The Island Swim is back – for the first time in five years – and Mother Nature did her very best Sunday morning to welcome back the fifty or so participants with open arms.

As swimmers ranging in ages from three (Everlee Rainer) to a trio of septuagenarians (Maureen Moustgaard, Joe Harrison, Amanda Hey) took to the Moonlight Beach waters, the early morning air temperature warmed to near twenty degrees Celsius, ideal conditions for all those in attendance.

And while the likes of James Bertrim and Nina Kucheran did the expected, finishing one-two in the 3km distance with times of 33:54.30 and 39:16.00 respectively – there were plenty of other far less familiar names in the local swimming scene who rose to the forefront at the fifth leg of the Sudbury Fitness Challenge.

(the Beaton Classic – August 11th and Turkey Gobbler – October 13th remain)

A veteran of both the Nickel City Aquatics and Sudbury Laurentian Swim Club, Lauren Buchowski was the first female out of the water in the 1km event, third overall, covering 1000 open water metres in 14:59.70.

Preparing to begin her Nursing studies at Laurentian this fall following her graduation from St Benedict Catholic Secondary School, Buchowski has gone without swim training this summer, her summer job with Camp Sudaca allowing for precious little in the way of pre-race preparation.

“There’s been no swimming for me, so that one hurt a little bit – but that’s okay,” noted the 18 year old (as of last week) who was partaking in her first ever open water race. “I swim the lakes with camps and such, but that’s about it.”

And almost none of that has happened since the start of May.

“In the second half of that race, I was ready to throw up,” Buchowski laughed. “But I am glad I did that well; it makes me feel a little bit better. With no swimming in a while, it was nice to know I’ve still got it a bit.”

Contemplating an involvement with Masters swimming as she begins her post-secondary education in the fall, the NOSSA 200m freestyle champion last winter suggested that there are elements of the lake race setting that she most definitely favoured.

“It’s much easier to fall into a pace (versus the pool), just because it’s one straight line with continuous movement,” said Buchowski. “Obviously the walls help in the pool, but I really enjoyed that.”

Even a mass start as opposed to the traditional lane swimming she is used to created only a minor early inconvenience. “Being different heights is a bit of an obstacle,” she stated with a smile. “Adan Lindfield is twice my size. I jump in and start swimming and I’m watching him walking by me.”

The end of the race also threw her a curveball – though this had more to do with the fact that maintaining mathematical sharpness in the midst of race chaos is not always the easiest thing to do.

“The last little chunk was the most painful but that’s because I didn’t realize there was still a next buoy there; I still had more to go.”

Mike Commito, for his part, is far more well-known in local sports circles for his series of “365” hockey books, his next undertaking (Habs 365) set for release around the middle of October. But long before that, Commito was a competitive swimmer (as was his sister Kyleigh), both with SLSC and then the Laurentian Voyageurs.

All of which apparently did little to ready the former athlete in his thirties for the thrill of a one km race that he would win, hitting the beach in 14:23.50.

“Open water was never really a huge part of my repertoire,” said Commito. “When I was still part of the club team or the university team, I would do the Island Swim at Nepahwin – but this is my first open water race since 2012. I’m getting back into it now because I am doing the Beaton Classic in a couple of weeks.”

And with the taskmaster that is Kris Cacciotti at the helm of their quartet (tongue in cheek), Commito knows that his current three times a week workouts at Nickel District Pool are an absolute must.

“I think my team is expecting me to be the Mike of old and I don’t think I can be that any more – but I want to make sure I don’t let them down.”

Looking for a sub-16 minute time or so, Commito surpassed his expectations, citing the “perfect conditions – no waves and the water was beautiful” as clearly helping his cause.

“I got in the water, got in a groove and felt pretty good – and just kept rolling with it,” he said.

“On the final leg in, I could see some of the guys coming up behind me and used that as motivation to just keep going.”

Much like Buchowski, Commito agreed that for as much as swimming is swimming, the pool and the lake are not interchangeable.

“The biggest thing, I think, is sight lines,” he stressed. “Having swam for so long, you can stay in a straight line relatively easy. But I did find on the way back, because of where the sun was at, it was difficult to see the buoys. They came into view as we came closer to shore.”

Closer to shore – and the beach – and the sand – and the glorious sunshine: a near perfect day to welcome back the Island Swim, all in all.

Following are some of the remaining top finishers at the 2024 Island Swim:

3 km distance – men
1st – James Bertrim – 33:54.30
2nd – Hudson Green – 42:50.00
3rd – Tony Staalstra – 44:10.00
4th – Buddy Green – 48:31.00
5th – Paul Matte – 52:05.00

3 km distance – women
1st – Nina Kucheran – 39:16.00
2nd – Christine Kovalchuk – 44:18.00
3rd – Lara Thompson – 48:40.00

1 km distance – men
1st – Mike Commito – 14:23.50
2nd – Blake Gough – 14:34.80
3rd – Adan Lindfield – 16:00.30
4th – Kaeden Ward – 18:01.90
5th – Corey Lacroix – 19:09.00

1 km distance – women
1st – Lauren Buchowski – 14:59.70
2nd – Jayda Hartley – 15:26.90
3rd – Carol Mourre – 18:58.10

kids race – overall
1st – Martin Eso – 0:44.40
2nd – Reagan Oliphant-McPhee – 0:50.80
3rd – Thomas Eso – 0:59.50
4th – Everlee Rainer – 1:13.60