Two years ago, Kim Bowler had a dream to be the first person to swim the 38.6 km length of Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. 16 hours 38 minutes after starting on the south shore at Heyburn State Park, the then 39-year-old nurse walked onshore on the northern shores of Tubbs Hill after being escorted by her husband Chris Bowler with a huge smile and tears of joy with her two children looking on.
Her escort boat co-pilots Greg Abell and Robin Abell guided to a time under her estimated time of 18 hours under wonderfully cooperative tranquil conditions and great weather. She told the Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press, “Coeur d’Alene was magically perfect, beautiful. Flat water the whole way.”
Kimmer the Swimmer, as she is known in the marathon swimming community, attempted another swim this month. This time across another lake in Idaho, Priest Lake (or Kaniksu in the Native American language) located in the northernmost portion of the Idaho Panhandle. 54-year-old Ned Hastings pioneered this 38.6 km crossing in 2019 in a swim governed by the Marathon Swimmers Federation.
The perfect conditions of Lake Coeur d’Alene were long gone. Call it the Jekyll and Hyde Phenomenon. The outcome was the same, but the process was dramatically different.
Mother Nature did not cooperate with Bowler on this crossing. When she finished, she said, “I was exhausted and in pain.”
Her friend and support crew member Anna Love reported, “This Priest Lake Swim was the opposite [of Coeur d’Alene]. She faced many hard challenges, from head winds most of the way with waves hitting her head on, to her triceps giving out, one with 7 miles to go and the other with 5 miles to go. So she had to really dig deep to find the strength and power to finish this swim – which she did. Her swim was not just for fun, but was also a fundraiser to help raise money to build wells in Uganda to give Ugandan locals access to safe and clean water. Her husband Chris kayaked with her the entire swim to guide her way and she had an entire support crew of family, friends, and locals at Coolin at the beach.”
Her Go Fund Me is here.
Bowler said, “The swim is over, but the work is still not done. I’m so grateful to all the loving, generous people who have donated [but] there’s still a long way to go. Please consider donating to this simple cause that will greatly change the lives of hundreds and thousands.”
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