You and the 60-degree water and a few jellyfish

Imagine yourself presented with the challenge of swimming the English Channel: twenty-two miles in frigid, 60-degree water with jelly fish lurking under the surface and the potential for a little raw sewage to cross your path. If one were to attempt the feat, they could end up swimming close to 30 miles depending on current and weather. Furthermore, there are rules. For the swim to be certified, no thermal protection is allowed. Your suit must be sleeveless and legless and made only of regular swimsuit material. No artificial aids can be used, but don’t worry—you are allowed to grease your body before the swim. Training typically takes six months and you must be approved before entering the water. An official calls the weather 10 hours before your race, and if approved, it’s just you and the water. Oh, and the jellyfish.

Believe it or not, to a local group of eight 12-16 year olds, this challenge sounds appealing. This group of swimmers includes two CARAG girls, 16-year-old Sif and 14-year-old Keelin Nave, sisters who have been swimming since they were eight and six. The Nave sisters, along with their teammates and coach Dave Cameron, have partnered with the YWCA and are planning on swimming the Channel in late July to raise awareness for health and swimming disparities in Minnesota. If the challenge is completed, the Otters Channel Relay Team and the Masters Channel Relay Team will be the first Minnesotans to swim the Channel. The nitty-gritty details of the event, while not hard to understand, are nothing short of amazing once you let them sink in.

Enter Coach Cameron, who swam the Channel for the first time in 2002 and is now going back to not only coach the two teams, but to swim a double crossing; a challenge that has only been completed by 17 other people worldwide. According to Ellen Cleary, development specialist at the YWCA and a member of the Masters Relay Team, Cameron wanted to share his experience in the Channel crossing by opening it up to youth and adults in the prospect of forming relay teams. Additionally, he remembered that people were genuinely interested in his progress during his first Channel crossing and he wanted to take that interest and focus it on a worthy cause. Thus, a perfect partnership: raise money and awareness for inequalities in Minnesota and offer 14 people the chance of a lifetime.

The disparities Cameron speaks of surround the rate at which people of color are learning to swim. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, over the past five years, people of color have been twice as likely to drown as white people in Hennepin County. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that children of color across the nation are 2.6 times more likely to drown than their white counterparts. The YWCA believes it can break this cycle by increasing access to swimming instruction opportunities for communities of color. While the kids have a few corporate sponsorships to help with travel costs, the entire $60,000 raised for the Channel crossing will go towards helping the YWCA provide swimming opportunities for underrepresented children and youth. The youth team has committed to raising $20,000 of that total amount by selling t-shirts and Blue Sky books, and holding school-based fundraisers. The girls have already begun their fundraising efforts, but they still have a long way until reaching their goal. Despite the hard work, the girls know it’s worth it. “The cause is that important and it’s a commitment we’ve made,” says Sif.

There were eight youth spots available for the Otter Channel Relay Team, and tryouts were open to nearly 140 swimmers on the Otters. To try out you had to be at least 12, swim 3,600-4,000 meters non stop, write an essay about why you wanted to become a part of the team, perform research on the English Channel and its history, and have a panel interview with Cameron, a member of the YWCA Board of Directors and the HR Manager. But, that’s not all. The most rigorous part of the tryout required individuals to complete the cold swim, which lasted between 30-60 minutes, and took place in a 60-degree pool.

To achieve the cold temperature, which is similar to that of the English Channel, the Uptown YWCA had to drain three-quarters of the pool on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and fill it with city water. Normally the pools at local Y’s are heated to 80 degrees, a temperature many find a little chilly when they first jump in. When presented with the cold pool challenge, some kids got out after 15 minutes. “The point was to see how the kids reacted to the water, if they could listen to their bodies and adjust to the temperature,” Cleary said. Out of the 140 kids on the Otters, 13 tried out.

Say just the word “swim” to me and I laugh—I’m really more of a doggy-paddler—so I sat down with the Nave sisters and their wonderful mother, Cindy to talk about the challenge and to find out why anyone on Earth would want to swim in 60 degree water. I’m not quite sure what I expected to hear, maybe desires for fame and glory, the chance to be included in the record books before they even got their drivers’ licenses, who knows. Instead I found myself sitting across the table from two of the most passionate, driven girls I have ever met. So whip smart, in fact, that I’m considering firing H&R Block and having the Nave sisters do my taxes next year.

“The funny thing is, in their early swimming lessons, they were having problems with the distance component,” remarked Cindy. “Now they are beyond all levels.”

The girls compete on the swim team at Southwest High School during the year and swim for the Otters in their off season. On the day of the interview, the girls had just finished a T-90. Ninety minutes in a pool and you can’t stop swimming. Channel teammate Hallee Surber comes out of the locker room after her swim exclaiming, “Dude, I feel like I’m gonna puke!” Instant chatter begins regarding flip turns and current and whatnot—I’m just trying to keep up. Sif just responds with a cheerful, “Go home and treat yourself like a queen.”

The trip is set for the week of July 23. Once on the water, the girls will be a part of a regular rotation, each member of the team swimming an hour and then resting for seven as the rotation pushes on through. Keelin explained that they would be swimming freestyle in order to keep the warmth in their upper body. If everything goes according to plan, the team will complete the challenge in 14-16 hours. “It would be ideal if everyone could swim three miles in an hour,” said Cindy.

I tried to probe the girls to see if they would crack, but to no avail. There is no way these two girls are quitting the race or the swim, and nothing short of a hurricane is going to keep them out of the water. They honestly care about the cause too much. “Quitting ruins the race,” said Keelin. “You have to think about all the people you would let down and you have to do it.”

After conquering the English Channel this summer, who knows what’s next for the Nave sisters. Keelin could be an Olympic contender one day; Sif could be swimming the channel solo, both breaking records. “This is definitely something I’m putting on my college application,” laughed Sif.

To support the Otters swim team in their fundraising efforts, contact Ellen Cleary at the YWCA at 612.215.4164. Donations may be made in the Nave name.

Jacqueline Varriano is an ECCO resident who just may be inspired to strap on the water wings this summer.