One of the oldest traditions at Camp Champions is the Lake Swim.

The Lake Swim is an optional swim challenge for our oldest campers, the Aquanauts on the boys’ side and the Maxis on the girls’ side. These are primarily the campers who just finished 7th and 8th grade.

We wake up early (to a beautiful sunrise this morning) and then swim across the lake and back, a distance of 750 meters or almost half a mile.

Along the entire route, we line the lake with counselors in kayaks, waverunners and boats. These escorts are there for safety and encouragement. If a camper needs to rest, s/he can grab a kayak for a few moments.

Some campers are uncertain swimmers, so they might opt to swim in a life jacket. A few campers opt to pass on this challenge altogether, but we encourage anyone who is healthy to give it a try. Every summer, we will have some campers who are absolutely certain that the lake is too wide for them. For these campers, the swim begins with trepidation and ends with triumph.

In addition to the watching eyes in the boat, the Division Leader joins the swimmers for their journey. This morning, we had the boys, so they swam with Ben Savrick. Ben Sir decided to celebrate the conclusion with a powder smoke cannon.

The campers will rest well tonight. They will be tired, but they will also know they are more capable than when they woke this morning!

Steve Sir

PS The girls will swim tomorrow morning.