Women with paddle power!

When I was training for a marathon swim, several people paddled for me so I could stretch out into the open water of the lake, practice passing food back and forth, and let us get to know each other.

Marsha LaPoint was the first paddler to set off on a multi-mile swim with me, later admitting she had never been out in the middle of the lake. She was amazing. She quickly adapted to staying in line with me so I could see her easily while I swam, she handed me food and water periodically and guided me to a sheltered area when a storm blew by. We were out for over 4 hours and covered about 7 miles. Marsha was calm, cool, and collected, even when the waves picked up her kayak and boosted her ahead of me a few times. I knew I wanted her to paddle while I swam again.

Marsha was part of my kayak rotation on my 32-mile marathon swim, joining the adventure early in the morning (I had started at 9 pm the previous night) and stayed with the team until I finished at 1 am. Wow. Marsha is action-packed! A retired art teacher, Marsha always has style on the water. I can’t wait for spring, and hope she will come on more adventures!