Today I had my safest swim yet. In addition to Adult Swim, the club is offering a long-distance swim each Wednesday morning; a couple of staff/lifeguards will kayak alongside a group of swimmers to various destinations around the lake.

This morning I was the only swimmer to show up and so I had two lifeguards (one of whom happened to be Hazel and the other Isabelle’s son, Zach) escorting me along as I swam to Hope’s Island and back.

It’s not a very long swim (my watch calculated 1,000 yards) and I kind of wanted to go further, but it already felt excessive to have two lifeguards kayaking beside me and I didn’t want to suggest we keep going.

While it may have been a bit of a safety overkill, it was also nice. With my trusty escorts, I didn’t worry about boats or straying off course, I just stuck my head down and swam happily along. The water in the lake is pretty clear and I watched fish dart in and out of decomposing branches, watched the underwater plantlife wave peacefully in the currents, and dodged the moss-covered rocks when they jutted up from the lake bottom.