Never judge anyone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes—or swam a mile in their lake.
The thought of taking to the waters of Rainy Lake under strictly human power may be daunting to some, but Heather Dutton met the challenge head on to win her second-straight overall title at the annual Canada Day Mile Swim at Pither’s Point, hosted by the Fort Frances Aquanuts and La Place Rendez-Vous.
Dutton, 16, stroked her way to a time of 28:23.46 in the second-annual event to post the fastest time of the 18 participants, along with winning the 13-19 age division.
Her sister Rachel, 13, came in just under 54 seconds later (with a clocking of 29:17.53) to take second in the age bracket. Coming in strong behind her for third place was Jessica Cousineau (29:31.45).
Jen Hawley was fourth (36:28.14), followed by Kenneth Kellar (43:24.27).
In the 20-and-over division, Keri Russell dove out to the lead and never looked back as she won easily in a time of 40:48.67.
Angela Petsnick was second (48:20.13) while the defending 20-and-over champ, Pam Hawley, took third (49:48.12).
Cindy McKinnon was fourth (56:09), followed by Tara MacEachern (57:40).
Native Australian Robert Smith, who was visiting MacEachern here from his home in London, Ont., had his struggles, but showed great determination to complete the course in sixth spot (1:04:56.06).
Mike Lessard put in a valiant effort, but could not complete the race due to severe leg cramps.
The 12-and-under category, which swam a half-mile route instead of the full mile, was captured by Nichole Lowey in a time of 15:01.31.
Nicole Fontana was second (15:39.01) while Jessica Lowey grabbed third place (16:17.01).
Donovan Cousineau came in fourth (16:35.80) while Rebecca Armit outsprinted the event’s youngest participant, eight-year-old Jillian Gustafson, to the finish line to place fifth (25:57).
Gustafson wound up in sixth in the age division with a clocking of 26:04.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
