The 70th celebrations are ramping up for the Interior Savings Across the Lake Swim Kelowna on July 14, 2018.
And those hearty souls who will also be celebrating a 70th birthday this year, can join the swim for free.
“First off, we are offering free registration for all swimmers born in 1949, the first year of the Across the Lake Swim,” said Peter Rudd, race director. “We have swimmers of all ages enter the event and this year we’d like to celebrate with a few more 70-year-olds.”
Last year’s event had close to 1,200 swimmers, half of which were first-timers. This year the swim organizers hope to welcome back even more swimmers from years past, expecting 1,500 swimmers. “Most view the swim as a bucket list item. Many others keep filling that bucket and we want to celebrate that,” Rudd added.
“For the first year ever, we’re adding a silver and gold club status for people who have entered the swim for 10 and 20-plus years,” said Rudd. “This includes some extra benefits as well as distinctive silver and gold swim caps. We want to highlight their commitment to the swim and to helping us raise funds for the YMCA Okanagan Swims program, which provides basic water safety instruction to all Grade 3 and grade 4 students in School District 23.
“This 70th year is going to be special and we hope our community continues to support us by registering for the swim, coming out to cheer, and sharing our event with Kelowna friends and visitors. As Canada’s largest and longest running open water swim, there’s really nothing else like it,” he said.
The Early Bird deadline is today, Feb. 28. To register go to acrossthelakeswim.com and to obtain a free registration, send proof of birth date in 1949 to registrar@acrossthelakeswim.com.
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