Dazed and enthuzed
After a one-mile swim, the 70-plus eager Water Daze swimmers stick around to clean up 31 pounds of trash along the shoreline
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Saturday’s weather was perfect for a swim, and more than 70 people figured it was a good day for a mile-long swim across Polson Bay. At the eighth annual Water Daze event, dozens of swimmers donned wetsuits and neon caps for a swim from Salish Point to Boettcher Park, where they were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd and a barbecue.
The lead male swimmer was Matt Seeley with a time of 23:43, and top female swimmer was Carrie Strike at 25:40.
Swimmers came from all over western Montana, and some from as far away as New Mexico, Washington and Wyoming, Mission Valley Aquatics board member Tana Seeley said. But at least a third of participants were from the Flathead Lake area.
“I really thought there were a lot more local people that swam (this year),” Seeley said.
Swimmers took off from Salish Point’s new dock at 1 p.m., flanked by watchful volunteers in kayaks, canoes and motorboats. Less than a half hour’s brisk swim later, the first finishers climbed out of the water at Boettcher Park. Winners in each age group were awarded engraved glass vases filled with Flathead Cherries, Seeley noted.
Younger swimmers also had a chance to splash around in a kids’ swim after the adult race. An orange buoy was moved closer to shore, giving the older kids about a 100-yard swim out to the marker and back.
“(The kids’ swim) is just to get them out there and make them feel like they’re part of the event,” Seeley said.
Mission Valley Aquatics organizes Water Daze each year as a way to raise public awareness of the importance of swimming and the need for a local indoor aquatic facility, something MVA has been fundraising for over the past few years. According to Seeley, the nonprofit group has raised $2.8 million so far toward a state-of-the-art aquatic center to be built in Polson.
“Our dream facility is $7.4 million,” she said.
Following the swimming events and barbecue in the park, about 30 volunteers joined Flathead Lakers education and outreach coordinator Christi Buffington in a beach cleanup organized as part of the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup. Working in three teams of 10, volunteers picked up 31.3 pounds of trash from the shoreline, beach and playground at Boettcher Park. The bulk of the garbage was made up of cigarette butts, plastic and other small pieces of trash, Buffington said.
“Really, the 31 pounds is just teeny tiny things that all add up,” she said.
The cleanup is a good way to show people that nonpoint source pollution — pollution without a determinable point of entry into water systems — is something everyone can help prevent, Buffington added. Cigarette butts and other trash are not only physical blemishes on naturally beautiful areas, but they also put harmful chemicals into the water.
“We can all do something about (nonpoint source pollution) by preventing it in the first place,” Buffington said.
