Jim Boucher provided the support for 63-year-old Ellery McGowan in the 26.4K 23rd International Self-Transcendence Marathon Swim in Lake Zurich, Switzerland last week. “She finished third in the over-40 non-wetsuit category with an epic swim in non-standard conditions for swimmers from 12 countries on four continents.”

“Far from the sunny day we have all come to expect, it was overcast, cold, windy and rainy with even a hailstorm about 3K from the finish.”

“Ellery was cold and miserable at the halfway point at Meilen, but tough aint the word. At the finish, she promptly tootled up the finish ramp to a great reception and nattered to the camera for interview,” recalled Jim.

Although it was calm the night before the race, the sun gave way to waves and torrential rain and hailstones.

“Lake Zurich is very well regulated for storms,” explained Jim. “They have two levels of alert indicated by the levels of flashing lights strategically arranged around the lake. Level One is a general alert. Level Two is ‘get out now’ and the lake police manage this quite tightly.”

“The athletes were briefed on the likely occurrence and the actions to be taken. The thunder seemed to work its way round Zurich and not right up and down the lake. The cloud that dispensed hail on an industrial scale wasn’t electric as it approached and passed over. We had about 20 minutes for the rain to appear, get heavier with hailstones coming down.”

But the hailstones did not seem to bother Julie Ann Galloway (shown above), an English Channel swimmer from Dublin, Ireland, who dominated the non-wetsuit division. The non-wetsuit division results follow, irrespective of age and gender:

1. Julie Ann Galloway (1986) USA, 6:35:41
2. Christiane Vendel (1985) Germany, 6:57:57
3. Sorcha Barry (1982) Ireland, 7:17:05
4. Andrew Keegan (1976) Australia, 7:36:18
5. Gabor Molnar (1981) Hungary, 7:43:27
6. Armin-Johannes Wunder (1967) Germany, 7:46:54
7. Lucinda Pollington (1986) Great Britain, 7:52:35
8. Christina Franke (1974) Germany, 7:56:58
9. Guy Moar (1967) Australia, 7:59:58
10. Giorgio Vanerio (1968) Italy, 8:01:13
11. Mark Bayliss (1977) Great Britain, 8:17:56
12. Abhejali Bernardova (1977) Czech Republic, 8:28:00
13. James McGuire (1974) USA, 8:32:45
14. Deirdre Ward (1979) Ireland, 8:33:57
15. Anton Floh (1970) Austria, 8:34:20
16. Steffan Sarkin (1960) USA, 8:35:30
17. Victoria Thorpe (1985) Great Britain, 8:45:46
18. Leanne Harling (1982) Great Britain, 9:03:40
19. Kate Mason (1959) Great Britain, 9:27:06
22. Tim Denyer (1978) British, 9:47:52
23. Vasanti Niemz (1956) Germany, 9:48:08
24. Steve Payne (1959) Australia, 9:51:22
25. Neil Drinkwater (1963) Great Britain, 9:59:51
26. Karen McEvoy (1979) Ireland, 11:32:52
27 Ellery Mc Gowan (1946) Australia, 11:35:10

Photo shows Julie Ann Galloway after her 9:51 English Channel crossing in 2009.

Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones