Severe chafing may have stalled Nick Pelletier鈥檚 attempt to swim the entire length of Okanagan Lake, but there was no stalling the funds that came in for the cause he was swimming for.
The 麻豆精选 endurance athlete took to the waters in Vernon early Friday morning with his sights set on the beach in Penticton, 106 kilometres away. The only other athlete to complete the swim 鈥� Adam Ellenstein in 2016 鈥� finished in just under 41 hours, setting an official Guinness World Record.
Along with chasing Ellenstein鈥檚 time, Pelletier was swimming in support of BrainTrust Canada鈥檚 Youth Concussion Clinic, a cause dear to him after a series of concussions forced his early retirement from college basketball.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a pretty scary and uncertain thing to go through when you are on your own,鈥� he said.
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Around eight hours into the swim, Pelletier began to experience chafing 鈥� a common swimmer鈥檚 affliction made worse by the fact he was tackling greater distances in a wet suit than ever before.
By the 14-hour mark, the pain had become excruciating.
鈥淚t got to the point where we were going through tubs of Vaseline to try and combat it,鈥� Pelletier explained. 鈥淯nfortunately, I had to call it just over 50 kilometres in.鈥�
While ending the swim was 鈥済ut-wrenching,鈥� Pelletier says he鈥檚 grateful for the above-and-beyond support from his team.
鈥淚 had an unbelievable support crew, and I couldn鈥檛 have asked for more supporting people to help me get through what I was going through.鈥�
And having nearly doubled his $5,000 fundraising goal, he鈥檚 also grateful for the support raised for BrainTrust鈥檚 youth recovery program, which helps people aged five to 25 heal safely from a concussion or other traumatic brain injury.
It鈥檚 not he first time Pelletier has taken on an extreme athletic challenge for the sake of others. Last year he spent 50 days cycling 5,755 kilometres from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Calif., to his family鈥檚 home in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. The result was more than US$11,500 for Pencils of Promises 鈥� an organization that builds schools and provides education resources internationally.
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