NORWAY — A new record of 13 swimmers participated in The 5th Annual Enid Dullea Length of the Lake Swim on Sunday, August 16. The swim honors Enid Dullea, who grew up on Lake Pennesseewassee and swam the length of the lake regularly while training for the 1936 Olympics.

The Swim is a fun, non-competitive three mile event to raise funds for the Lakes Association of Norway (LOAN), the only local group dedicated to preserving the health and beauty of the area’s lakes. All funds raised strengthen LOAN’s efforts to address serious threats that could potentially restrict swimming and boating. These threats include invasive plants brought in by nonlocal boaters and algae blooms caused by harmful runoff from eroded sites on the lake’s watershed. The successful event raised more money than previous years.

This year, starts were staggered to maintain social distancing.The first swimmer, Jeff Holmes, reached the Pennesseewassee Park beach in approximately one hour and 15 minutes. The temperature at the start was mild with no wind which made the swim a bit easier. Other valiant swimmers were Tish Carr, Amy Chiuchiolo, Hadley Couraud, Lee Dassler, Alice Goodwin, Kathleen Kramer, teenagers Cadence and Allie Roberts (our first team entry) and their father, Mark Roberts, Guy Pollino, Danika Whitehouse, and William Young.

Kayakers included Linda McSherry, the daughter of Enid Dullea and her husband Richard McSherry, Eliza Beghe, Ed Chiuchiolo, Brendan Colter, Megan Pollino, Lisa Roberts, Brian Roth, John Snell, and Hilary Ware. Safety boat supporters were Jerry Ellingwood, Barbara and Bill Howard, George Morton, and Jim O’Brien. This year’s Safety Agent was Dr. Don Ware.

A first time participant last year recruited several members from his Kennebunk Swim Club to come to Norway for this year’s Swim. Eight swimmers were first time participants. Many lake residents were on their docks cheering. Everyone enjoyed this celebratory event, not only in the water but also the after swim refreshments and camaraderie.

The Swim’s co-coordinators, Susan Jacoby and Hilary Ware, anticipate that the 6th Annual Swim will be an even bigger event. They are encouraging people to think about swimming next year and suggest that if it seems too ambitious, to consider doing it as a relay team with a partner. The Length of the Lake swim is always on the 3rd Sunday of August, so August 15, 2021.

The website for the Lakes Association, www.norwaylakes.org, describes the organization’s projects and highlights what individuals can do on their own land to support their work.

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