SLO swimmer to take on Lake Tahoe

Posted: Jul 6, 2011 3:43 PM by Jeanette Trompeter
Updated: Jul 22, 2011 9:07 AM

Local man training to swim across Lake Tahoe

Only 18 people have done it. We're talking about swimming across Lake Tahoe. Length-wise. It's a 21.2 mile journey and a San Luis Obispo man aims to make that journey next month. Pretty impressive, right? Yeah, it gets even more so, the more you learn about what's in store.

A lot of people kid about going through a mid-life crisis. Well Dave Van Mouwerik says that's what he's doing as he trains to swim across Lake Tahoe, length-wise, without a wetsuit, in the middle of the night. If he succeeds, he'll be the 19th person to do it. "I Thought he'd be the oldest. I'm 53. But records show in 2003 a British guy who was 54 swam it. And I'm not going to wait two years!" Van Mouwerik chuckles.

He is training by logging miles in the pool at Kennedy Fitness in San Luis Obispo and in the ocean. He's swimming about the distance of Tahoe each week right now...21.2 miles, but will be increasing his mileage each week as the August 14th swim approaches. "To build confidence to say 'Yeah, I can get out there, and I can swim through fatigue.'" Van Mouwerik explains.

Van Mouwerik's fascination with marathon swimming started when he got involved with a club that promotes swims off Santa Barbara's Channel Islands. He served as an observer on some of their swims and got hooked. "You're in open ocean, water's cold. You encounter whatever you encounter, currents, jelly fish. whatever's out there." he explains. "So I ws very impressed with that, you know. At some point I thought, 'You know, if they can do it, why can't i do it?' So my first big swim was last year. I swam from Ana Capa to Oxnard."

That was 12.4 miles. It took him seven hours. Tahoe is a different beast. He plans to start around 3 in the morning to avoid afternoon winds and lighting storms. He's hoping to finish in about 13 hours. "About 5 years ago a guy standardized the route." says Van Mouwerik. "He found the longest line you could draw straight, and it's the one I'm going to do. Camp Richardson to uh, where the Hyatt dock or pier is in Incline Village."

His biggest concern is the effect the elevation will have on him. 62-hundred feet can feel a whole lot different than sea level. And since he's a traditionalist, he'll be going without a wetsuit. "In the environment of open water swimmers, they are trying to maintain the sense that you are pitting a human being against the environment. Come what may."

It's hard telling whether Van Mouwerik really is going through some sort of mid-life crisis, but if that's the case, he's sure making it look impressive. "You know it's far from the spectators eye, but there's heavy drama that goes on way out there." he says.

Van Mouwerik says he'll be inspired by watching the progress of a Diana Nyad in the coming days. She'll attempting to swim 103 miles from Cuba to Florida. We'll keep you posted on that swim and Dave's right here on KSBY.