Swimmer makes history crossing Flathead Lake

As the sun rose over Flathead Lake Saturday morning, a Kalispell woman dove into the chilly water with a goal to do what no one ever had.

Emily von Jentzen was to swim the full length of the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River — and then swim back.

The feat had never been accomplished in recorded history, but after years of setting records, she was the woman to change that.

Von Jentzen discovered her love for swimming at 9 years old when her height dissuaded her from her dreams of being a gymnast. She said she was directed by family to swimming and took to it instantly. She found that she was built for the sport, swimming on club teams throughout her childhood.

Though she said she was never the fasted kid on the team, she had an ability that most others her age did not. Her love for the sport and desire to push herself translated into a knack for the endurance required for long-distance swims.

After graduating from law school, von Jentzen said she was in the awkward stage every young adult goes through while searching for a job. She said she was in an office supply store in Missoula when she walked past a flier asking for help for a toddler with an acute form of childhood cancer.

The child’s family had posted the fliers in hopes of raising the funds needed to pay for the extensive treatment then 3-year-old Karmyn required.

“I just remember seeing her picture and the paragraph of what her life was like,” von Jentzen said. She said she hated the thought of a child so young going through so much and decided to look for a way to help.

That desire inspired her first long-distance charity swim.

Von Jentzen took her first plunge into Flathead Lake in 2010 for an 18-hour, 30-mile swim, making her the first woman in history to swim the length of the lake and raising nearly $10,000 for Karmyn.

Today Karmyn is cancer free, but von Jentzen said she couldn’t stop there.

“The whole experience of doing something that I love and being able to help someone who’s going through a hard time, why wouldn’t you do that?” she said.

Her historic double-crossing of Flathead Lake Saturday was to benefit Monte, 5, and Scottie Marie, 2.

Monte, from Bigfork, has a congenital heart defect and associated health issues; Scottie Marie, from Joplin, is currently fighting stage-4 neuroblastoma, a rare and potentially deadly form of childhood cancer.

For the last seven years, von Jentzen has logged hundreds of miles of open-water swimming, including a marathon in 2013 that took her the length of 30 Montana lakes in 60 days.

To date, von Jentzen has founded a nonprofit organization called Enduring Waves and, through multiple charity swims, has raised a total of nearly $50,000 for six different children battling life-threatening illnesses and disabilities.

FROM HER strict diet to her rigorous daily workouts, von Jentzen’s dedication to her cause drove her through nearly a year of preparation for what would be her longest swim yet.

She amassed a crew of friends and family, several of whom had accompanied her on some of previous swims.

She described the crew that manned the boat that stayed beside her throughout the length of the swim as her “dream team.”

Switching out members over the two-day course, the crew stayed close for safety purposes, to provide her with food and to keep other boats clear.

Throughout the swim, however, no one in the boat assisted von Jentzen in any way. She had to do it alone.

“The people in my life have really accepted me for who I am — crazy and loves to swim a lot.”

That “craziness” has kept her in the water despite the varying, and sometimes dangerous, conditions that can arise for open-water swimmers.

“The best you can do with that condition variable is just be aware that conditions will change and rapidly,” she said. “That’s part of the fun and challenge of open-water swims. Those are the ones that you remember.”

Ahead of schedule, von Jentzen was nearing the middle of her first day’s swim when powerful headwinds began to rise.

Swimming against the rising winds, her pace began to slow as she fought for each forward stroke.

The winds continued for six hours, costing von Jentzen speed, time and motivation.

“Once I got off schedule, I got really frustrated,” she said. “It’s hard, and you get pretty demoralized by that.”

Von Jentzen said that she’s come to expect at least a couple breakdowns over the course of each race, and seeing herself fall so far behind on her expected time, she said, brought her to tears.

Frustrated, the swimmer said she was “not exhibiting a lot of positive self-talk” during those gusty hours.

At one point she said she remembers turning to her crew in the boat and saying, “I am going so slow, and everyone’s going to laugh at me.”

She laughed at the memory but said that exhaustion can put a lot of strange and negative thoughts in your head.

As the winds persisted, von Jentzen said she came to a point where she told herself that, even if she didn’t finish, she had to make it to Polson where her partner was waiting to make the swim back with her.

Von Jentzen met John Cole, a pediatrician in Kalispell, through a masters adult swimming team she sometimes coaches.

As one of the team members, Cole expressed his desire to swim across the lake and the two decided to combine their goals into one event.

For about 10 months, the two trained together for the swim.

Von Jentzen, who first swam the length of Flathead Lake in 2010, would swim the 27 miles from Somers to Polson. There she was to meet Cole, and the two would make the crossing back together.

Their training routine was intense, von Jentzen said, and required their total focus and commitment.

During the cold winter months, they logged up to four hours a day in an indoor pool. The open-water swimmer said she often struggled with lap after lap of staring at a black line at one end of the pool or the other.

However, once the weather began to improve, the two-swimmer team broke out their wetsuits and took to the chilly waters of the lake.

“We had to make this a life priority,” von Jentzen said. “There were a lot of things we had to say no to, to really keep that top focus on our swim.”

LONG AFTER the sun had set on Saturday evening and several hours behind schedule, von Jentzen arrived in Polson where Cole was waiting to join her.

She recalled Cole’s excited, positive attitude when she apologized for being so late.

“He just said, ‘It’s OK. Let’s do this!’” von Jentzen said.

The duo started their 27-mile swim back to Somers in the dark.

They swam through the night and into the next morning in mostly smooth waters.

However, at around noon on Sunday, conditions began to deteriorate as huge waves rose up and battered the tiring swimmers.

“They [the waves] were enormous,” she said. “To have those big waves when we were both exhausted was really challenging. I don’t think we could have done it without each other.”

She and Cole weren’t battling the waves alone, however.

The choppy waters began to make the crew in the support boat traveling beside them sick, and a new crew had to tag in unexpectedly. The waves also made it difficult for the boat to stay close to the swimmers, but a team of two kayakers managed to maneuver the rough water to keep up.

Von Jentzen said, as the weather worsened, she began consuming only liquids provided by the crew as she too began to feel sick.

Still, she said, knowing she was swimming for more than herself, she was determined to finish what she had started.

With the waves at their backs, von Jentzen and Cole pushed forward until the weather let up and the waters stilled.

Though they were nearly 10 hours off their projected finish time, the pair finished the last leg of their swim, coming ashore in Somers to a crowd of more than 50 people waiting to congratulate and encourage the exhausted swimmers.

Among their supporters was the family that started it all.

As von Jentzen set both feet on dry land after 40 hours in the water, now 10-year-old Karmyn and her family, who had driven up from Missoula, were there to see their hero finish her 56-mile journey.

THROUGH THEIR swim, von Jentzen and Cole raised about $3,500. Combined with the foundation’s other efforts throughout the year, they have raised nearly $7,000.

Still, von Jentzen said, they aren’t finished.

With a goal of meeting the full medical and financial needs of Monte and Scottie Marie, von Jentzen said she hopes to raise at least $10,000 for each of them by the year’s end.

She said she could not thank the many donors who have contributed enough, and she hopes to see many more step up to help fill the need.

“It would be awesome if we could get there as a community,” she said.

As of Monday, von Jentzen was taking some time off to recover from the pain and fatigue from the swim.

Her legs were sunburned and her muscles sore, but she spoke with energy about the experience.

“Oh my gosh, I feel great about the accomplishment,” she said. “It’s really kind of surreal to think I did something no one has done before.”

Through her excitement, she remains focused on fundraising and seeing her efforts help the children she has never met but loves regardless.

To become a donor or for more information about the Enduring Waves Foundation, visit http://www.enduringwaves.com.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.