Forty years later, swimmers plan to swim Canandaigua Lake again

CANANDAIGUA, NY — Swim the length of Canandaigua Lake? Are you nuts??!

Actually, Gary Austin, who admits he has come up with some nutty ideas during his time, was right on the ball when he came up with the idea to challenge the group of swimmers he was teaching back in 1984. Give the guy credit for ruling out swimming the English Channel, and smartly nixing the idea to swim across Lake Ontario to Canada.

Austin was sure he and Jan (Andrews) Stancampiano, Mark Casparian, Mike Fedoryshyn, Tom Gallagher, Scott Kozlowski, Herb Rice and Nancy (Wisotzke) Salatino could each do Canandaigua Lake, 17 miles from Woodville near Naples to the north shore.

But even Austin had no idea then that this close–knit group of people — and as time passed, their husbands, wives and children — would remain close friends throughout the next 40 years. They’ve gotten together to participate in triathlons, climb mountains, kayak the lake, take to the roads on bicycles, celebrate milestone birthdays, mourn the deaths of friends, play pickleball and, this Saturday weather willing, relive the adventure that bonded them.

They are in their 60s and 70s now, a lifetime away from the recent college grads they once were, facing who knows what ahead of them.

As they did on the 25th anniversary of the 1984 swim, they will swim the lake in relays, one swimmer at a time in the water. First thing in the morning, half of the crew will enter the water at Woodville while the other half will slip in near the City Pier in Canandaigua.

If all goes according to plan, they will meet up in the middle after five hours or so around noon, somewhere in the lake waters near Onanda Park in the town of Canandaigua.

“We’re all sort of active guys and gals,” Austin said. “I think anybody who knows any of us is sort of like, 'God, I can’t believe you’re still doing this at your age.”

How the Canandaigua Lake swim got its start

Austin headed up the CARPS masters swim club back when a president to be in Ronald Reagan and the artist known as Prince had pretty awesome years too.

Eight swimmers from the club attempted the end-to-end crossing of the lake; seven accomplished the feat although one did not make it after he had to be pulled from the water because of hypothermia.

But that’s getting ahead of the story, well after Austin started helping with the swimming program, first at the old YMCA on Monroe Avenue in Rochester and as more swimmers joined, at the Maplewood Y and finally the University of Rochester.

All the lake swimmers were products of Austin’s teaching.

A year or so in program, they said they needed a push, something to train for and Canandaigua Lake was their chosen spot.

They were all in. They had to be because Austin, who worked for decades in the healthcare industry and started a consulting group before "hanging up his spurs," made them sign a contract, pledging to put $1 in a pot and if they bailed out, they’d only get 99 cents back.

“Which was motivation enough for everyone,” Austin said, laughing.

"Lumpy" may be his nickname, but Austin is intense, Salatino said.

“Gary was the leader of all of us, and we followed a lot of his crazy ideas,” said Salatino, who just retired from a 30-plus-year career at Eastman Kodak Co. and is the proud grandmother of a three-month-old granddaughter. She met her husband swimming with the team.

Some had swum competitively in college and Salatino was a synchronized swimmer, but swimming for distance outdoors was new to her and several of the others.

“I went from not being a swimmer to swimming Canandaigua Lake!” she said.

A runner, Tom Gallagher, who is retired superintendent of the Wheatland-Chili school district, started swimming because he had suffered a cracked vertebra and wanted to stay in shape and remain active while he healed.

But first he had to learn how, and that’s when he met Austin and boy, is he glad he did.

Gallagher, by the way, is the swimmer who had hypothermia, which was “devastating,” he said. No matter; the next day, he said he swam a mile race in Lake Ontario.

Yes, Gallagher learned to swim but he also gained lifelong friendships. Gallagher and Austin took part in what he said were at least 100 triathlons over the years and biked cross country. He’s remained friends with his fellow swimmers as well.

“The group is competitive for sure. You can always get eight or nine people to say yes to something,” Gallagher said. “I don’t think we would ever have crossed paths other than swimming.”

Getting ready to swim Canandaigua Lake again

Initially, there was some trepidation about doing this again — the group, with the exception of one team member, did tackle the relay swim together, but that was 15 long years ago.

Gone are the “godawful insane” workout regimens of their youth, said Austin, who suffered a stroke several years ago. Just like the old days, five members of the group have been training at the Genesee Valley Park pool. Most have already been swimming as part of their fitness routines and some still compete in distance swims, although many have had setbacks like illness or work — to paraphrase, it happens.

“It’s stuff you've got to deal with when you’re 70-ish, plus or minus. At this age, a lot of this is a function of not what your mind wants to do, but what your body will give you," Austin said. “You just keep slugging through.”

Relying on the support of others and regular swims, Salatino found her nerves quickly faded and is looking forward to this. She and another group swim about a mile three days a week during the summer in Lake Ontario near Braddock Bay. She worries that her time is slower and that she may hold the others back, but she is confident she can hold her own over this distance.

“Lake Ontario is way worse than Canandaigua because it’s wavier and probably colder,” she said.

As for Gallagher, he has been logging lots of practice time, at distances that are probably more than he really needs to finish his part of the relay.

“It’ll be a blast,” Gallagher said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Here, here, seconded Salatino.

“I feel like when I’m swimming in the lake, it’s summer, I’m back at camp. I just love that feeling. I like the cold water, that spray,” Salatino said. “I’m in that happy place.”

Canandaigua Lake swimmers are friends forever

Flipping an old saying, their friendships were built on this basis: Similar strokes for similar folks, which is why they say they’ve managed to not only stay in touch all these years, but support and love each other no matter what.

Most of the team has remained in the Rochester area. Some are traveling in for the relay from Nevada, Massachusetts and South Carolina. They can't wait to swim and to see and be together again.

“For some reason, we all clicked,” Salatino said. “I have no idea what the commonality was except everybody was nice — and swimming.”

Gallagher attributes it all to time and place, with a dash of good luck.

“We were fortunate to meet each other then and still be connected now,” Gallagher said. “I don’t know why it happened, but I just feel fortunate I was part of the process.”

Everyone supports each other, Salatino said, theorizing that it’s among the reasons they have been friends for this long.

“We’re crazy but we all love each other,” Salatino said.

Mike Murphy covers Canandaigua and other communities in Ontario County and writes the Eat, Drink and Be Murphy food and drink column. Follow him on X at @MPN_MikeMurphy.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Forty years later, swimmers plan to swim Canandaigua Lake again