Swimmer Challenged Himself to Swim Across Lake Meredith
We were asked to do some research for a family in Dallas recently and found something, totaling unrelated, in a book, Our Town, Dumas, by J. B. Funk.
Brent Futrell, local banker and financial advisor, had participated in a Swim-A-Thon at the YMCA and completed 240 laps, which is about 7 ½ miles.
J. B. had gone to the bank to congratulate Brent and the conversation led to talk about swimming the English Channel. According to the story relayed by J. B., Brent seemed to get excited about such a fete and he began thinking about a swim in Lake Meredith.
He contacted the Texas Park Service and asked for a map of the lake and other important date like water temperature. He went to work training and conditioning and would swim two to three hours daily at the Y.
He decided Monday, June 3, was going to be THE DAY.
His plan was to swim from the dam to the end of the lake and back. He began driving out to the lake two or three times a week to train. The water in the lake was about sixty degrees. He even contacted a couple of individuals who had swam the English Channel for some "do and don't" advice.
On May 18, Brent made a trial run. His plan was to swim from the dam to Blue West boat ramp. The water was 66 degrees. About 1 p.m., he left from the dam. J. B. , A.L. Baer, Christie Baer were in a boat traveling alongside. According to the story, the weather was beautiful with bright sunshine and just a little breezy with very few boats on the water.
He had set a pace of 64 strokes per minute with a three-to-four minute break every hour for a little rest and some food.
The trial run was very successful. He completed the trail in two hours and 37 minutes, a distance of approximately five miles.
J. B., Brent and his brother, Alan, went to the lake Sunday night, June 2, in preparation for the big day.
Brent was not feeling 100% because of a case of flu on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before the scheduled swim. He had a restless night, but the next morning prepared for the swim. He greased his body with a mixture of Vaseline, lanolin and goose grease which was supposed to hold in body heat. Water temperature was 68 degrees at 6 a.m. when he stood on the dam, ready to swim, but it was "an extremely chilly dampish day."
Brent's mother, LaVern, came to ride in the boar with Alan and J. B. Another boat carried Brent's father, Weston, and Gaylon Overton.
The article tells the story of the swim. "At the end of the first hour, he stopped for his cold nutrient, teeth chattering, wondering how he was doing. He was only swimming 61 strokes a minute. Little did he know how important that ole sunshine was. The nutrient was cold that first time, so I laid it on the engine to warm and it was much better from then on. At the end of the third hour, Brent had to call on his inner-self to continue. He was so cold and having second doubts, that "WAS IT WORTH IT". He sat on the back of the boat with an old sleeping bag wrapped around him trying to warm up and drank some coffee. By this time, he had gone four miles in about 4 ½ hours, not nearly
Brent Futrell, local banker and financial advisor, had participated in a Swim-A-Thon at the YMCA and completed 240 laps, which is about 7 ½ miles.
J. B. had gone to the bank to congratulate Brent and the conversation led to talk about swimming the English Channel. According to the story relayed by J. B., Brent seemed to get excited about such a fete and he began thinking about a swim in Lake Meredith.
He contacted the Texas Park Service and asked for a map of the lake and other important date like water temperature. He went to work training and conditioning and would swim two to three hours daily at the Y.
He decided Monday, June 3, was going to be THE DAY.
His plan was to swim from the dam to the end of the lake and back. He began driving out to the lake two or three times a week to train. The water in the lake was about sixty degrees. He even contacted a couple of individuals who had swam the English Channel for some "do and don't" advice.
On May 18, Brent made a trial run. His plan was to swim from the dam to Blue West boat ramp. The water was 66 degrees. About 1 p.m., he left from the dam. J. B. , A.L. Baer, Christie Baer were in a boat traveling alongside. According to the story, the weather was beautiful with bright sunshine and just a little breezy with very few boats on the water.
He had set a pace of 64 strokes per minute with a three-to-four minute break every hour for a little rest and some food.
The trial run was very successful. He completed the trail in two hours and 37 minutes, a distance of approximately five miles.
J. B., Brent and his brother, Alan, went to the lake Sunday night, June 2, in preparation for the big day.
Brent was not feeling 100% because of a case of flu on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before the scheduled swim. He had a restless night, but the next morning prepared for the swim. He greased his body with a mixture of Vaseline, lanolin and goose grease which was supposed to hold in body heat. Water temperature was 68 degrees at 6 a.m. when he stood on the dam, ready to swim, but it was "an extremely chilly dampish day."
Brent's mother, LaVern, came to ride in the boar with Alan and J. B. Another boat carried Brent's father, Weston, and Gaylon Overton.
The article tells the story of the swim. "At the end of the first hour, he stopped for his cold nutrient, teeth chattering, wondering how he was doing. He was only swimming 61 strokes a minute. Little did he know how important that ole sunshine was. The nutrient was cold that first time, so I laid it on the engine to warm and it was much better from then on. At the end of the third hour, Brent had to call on his inner-self to continue. He was so cold and having second doubts, that "WAS IT WORTH IT". He sat on the back of the boat with an old sleeping bag wrapped around him trying to warm up and drank some coffee. By this time, he had gone four miles in about 4 ½ hours, not nearly