Four of our noble and brave aquatic warriors in the form of Kathy “Energizer” Pelham, Tammy Koppelberger, Jenny Ferries, and Ben Hohmann powered through the choppy waters of Lake Washington on Saturday, July 14th at the ever glorious Fat Salmon extravaganza, hosted again by our very wonderful friends at Orca Swim Team, spearheaded by Paul Verner and Bill Bascus, and supported by a seeming army of eager volunteers!
It was another exhilarating and pristine morning in the Pacific Northwest with the lofty white spires of Mt. Rainier rising skyward in the south and the serene and majestic outline of the Cascades dominating beyond the shimmering water in the east.
In other words, it was a morning made for Fat Salmon as they usually seem to be!
And now for the roll call of honors for our dauntless TWIM Champions who competed there:
Kathy “Energizer” Pelham turned in another spectacular performance as she swam sans wetsuit and captured 1st place in her Age Group in the wetsuitless division with a time of 1:28:34!
Donning a wetsuit, Tammy RK was breathing down her back, as usual, and came just 19 seconds later with a killer time of 1:28:53!
Watching these two gifted distance swimmers push each other in every race, be it in the lake or pool, is always an awe-inspiring experience and has become a TWIM tradition!
Jenny Ferries gave us yet another championship swim and took 1st place in her Age Group with a power-swim time of 1:32:48! Of course she refused to wear a wetsuit!
Not far behind these talented ladies was young Mr. Ben Hohmann, who, also shunning a wetsuit, put all his chips on the table with an outstanding time of 1:33:18! Way to Go, Brother Hohmann!
Two of our Lifetime Honorary Members also swam with us that day.
Our dear friend, the irrepressible Shannon McIntyre, sporting a wetsuit, was the 1st female out of the water with a time of 1:17:41! What planet did you say you are from, Shannon?
The Legendary Zena Courtney, she of recent Gibraltar fame, captured 1st in her Age Group with a time of 1:26:36! She too eschewed a wetsuit. In case you didn’t know, Zena usually ends up finishing 1st in everything she does!
Two other wonderful Friends of TWIM joined us as well.
Kainoa Pauole-Roth offered up a sizzling time of 1:19:29 to win 3rd place overall in the women’s wetsuit division!
And last but in no way least our good friend and amazing triathlete, Rebecca Adamson, had a very strong swim posting a time of 1:41:01 in the wetsuit division!
There were numerous accounts from our swimmers of swallowing large quantities of Lake Washington along the way because of the unusually rough water at the start, but at last check, the Lake is still there!
Yes, on another truly stellar day with perfect weather, the TWIM juggernaut powered its way to Victory reveling afterwards in the company of friends.
Thanks again to ORCA for another exceptional Fat Salmon!
Hail TWIM Long Live!
COB
(Photos by Carl Haynie and Tom Walker)
