Seventeen-year-old Pentictonite Charlie Bourne scorched to victory Sunday morning in the 2025 edition of one of Canada's longest open water swimming races, the 11.8-kilometer variant of 'Across the Lake Swim Skaha Lake.'
Bourne's speedy winning time of 2 hours, 52 minutes and 11 seconds on a course that begins at Penticton's Skaha Lake Beach and doesn't end 'til Okanagan Falls' Christie Beach was 13 minutes, 37 seconds faster than runner-up, 52-year-old fellow Pentictonite and long-time endurance sport star Dave Matheson.
It was the very first time Bourne, a competitive swimmer since the age of six, has tackled more than three kilometers in a given session.
Why did he opt for such a monstrous challenge, almost four times his longest length to date?
"Because I just didn’t have anything else to do in August," was the affable champ's earnest but comic reply.
"But really, I just knew I could do it. I believe in myself and I had my coach with me. He was my paddler. I trusted him in case anything happened."
But Bourne wasn't the day's only winner.
In the second year of the event's new 4.5-kilometer "shortie" course, which starts at Kaleden's Pioneer Park and ends again at OK Falls, Burnaby's Leo O'Keefe beat Penticton's William Bourne by 3:42 to capture the win.
And yes, William is the brother of 11.8K swim victor Charlie. Moreover, all four top finishers -- aside from the marginally older Matheson, of course -- are teens. And that's a seemingly good sign for the event going forward.
Indeed, we'd include the event itself as one of the day's winners.
When Kelowna-based "Across the Lake Swim," a group specializing in historic Okanagan Valley endurance swims, assumed control of the celebrated Skaha Lake Ultra Swim in 2023 and renamed it, the prognosis was uncertain.
The Ultra Swim, founded decades earlier by endurance sports legend Steve King – who’s since become a race broadcasting legend too – was steeped in tradition.
Run primarily by dedicated local volunteers, it consistently attracted a cool mix of star athletes and valiant challengers and in many ways helped put Penticton on the endurance sports map.
But post-COVID the numbers were down. And the tireless volunteer group in charge was getting a bit older and finally losing steam.
In the final year of Ultra Swim, the event attracted just 47 competitors to contend its sole distance, the 11.8 monster to OK Falls.
But for 2024, the Across the Lake people brought in the new shorter 4.5K course and folks responded. That year, 42 swam the full pull and another 49 enrolled in the newbie 4.5.
This year, it was 46 in the 11.8 and a huge jump to 80 in the 4.5.
Next year, there may be a third, even shorter course of either 1.5 or 2.5K, in keeping with Across the Lake's other events throughout the Okanagan and beyond.
"We had our biggest turnout yet and it's amazing to watch this event keep growing," said Events Director Peter Rudd. "What started back in 1985 with local sports legend Steve King has now grown into something truly special and we can't wait to take it even further."
But of all the winners Sunday, one arguably stood taller than the rest. And he didn’t finish first in anything.
Late last year, Golden, BC's Mark Herbison, a mountain guide and mountain rescue dude who spent much of his spare time participating in hazardous X Games-style adventure sports, had a real bad day.
He thoroughly mangled his left leg while paragliding in Utah.
"Yeah, it was on a launch," he said Sunday. "I lost control of my wing when I got off the ground and got swung around like a pendulum into the ground.
"It tore my ankle off and broke my wrist. I was pretty mangled. I was hemorrhaging, spurting blood all over the place.
"But I was lucky there were people there right away to disable the wing and put a tourniquet on my leg to stop the bleeding."
But the situation didn’t end there. Soon after, Herbison's leg was amputated, just below the knee.
"Before my amputation, I was probably in the best shape in my life," the 42-year-old told us. "I was training for the 'Hike and Fly' paragliding event."
Nevertheless, the accident forced Herbison into a reset. A reset that would see him prioritize swimming for the first time in his life and ultimately enter Sunday's 4.5 swim.
Just the fact that he finished at all, never mind ending up a lofty 22nd of 80 (and 2nd in his age group), was certainly a victory unto itself.
Not unexpectedly, he received one of the day's biggest cheers when he emerged from the water.
A long hug from good friend (and 11.8K swimmer) Meghan Grant, who Herbison said played a "big role in my recovery," was the cherry on top.
"I wasn't a serious swimmer before," he explained. "I swam my whole life, but never swam laps or anything like that. But it was one of the first activities I could do after I healed from the surgery."
According to Herbison, his first try at 800 meters nearly "destroyed" him. But he kept at it throughout the winter and spring.
More recently he's even resumed running. In fact, he completed a 25K run just three days before the Skaha event.
Arguably most amazing of all, Herbison doesn’t use his impacted leg at all when he swims.
"I don’t kick the left," he said. "I take off the prosthetic, and I have no propulsion from that leg. I'll kick with my right leg every second stroke."
Soon, he'll return to work on the mountain. And he's even looking at the Canadian paratriathlon team.
"We'll see how my running goes, how the swimming goes," he said with a smile.
And what of Steve King, the architect of the original swim way back in the mid-80s?
He was once again at the finish line of course, where he'll hopefully continue to be for some time yet, serenading athletes and spectators alike with his inimitable style and impressive storehouse of knowledge.
As for 11.8K victor Charlie Bourne?
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"I want to swim varsity in university and see where I can go from there," he said. "Maybe the national team? Maybe the 1500 or maybe open water. Who knows?"
And yes, he says he'll be back next August to protect his Skaha title.
