With this year’s 5-mile Lake Willoughby Swim in the books and the 2013 Northeast Kingdom Open Water Swimming Association’s season coming to a close with the end of the Swim The Kingdom Week, Paula Yankauskas of Hyde Park, Vermont was selected as the 2013 NEKOWSA Open Water Swimmer of the Year.

With 40 open water swimmers from California, Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Quebec, and Vermont participating in the Swim The Kingdom Week, Yankauskas stood out for her commitment and resilience.

With swims of various distances in Crystal Lake, Island Pond, Lake Seymour, Lac Massawippi, Lake Memphremagog, Lake Willoughby, and Caspian Lake in Vermont, Yankauskas competed in races on all 7 days of competition, logging 31 miles for the week. She raced 47 miles total over all of the NEKOWSA swims this summer if the WOWSA World 10-mile Championships and the 6-mile Son of a Swim are included.

“Her achievement earned her NEKOWSA’s Open Water Swimmer of the Year,” proclaimed event director Phil White.

White was more than proud of Yankauskas and pleased with this summer’s event. “Our open water swimming community gives a special thanks to our underwriting sponsors Jay Peak Resort and North Country Hospital and our many other sponsors for making these swims possible and to the robust and welcoming local support we received on each of the lakes we swam and the hearty band of volunteer yackers and other volunteers. Swim The Kingdom Week couldn’t happen without them. Thanks also to the Vermont State Police, The Westmore Fire and Emergency Rescue, and the Ayer’s Cliff Fire Department for their coverage out on the lakes.”

Photos courtesy of Phil White.

Copyright © 2013 by Open Water Swimming