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Last weekend, 16-year-old Pentictonite Issie Grecoff swam 11.8 kilometres -- the distance from Skaha Lake Beach to Okanagan Falls -- in the 2022 Skaha Lake Ultra Swim.
She managed to do the deed in three hours and six minutes -- good enough for a highly respectable eighth-place finish amongst 77 competitors.
But that was just the warm-up. This Sunday, Grecoff hits the lake again. Except this time, it'll be Okanagan Lake. And this time, she'll attempt a length nearly triple that of last weekend -- a dazzling 32 kilometres.
From Peachland to Penticton, by water. Stroke after stroke after stroke.
Grecoff isn’t doing it merely to prove she can. She's doing it for her grandma, her grandma's mom before that, her great grandma's mom before that, and anyone else who's suffered with the late-life neurological affliction known as Alzheimer's.
And she'd love it if her effort will compel people to donate to the cause.
"My grandma (Penticton resident Joan Wickett) had Alzheimer's for about ten years and passed away this past March," she said.
"For most of my conscious life, she had Alzheimer's. I used to visit from Montreal (before Grecoff and her family moved to Penticton last year) and I wasn’t even able to talk to her that much. In the last two years, she couldn't even walk."
But that isn’t all. According to Grecoff, the disease runs in her family, on both sides. So she decided to use her obvious talents to help make a difference.
"I wanted to raise money, raise awareness for it, maybe even help find a cure some day," she said. "Donations have been open for three weeks now and we're around $7,000 so far. We'll keep it open afterward too for people who want to donate after they know I finished it."
And there's a pretty good chance of that. Grecoff, it seems, is built for long-distance swims.
Her first open-water effort came at the age of ten. It was 1.6 kilometres. A year later, she swam from Peachland to Rattlesnake Island. At 12, she did the seven-kilometer Rattlesnake return trip, and at 13 she became the youngest Ultra Swim entrant ever.
Then in 2020, she completed a swim of her own in her home province of Quebec. It was 24 long kilometers.
"Doing these swims are a little bit for me too," she said. "I want to push myself to go as long as I can."
To that end, Grecoff plans to follow this Sunday's Peachland-to-Penticton route with a Kelowna-to-Penticton monster next year. That would be an astonishing 50 kilometres, give or take.
"After that I'd like to build up to eventually do the whole lake" she said, "which is, like, 105 kilometers, I think."
We asked Grecoff what she experiences out there when she's into a fourth or fifth straight hour of swimming. Does she have visions? Is it a wee bit freaky?
Turns out it's rather pedestrian.
"I'm thinking of everything. Like decorating or reorganizing my room," she laughed. "I listen to music while swimming too, which helps a lot."
As for conquering those distances, Grecoff said it's not a big issue.
"I feel like once I get into a rhythm, I can keep going forever," she said. "And I like swimming. I've been in the water my whole life."
This isn’t the first time she's raised money for Alzheimer's research through swimming. WIth her team, she raised four grand in that first Ultra Swim in 2019.
But right now it's all about this Sunday, a swim that's expected to take approximately 12 hours to complete and will end on the Penticton waterfront near the Peach in the mid to late afternoon.
Accompanying her on her journey -- not only for safety but to carry the food, drinks, and nutrients she’ll need along the way -- will be a small flotilla of watercraft, including a pontoon boat graciously donated by boat rental outfit Float Okanagan, two paddleboards and one kayak.
"I want to finish, no matter what," she said. "No matter how much pain I'm in, I'm going to finish it."
To donate to the cause or learn more about the swim, dubbed "Swim 4 Alzheimer's," go to the official event website here.
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