The Razor's Edge

Tristan Whiting was nervous at the start, even though he has swam across Lake Coeur d’Alene several times before.

He wanted to swim the 2.4 mile race in less than 50 minutes. He had been training with the Coeur d’Alene Area Swim Team all summer, and distance was his favorite.

“He loves the distance work,” said Bob Wood, one of his coaches. “The longer the better. I think he would like it better if this were a 5-mile race.”

Coming off a big meet in California, the 16-year-old was ready to make waves at home.

The whistle blew for the start of the race and he dove in, rounding the docks at Arrow Point and heading for the open water — More than 200 people followed him.

From the start, Whiting was one of the few people leading the pack, quickly stretching that pack thin and leaving everyone behind.

Here comes the razor’s edge, Here comes the razor’s edge, The razor’s edge. Razor’s edge to raise the dead, Razor’s edge to cut to shreds, To raise the dead. Here comes the razor’s edge, Here comes the razor’s edge...

The AC/DC song played on repeat in Whiting’s head as he cut through the water, every stroke bringing him closer to the finish line.

By the halfway point, Whiting was barely trailing another swimmer, but they were both far ahead of everyone else.

“We’ve got two Katie Ledeckys over there,” said a man on a rescue boat, referring to the U.S. female olympian referred to as one of the greatest athletes ever, famous for beating her opponents by huge margins.

As the two swimmers came around the corner to the final 200 meters of the race, they were neck and neck.

“The hardest part was at the very end, trying to sprint out,” Whiting said.

And sprint he did, past his competitor, flying by the spectators on the docks and onto shore.

Whiting won the 2016 Coeur d’Alene Crossing with a time of 50:55 — barely missing his goal of sub-50 minutes, but the fastest time nonetheless.

“Last year he was fifth out of the water,” said Whiting’s mom, Samantha. “It was great to see him finish first this year.”

As more people finished, teammates found each other and congratulated each other on their swims. People sought out their parents, spouses and children who had cheered them. A lot of people had a hard time walking when they got out of the water, exhausted and not quite used to land anymore.

Whiting’s sister, Abbey, only 13-years-old and also on the CAST swim team, finished as the fifth female swimmer, 16th overall, with a time of 57:46.

“We have some very talented people for distance,” coach Wood said. “It’s time to start thinking about the Open Water National Championships [an Olympic qualifying race]”.

The top female finisher was 18-year-old Sakaiya McCoy of Spokane with a time of 54:45.