Canaqua swim series comes to a close in Welland
Season wrapped up with Sunday swim
Even though temperatures plummeted this weekend, the Welland Canal was still comfortable enough for a competitive swim.
Part of the Canaqua Sports series, the third local event of the season was held on Sunday, bringing in competitors from all over Ontario.
There was a 15-kilometre portion, along with shorter-distance team swims in the canal, which had a reading of 22 degrees Celsius in the morning.
Katie Heckendorn, a nine-yearold from Orillia, Ont., said she only noticed the cold air when she completed a two-kilometre course and received congratulatory hugs from her family and coach.
“It was really warm,” said the young swimmer, who had a strategy of keeping a decent pace throughout most of the event until she knew she was on the homestretch.
“I was doing good and then when I saw the dock, I started to go fast,” she said at the International Flatwater Centre.
Martin Truchly from Toronto registered for the ultra-swim competition after a friend — who is much more experienced in the sport — talked him into it.
He wasn’t fazed after swimming 2.5 kilometres in the canal, a feat he had not accomplished until this weekend.
“I just did it. That’s it, no problem,” said the native of Slovakia. “I’m just swimming for the fun.”
Ian Feldman, lead organizer of the three-event series, said the cool temperatures may have been a reason only 40 swimmers came out to take on the canal.
“The weather played a bit of a part, I think,” he said.
The ultra-swim is the secondlongest contest of its kind, and the longest in the province.
“It’s the main fixture of our series,” said Feldman, who has been bringing the gathering of swimmers to Welland for the last two years.
He also said most competitors weren’t bothered by the cold air, as the heat experienced this summer had not yet left the waterway.
“I think there’s only one person wearing a wetsuit,” he said.
Canaqua Sports hosts 11 swims across Canada annually.