Just a quick dip in the lake
Wearing just her togs, Liana Smith swam an incredible 46km from Glenorchy to Queenstown non-stop last week, spending almost 17 hours in chilly waters of Lake Whakatipu.
The ultra marathon swimmer, who completed NZ's Triple Crown of Lake Taupo, the Cook Strait and Foveaux Strait in world record time in 2022, set off from the head of the lake on Wednesday evening, slathered in Sudocrem for sunscreen and grease.
Her goal was to swim the whole 82km zig-zag lake, but the weather gods were not on her side. Blasted by a headwind and swimming through relentlessly choppy waters between Walter and Cecil Peak, she made the call with her support crew to aim for a Queenstown finish instead.
After swimming through the night, she emerged from the waters in Queenstown Bay at 6am, becoming the first person to complete the mammoth swim without a wetsuit.
Queenstowner Smith says the water was a "pretty fresh" 11° Celsius in Glenorchy, raising to about 15° on average further into the swim.
"I was holding about 3.8km an hour for the first few hours, which was a pretty awesome pace, but at dusk we had our first gnarly headwind, which was absolutely awful. I popped up at one point to talk to the crew in the IRB right beside me, and they were getting thrown around like rag dolls.
"With the headwind, you're still maintaining the same stroke rate but you're having all your strength zapped, battling through decent-sized white caps."
Smith says the winds calmed down for a section before Walter Peak and she was able to savour the swim.
"One of the highlights that will stay with me forever is having a feed and then floating on my back and just looking at the stars, it was pretty magical."
Potato leek soup, baked beans and noodles were on the menu during the swim, handed to her in the water from her support crew, which was headed by ultra swimming legend and her coach Phil Rush. Her parents were also on the crew, along with Rush's team and locals, including Frozen Fern Bethany Rogers, working in shifts on the main boat and IRB. Smith says the team at Sports Physio Lab on Gorge Rd were also crucial support through training, where she was averaging 50km per week.
"It must have been about 1am when we turned the zigzag corner and started heading towards the middle section, we got the south easter again, which absolutely zonkered the strength out of me. I'd take a breath and suck down a mouthful of water."
After battling that for about two hours, Rush told her she'd only been holding 1.8km/h "which for an average 3-4km/h swimmer was crazy to hear".
"While I was maintaining my stroke rate, I just had no strength in my pull, so we had to make the call because continuing on past Queenstown would have been just flogging a dead horse to see how far I could get. One for the ego and glory, which wasn't what it was about, and pretty unsafe too."
"It can be the hardest thing, to suck it up and make the call, but it was the right call, and I'm still chuffed and proud about what I did and what we got through together. So, we had a nice civilised finish in Queenstown Bay.
"It was a beautiful swim, after months of sacrifice and hard work."
Smith says the full lake distance is still a goal and she'll have another attempt, hoping to add to the impressive $6,480 she's raised for I AM HOPE. The fundraiser is still open, on Givealittle.
