and Jillian. Whenever either of Rob’s two girls Maisey or Jillian got in to pace he would greet them and his spirits were visibly lifted as were the entire crew. The safety

swimmers would enter the water during feeds, 2 would swim together for a while before one falling back to the boats.

The water and wind continued to calm throughout the day to the point where the water mirrored. At 2pm storm clouds started forming to the south of our location but it became clear we were at the very edge of the system and only received some light showers. At no point was lightening witnessed or thunder heard.

Rob expected to arrive in Oakville around 6pm however the swim took longer than he expected. His stroke count and efficiency slowed as we got closer to the shore. He remained diligent with his 30 minute feedings and he was always cheerful when he stopped. He would ask about temperature and distance and the crew would tell him the truth. Before he stood up on the beach he stopped and made jokes with the huge crowd of people waiting for him on land. I felt Rob was cold but not hypothermic, which Dr Strang confirmed once Rob sat down on shore. I notified Prescott of the swim completion.

Jen Strang, Rob’s manger, left no detail unplanned. I’m sure this will be the best organized crew I will have the pleasure of working with. Tony Chisholm has successfully navigated the lake with several swimmers and Michael Judd’s navigation experience was immediately obvious from the start of the swim. Starting early in the morning is always a challenge because crew member can approach 40 + hours without sleep.

Special note:

All crew but 5 (Rob's daughters and the sailboat crew) had completed at least one Ironman. Individual endurance events were not new to this crew or the importance of not providing Rob with a draft. As the next pacer up would enter the water, two pacers would swim together for a while and then one would drop back to a boat. The system worked well for this keen and athletic crew. This happened mid day in near perfect conditions. Safety of the swimmers was always the highest priority and considering we had a medical doctor, a rescue diver, 2 NLS certifications, a rapid intervention team / firefighter survival instructor I considered having 3 swimmers in at once and acceptable risk. There was some pressure to keep pacers in after dark especially when I asked them to be removed and no further pacers allowed back in.

Safety concerns & recommendations

1. Tyler Shane’s powerboat would have run out of fuel if the swim has gone longer than 24 hours because of its large motor and lack of kicker motor.

Respectfully submitted,

Shaun Chisholm

Notes:

4am – feed, gel & carbopro

4:30am - feed, gel & carbopro, good mood, 6 inch waves

5:10am – 73F water, 66F air

6:00 – skip feed, daylight

6:30 – feed 7.95km traveled

7:45 - 73F water, 6 inch waves

8:45 - John in

10:00 - John out, Maisey in, feed, water 73F 3 inch waves

10:30 - Jillian in

11:30 - Maisey & Jillian out, Shaun & Tyler in , water 70F

12:30pm - Shaun & Tyler out, Colleen & Melanie in , mirrored water, air 82F Water 77F

1:30pm - Alex in, Colleen & Melanie out

2:00 - Al in, water 79F

2:30 - large clouds forming to south, light sun showers, 19.2 distance to destination, 6 inch waves, light winds. Bill & Jen in, Al & Mel out

3:30 - Bill out

4:00 - John in, Jen out 4:15

5:00pm - John out, Shaun in, Rob visibly slowing

6:00pm - Shaun out, Mel in

6:30 - Colleen in, out of gel, Tyler to Oakville for more Gel & Joanne & Dylan pickup

7:00pm - Tyler back, 2 foot waves, water 72F, Mel out, John in

7:30 -Joanne in, Collen out

8:15 - Joanne out

8:30 - John out, Dylan in, 6 inch waves, low winds

9:30 - Dylan out, Rob slow & good spirits

10:00 - flat water, 69F

10:30 - light rain, low winds

11:00 Tyler leaves flotillia for shore preparations

11:30 Huge crowd at beach, can easily hear cheers

12:08:10 am Casio atomic12:08:11 am Garmin 12:08:46 am Timex quartz