Cd'A Canoe and Kayak Club to monitor swim race
<p>Martha McCain, top, paddles the Spokane River with her husband, Dwight McCain, during Thursday Night Paddle. Thursday Night Paddle is a weekly event during the summer months for kayakers and canoe enthusiasts to paddle local rivers and lakes. The Coeur d’Alene Canoe and Kayak Club will be in charge of gathering and organizing safety boaters for the Coeur d’Alene Crossing this year.</p>
<p>Dwight McCain, right, President of the Coeur d'Alene Canoe and Kayak Club helps Dore Griffith put in to the Spokane River Thursday evening. The club gets together every Thursday at 6 p.m. to paddle local rivers and lakes during the summer months.</p>
<p>JerrySue Limandri paddles her way up the Spokane River to Lake Coeur d’Alene with other Coeur d’Alene Canoe and Kayak Club members during the group’s Thursday Night Paddle.</p>
The Coeur d’Alene Crossing has gone off without a hitch for the past four years. No swimmer has ever needed rescuing and everyone who entered the race has finished it. This year should be no different.
When the event takes place Sunday on Lake Coeur d’Alene, the Coeur d’Alene Canoe and Kayak Club will, for the first time, be in charge of gathering and organizing safety boaters, the first line of rescue for swimmers.
Members of the club have individually volunteered as safety boaters for other events, like Ironman and the Long Bridge Swim in Sandpoint, but this is the first time the club as a whole is supporting an event.
Dwight McCain, president of the club, has been volunteering at swim races for more than five years.
“Swimming is hard, and I think it’s the most challenging part of a triathlon,” he said. “When they’re just getting started, well, they’re anxious and nervous. They know how to swim but sometimes with anxiety there are all kinds of problems that come up. We want to be there when those problems arise.”
Safety boaters are the eyes on the water, ready to raise the alarm if they see someone in need. More often than not, though, the boaters keep swimmers on course.
McCain said it’s easier than one might think to spot trouble in a group of hundreds of swimmers.
Swimmers have a regular stroke, he said, so if there’s a break in that stroke, irregular strokes or stopping altogether, it can be an indication of something going wrong. He also said swimmers get into danger when fatigued. If someone is too tired and swimming on their backs, usually there’s a kayak trailing that person.
“We don’t really rescue people,” he added. “We just point out that they need rescuing. Our job is to be the eyes. We’re there if people need to pull out and barf or do whatever they need to do.”
Safety boaters alert people on Jet Ski-type watercraft of an emergency. The Jet Ski operators then get the person in need either to shore or to a rescue boat where paramedics will be stationed, whichever is closest.
There will be 26 safety kayakers and two safety stand-up paddle boards at the Coeur d’Alene Crossing this year. Though it is enough to keep the swimmers safe, more volunteers are always welcome.
If anyone is interested in volunteering, email Hari Heath, the volunteer coordinator, at cdasafetypaddlers@gmal.com.
There will also be six of the Jet Ski-type watercrafts in the water Sunday and a few rescue and sheriff's boats. Four Post Guard Auxiliary boats will guard the race course, preventing other boats from crossing where the swimmers go.
This year, the Coeur d’Alene Crossing is offering two distances: 1.2 miles and 2.4 miles. Of 285 people who signed up for the race, most are registered for the longer swim. Only 46 are registered for the 1.2-mile swim.
“It’s been mostly people whose training didn’t go as planned and they call and want to switch to the 1.2,” said one of the race coordinators, Steve Rozier. “I think as word gets out, we’ll get more people signing up for the shorter race next year.”
The youngest and oldest competitors this year are 9 and 85 years old, both competing in the 2.4 mile swim.
Every year, the Coeur d’Alene Crossing is made possible by 125 volunteers. All proceeds raised through entry fees will go to three local groups: the Coeur d’Alene Area Swim Team, the Union Gospel Mission Inland Northwest and the North Idaho College Booster Club. By the end of this year’s race, Coeur d’Alene Crossing is expected to have raised $100,000 for these organizations.
The race starts at 8 a.m. Swimmers must register by 6:45 a.m. and by 7 a.m. they must board a boat so they can be transported to Arrow Point. They will then swim across Lake Coeur d’Alene to the Hagadone Event Center.
Be aware of buoys, swimmers in Lake Cd’A
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office is reminding boaters to use caution on the water this weekend, especially during Sunday’s Coeur d’Alene Crossing swim event.
The swim begins at 8 a.m. with a 2.4-mile course that starts at Arrow Point and ends at the Hagadone Event Center.
Swim organizers will be placing lighted buoys into the lake Saturday in preparation for the Sunday morning event, and they will be there overnight.
The sheriff’s office is urging boaters to keep a proper lookout and remember the nighttime speed limit on the lake is 20 mph.
The buoys will be removed by 11 a.m. Sunday.