45-year-old Ildy Szekely (@swimplifly) flew from Boston to Austin, Texas to compete as a Weekend Warrior in the 3-day, 3-stage Tex Robertson Highland Lakes Challenge in Austin, Texas.

Szekely, one of the fastest 200m butterflyers among masters swimmers in the world, won the 5 km Day 1 stage swim ahead of the five top men in Inks Lake. She is the co-author of Lilith with Peter Soros, and author of Unattached.

Lilith is about Lili, a confused young woman, who leaves her adopted father in hopes of discovering her self, her past, and purpose in life. Through her journey, she encounters a mysterious, otherworldly, creature with whom she travels back in time to unravel her past and confront her own mythical feminine inheritance. Lilith is an enchanted story of a young woman’s pilgrimage to self-discovery – a tale of passion, love, and philosophy of life amid clashing realities.

America’s first stage race, now in its 15th edition, began in 2007 and is held in the beautiful hill country of central Texas. It is organized by 1972 Olympic triple gold medalist Sandy Neilson and was inspired by her husband, Dr. Keith Bell, swimming world’s first sports psychologist and author of 10 books on performance enhancement.*  

Dr. Bell, also a long-distance open water swimmer, first had the idea of swimming down a chain of lakes for his 50th  birthday swim.

Day 1 – Tex’s Darn Challenge Weekend Warrior results

1. Ildiko Szekely, 45 1:16:43
2. Gregory Clarke, 22 1:20:30
3. Seth Huston, 60 1:20.57
4. Mike Lucero, 53 1:22:14
5. Mike McCarthy, 48 1:30:37
6. Donald Parsons, 54 1:31:14
7. Veronica McKee, 28 1:39:51
8. David Perrin, 42 1:48:12
9. Timothy Murphy, 54 1:48:34
10. Emma Blanco, 51 1:54:18
11. Emily Young, 31 1:58:19
12. Jodi Oates, 59 1:58:38
13. Karen Watt, 61 2:05:21

The Weekend Warrior Challenge includes the following 3 stage races:

• Friday, October 25th: 5 km Tex’s Darn Challenge in Inks Lake
• Saturday, October 26th: 3.5 km LBJ Loop or a 2 km short LBJ Loop in Lake LBJ
• Sunday, October 27th: 5.5 km Swim the Canyon in Marble Falls

For more information about the race is named after Tex Robertson, a Gold Medallion winner of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, visit the Facebook page here or the Winning Isn’t Normal website page here.

* Dr. Bell’s books include You Only Feel Wet When You’re Out of The Water, The Swim to Win Playbook, Coaching Excellence, The Parent’s Guide, Target on Gold: Goal Setting for Swimmers & Other Kinds of People, 76 Rules for Outperforming the Competition, The Nuts & Bolts of Psychology for Swimmers, and Winning Isn’t Normal

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