Baby on board for triathlon

COEUR d'ALENE - When the swimmer for Jennie Gartner's relay team for today's Coeur d'Alene triathlon came up injured, a replacement was needed.

So Melanie Patterson raised her hand.

"I'll swim for you," she told her friend.

Gartner, surprised, wasn't sure what to say.

"I thought she was kidding," Gartner said.

Most people would.

Patterson is 38 weeks pregnant. She is due to deliver her fourth baby on Aug. 21 - just a week after the race that calls for her to swim almost a mile.

But the Hayden woman has no fears of diving into Lake Coeur d'Alene this morning at 7:20. No worries. The baby won't be delivered somewhere around the first buoy. No underwater birth will be necessary. There won't be a medical boat following her around the course with a net.

"I've always been overdue and I've had nothing going on," the 38-year-old said. "I might as well go out and enjoy it."

Patterson, who completed the full triathlon last year, has been training six days a week during her pregnancy. She swims, bikes and power walks.

"My doctor said I can swim clear up until I deliver," she said Friday morning as she prepared to go for a mile swim from Sanders Beach under the guidance of coach Shawn Burke.

Friend Steve Fraser stopped by to offer some encouraging words to Patterson as she slipped on her wetsuit.

"Very beautiful," he said.

Burke said as Patterson's pregnancy progressed, he modified her program so she was exercising consistently, but not intensely.

He's been impressed with her conditioning. For someone who's ready to give birth, Patterson should still be swift in the water.

"She's going to do just fine," Burke said.

Patterson works at Kootenai Medical Center as a medical laboratory technologist. She said there are a few keys to working, training, raising three kids and being a wife to husband J.T. Patterson, who completed Ironman Coeur d'Alene in June and will be racing in today's triathlon.

"I get up really early in the morning and my husband is hugely supportive," she said, smiling. "He trains and then I train."

Patterson said when Gartner, who is her children's physical therapist, mentioned she needed a swimmer, she quickly volunteered.

"I said, 'I've been swimming regularly, I'd love to do it.' She was like, 'Are you serious?'"

Patterson was.

Gartner is glad to have her on the team. She said women can have children and remain competitive.

"I was mountain bike racing when I was pregnant," Gartner said.

Patterson believes while she won't be fast in the swim, she'll be steady.

"My speed obviously was affected because I've put on some weight," she said, laughing.

Still, there might be an award waiting at the finish line.

"I guess I'll be first in my condition group," Patterson said.