Octo-Freeze! 10-10-2011 

Octo-Freeze was AMAZING yesterday! Thank you so much to everyone who helped and Volunteered their time. I really appreciate how much people gave and how awesome everything was. It was a blast watching the kids during the water run and knowing how cold the water was!!! It was ICE cold! They are such troopers and it was such a fun event to have. Together we raised $750 for the Athi River kids and provided a great afternoon of family fun. A BIG thanks to Lake Taco for providing food and to Deep Fryed Mojo who was rockin’ the entire time. This was such a great way to make a difference in Kenya, and have fun in our community. Thanks again to all the Volunteers and together we can feed and send approx. 15 kids to school this year! WOW!  Meeks Bay To Cave Rock9-29-2011

Wow! After 6.5 hours I finished the swim from Meeks Bay to Cave Rock! First, I have to thank Charlie, Dave, and Luke for being my team today. Thanks Guys!

We were up at 5:30am this morning to head over to the keys boat dock by 6am. At around 6:45 we arrived at Meeks Bay and got everything ready. The air temp was so cold! We all bundled up in blankets.

But then I had to face the cold with nothing but my pink swimsuit! Yikes!   After eating a banana and putting on sunscreen, even though the sun was just rising… I was ready to jump in the water! Ok, so maybe I actually stuck my big toe in the water, which sent a shiver down my body first, but I eased my way in without a wetsuit and at 7am we were off!

We were headed toward the other side of the lake… which seemed to be covered in a fog? Oh no! We couldn’t actually see Cave Rock at the other side! Oh well, the beauty of having Tahoe locals on your side, and avid hikers, is that they knew which peak to head towards. Phew! So it was me in the H2O, Dave in the Kayak, and Charlie on the boat with Luke. Just as we were leaving the bay I spotted two fish! This was the first time that I had ever seen fish while swimming in Tahoe. Now I know that they exist and all the fishermen are telling the truth when they say they caught a big one! So here we are, Dave and I, about 1.5 hours into the swim. Enjoying the water, loving how perfect everything is in Tahoe, when all of a sudden coming up from behind me I see my team… wake boarding? I had to stop and laugh. I asked Dave, is that Charlie? He said yes just as they were circling around us. Luke performing tricks behind a speeding boat on a wake board! I guess when I said that this swim was going to be a fun one, I meant it! Haha. After about 2 hours, Dave and Luke switched on the Kayak. We set up the swim to take a break every 20 minutes, or to stop and see how I was feeling. Back in May, I hurt my shoulder and tore my pectoral muscle. I really didn’t have a chance to do much training this year, so I knew that attempting to do this long of a swim was definitely a push. I felt good though, and I owe a lot of credit to the ladies that do Moxy. I joined Moxy this summer and we do cardio and strength exercises. I really think these strength exercises helped my shoulder. Yay for Moxy! During the breaks, (which I stayed in the water for) I drank Tahoe tap water. During the swim of the length last year I had some issues with the fancy sports drink so I wanted to see how I felt just drinking plain ol’ water. What can I say? Water does the body gggoooooooddd. I also ate when needed and had oatmeal with banana, or a quarter of a Pb&J. Another trial; instead of gel shots, cliff bars, or gummies. These “simple foods” worked well. Yummy in my tummy! I have to say though, I think I grossed-out Luke by eating oatmeal from a baggie. It looks pretty gross but tastes just right. So after Charlie wake boarded, and Luke wake boarded, and I swam for about 4 hours, we could finally see Cave Rock! Go Go GO Tiff Go! By this time I think I prayed, counted to 100 probably 10 times, sang songs in my head (for some reason Lady Gaga’s The Edge was stuck in my head, and I don’t even listen to Lady Gaga! Haha I can’t believe I just admitted to this…) imagined what it would be like if I saw a huge fish, thought about a shark being in the lake and coming to get me, pep-talked my shoulders, and imagined seeing the bottom of the lake probably a zillion times! So now what? Guess more singing and counting… When we finally started getting close to shore, Dave said he could see the sunlight reflecting off the cars in the parking lot. What great news! My arms were getting tired. Ugh. All I thought about from that moment on was getting closer and closer to those cars! Okay, and finishing the swim with… gusto! The last hour though, sure was hard as the wind was blowing us south. I know most people swim with the wind, and the crazy ones swim against the wind, but who wants to swim with the wind blowing you sideways? I learned today that this stinks and is hard to compensate for while swimming. I’ll take swimming with the wind or even against the wind every day over the side wind. At last! I can see the bottom of the lake! Or can I? This is literally what goes through my head as we a nearing the end of the swim. The water is so beautiful and clear; most people know that you can see quite a ways down. Well, when you’re swimming into shore you can just faintly see the bottom of the lake at first, and sometimes you don’t really see the bottom, you just want to so bad that you think you do. Thus my initial excitement when I saw the bottom immediately followed by my hesitation. Luckily, for me, it truly was the bottom! Yay! A couple hundred yards and I can set my feet on solid ground!   Swimming hard, fast, and close enough to put my feet on a rock… and then… I stumble off the rock.   Hmmmmnnn, lets try that again again. Swim closer to shore, feet down and stand up! (My wobbly legs made me feel like Ariel from the Little Mermaid when she gets her “real legs.”) My leg muscles weren’t tired, but they where wobbly from the cold water. Yay! I made it! Charlie, Dave, and Luke cheered! As well as two tourists that happened to be there at that very moment. Yay! I finished at Cave Rock!

So what better way to end a swim across the width of Tahoe than to relax and drink some chocolate milk?… To relax and drink chocolate milk in the kayak while being towed back to the marina! What a ride! Ahhhh, I just love life.   Thanks for Reading! And please don’t forget, Octo-Freeze October 9th!   Octo-Freeze ! 9-27-2011 This year Swim For Africa is going to be hosting a Community event entitled Octo-Freeze! The event will be held at Regan Beach and Lake Taco will be providing food! (Lake Taco is soooo good) To bring you up to speed. Last year, after raising $4,000 with the swim across Lake Tahoe I wanted to keep raising money for the kids in Athi River. Back in March of 2011 I put in a proposal with the state parks and coast guard about doing a swim event around Fanette Island in Emerald bay. Sort of a mock Alcatraz swim. The coast guard was more than willing to accommodate the event but state parks would not approve the event stating that there is an ordinance against swimming in Emerald Bay, and thus the dream came to an end. So, for much of the summer I tossed around the idea of having a Kids triathlon instead. To my surprise and full support, Tahoe has a kids triathlon that is very successful so then came the birth of Octo-Freeze…. With the approval of the City and the help of friends Octo-Freeze will be happening October 9th at Regan Beach! Lake Taco has been so generous and will be providing food. 2 tacos and a drink for adults and a kid’s taco or burrito and a drink, for kids! We are going to have face painting, an art craft, a 100 yard run through the waters (lifeguards will be there) and the kids will be able to write letters to the kids in Africa! I am so excited. Please tell all your friends and family. It will be a community and family fun centered afternoon. Also hoping to have live music, provided by Deep Fried Mojo, a blue-grassy type band. Tomorrow, I am going to be doing a swim across the width of Tahoe to raise awareness about Swim For Africa and also Octo-Freeze! The farthest swim I have done this summer I did last week around the circumference of Fallen Leaf Lake. It is about ten miles, I am told, but I should verify this… Anywho, I was hoping to attempt the length again this summer, but due to a shoulder injury last May, I wasn’t able to start training in time for the swim season to do the length. So, I am totally stoked that I will have the opportunity to attempt the width tomorrow! (Meeks Bay to Cave Rock) Please pray that my shoulders stay strong J Who is going with me tomorrow? Charlie Hamm is boat captain and will be leading the teams swim route. My friend Dave and my sisters friend Luke will be the mighty kayakers. I cannot thank these guys enough. What are you eating? Well, tonight I am carbo-loading (yummy) and tomorrow I hope to swim sustainably on Tahoe tap water, oatmeal w/ banana’s, and peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat. During my swim of the length last summer I had problems with my nutrition and I was drinking fancy sport drinks and eating cliff bars. This time I want to try to do a long swim with simple foods. I tested these simple foods on the Fallen Leaf swim and felt good. I am hoping to have a repeat of that tomorrow. When do you start? Well, it is so cold early in the mornings! BUT, I also want to beat the afternoon wind. So, we are meeting at the boat dock at 6am and I hope to be in the water at Meeks Bay swimming around 7am. How long is Meeks Bay to Cave Rock? As far as I can tell it looks to be a little over ten miles. Are you wearing a wet-suit? Not if I can help it! (shhh don’t tell my mom) I am most comfortable swimming without a wet-suit so if I don’t have to wear one I won’t, but it will be on the boat just in case. Alright, well I hope all goes well tomorrow. Now I gotta get to bed! Update 12-15-2010 I am so excited because I recently received an update from Gentrixs about the family’s and the children that the finds have helped support thus far. I will be making a flyer that will be at Sierra Community Church and will also post the updates online. Thank you again to everyone who donated. This entire journey has been amazing and God has blessed many hearts. Please return to the site to see the update shortly -Tiffany   Celebration!!! 11-14-2010 As of last Friday we sent half the funds ($2,000) from the swim to support the children of the Athi River village in Kenya for this year of school! Today we received confirmation that all funds have been received! Everyone should be staring at these words and shouting with delight!!!! I am extatic!! There are no words to express how awsome God is and how wonderful this is for the children of the village. Below is an e-mail from Gentrix! “Hi Tiffany, I acknowledge the receipt of your email.  And thank you so much for sending the money towards the fees for the kids, food for the community as well as remembering us as a families may the Almighty God bless you so much for all the efforts you have put in to touch the brethren in Africa. I will ask Karin whether she has received an alert from the bank then I will let you know. Our schools start every first week of January  and ends in November.  We do have three semesters in Africa we call them terms.  And we do pay the fees at the beginning of each semester… May the good God bless you dear ones very much.  And hope to hear from you soon. Gentrix” So fantastic! Thank you to everyone for all your support! Getting the Children the Money 10-13-10 It has been a process but we are so close at getting the money to the kids in Africa. Here are some recent pictures and the last e-mail from Gentrix that I would like to share with you all. Hi Tiffany, I acknowledge the receive of your email.  I am yet to contact our base director – Karin Kea Sued for more details concerning the transfer as she is the one who receives then we bank it on the base account before we do any transfer to the designated children.  The money you have sent for each child will be able to cover the whole year unless there are some changes which am not so certain but in-case of such, I will let you know through writing and showing how the money have been spent. I sincerely pass my sincere gratitude to you on behalf of all the kids though I have not informed any.  For my case it is a great joy in my heart to see that these children are going to continue with their studies because God has used you to stand in the gap for them.  May the good God bless you and meet your heart desires.  Pass my regards to your family as well, they have been such a blessing to many people here in Africa especially your mum and sister Sophia and even those whom you shared with about the vision towards fundraising the money for the needy people here. Much love from Barazas Gentrix

Back in Tahoe 09-25-2010 I am back in Tahoe after visiting Nashville and New York. The weather here has dropped in temperature but this weekend is supposed to be really nice and I plan on swimming! Just yesterday I e-mailed Gentrix who is our contact at the village in Athi  River. She e-mailed me back that she would get back to me by next week so that I can transfer the funds. I also received some current pictures of the kids. A friend of my sisters visited the village recently and my mother was super cool in asking him to send some pictures. I will post them soon! I didn’t fall off the face of the earth! 9-9-10 I am still alive! I know I have not been blogging for a couple of weeks now. I left to check out nashville for music purposes and now I am in NY! I will be meeting with my sister Sophia for the first time in awhile. She has been working out of NY for a few months now. Anyway, we are going to be discussing many many things about finantials and all that jazz. On top of traveling… I knew that after the swim when all began to calm again, and get slightly boring, lol…jk. I knew that there would be a large chance that I would get sick… and guess what? I totally did. Pooh. I have been trying to rest now and all that stuff you are supposed to do when you are ill and your body is crying out to you, “save me!” So, I have been pumping my brain full of action flicks and my body full of antibiotics…docs orders. Anyway, I hope I get better soon…. I have been out of the water for two weeks! ouch. It pains me to even say it. i hope these antibiotics will make me like new again in just 10 days! haha Development with the missionaries in Africa. I received an e-mail today from them. They are so so so excited. I will be shooting another e-mail over to them shortly, trying to explain exactly how the money will be devided but I pasted part of an e-mail below between my sister and Martin Baraza, this will hopefully give everyone a taste of the need in Kenya, and the joy to know that we will be supporting these children! “I have other kids in the pre-school who needs support as their parents are not able to cater for their education Mumo  needs 100 dollars to cover the fees for this year and next year.  There is this girl that you also left some 20 dollars towards her fees will be going to grade 8 together with his brother – as I had informed you that the father died of HIV and the mother is positive but on antiviral drugs also need the help as their performance has been quite promising and I been praying and trusting God that the dreams they have will not died because of lack of fees to continue with their studies academically they have been among the top ten and that has really encouraged me.” Okay, well this is all for now. I will be back with an update! Say What?!?!8-30-10 Ladies and Gentlemen… drum roll please… Swim For Africa has raised a grand total of…

$4,113!!!

I simply cannot believe my eyes! We doubled the goal amount and I am simply floored. Thank you so much to everyone who was a part of the swim. Last Thursday I opened a bank account for the children of Athi River Kenya. This is amazing!

In other news, I will be keeping the website going and updating it with information on the children and how the funds are going to be used, so please come back and check things out.

The 1.5 Swim Today 08-24-10 This morning I went out to Kiva to do the last 1.5 mile swim. Man oh Man is the water cold…lol I think the lake has turned over since friday…it took me like ten minutes to talk myself into jumping in to get it started! Anyway, the swim was great…I felt slow, but I think I am still a little tired. So, I did a nice swim in some very “refreshing” waters and then when I was done, I took a nap on the beach! Oh the joys of living in Tahoe Do I make you jelous? hehehe As far as the funds go, we have raised at least $3,500! I will have a more specific total tomorrow when I go and open a bank account in the name of Swim for Africa! So exciting! Also, though the swim is over, I will keep the website going as I want to let everyone know what is happening with the funds and how the kids are doing. It is important to me that everyone knows how their donation has impacted the Athi River children. A big thank you to everyone again who has donated. A fun Run…Swim! 08-23-10 The BBQ at Kiva was fantastic! Thank you so much to everyone who came and even those who were thinking of me Pictures to come soon! Tomorrow I am going out to Kiva to swim over to baldwin and back as promised…. the last 1.5 mile just for fun. It will be good to get in the water again after friday. I hope all my muscles feel good! The BIG Adventure 08-21-10 There is so much to talk about and so many people to thank but I want to begin with the swim… I woke up at 2:45am to head out to Kiva beach where I was greeting by loving friends and family. My mother and father met with the rest of the team at the boat dock to get the lead boat and then over to Kiva they went too. It was a gorgeous and warm night in Tahoe, as lanterns, brought by friends, lit up the path to the beach. The stars were so bright and everyone so encouraging, God could not have blessed me with a better send off to begin the swim. With huge hugs, prayers, and encouragement, I began the swim with nothing else to see in the water but the glow sticks we attached to back of the Kayaks. It was such an amazing experience, one that I will never forget as I could only feel the water around me and all I could see were the bright stars above as I turned my head to breathe during my stroke. When the sun began to rise I remember mentioning to the Kayakers how fast the sky lights up in the morning. We were already a ways away from the shore and I was still feeling strong about the swim. We would break every 20 minutes and in between those 20 minutes I would pick a different worship song to sing in my head while swimming. I thought a lot about the kids in Africa, and how awesome and generous everyone has been. I thought about how amazing it would be to reach my goal of sending all the pre-school kids to school for a year. How awesome would that be?

When we stopped for a break my sister Michelle, who was Kayaking next to me told me that there was another boat on the water. She said it was my “fan club” who came out to surprise me…and it was! It was my friends Jeremy, Chris and Tami! It totally pumped me up. Really, such a good surprise. Thanks guys!

When we reached 6:30, my pacer Casey DelaCruz jumped in the water. She did so amazing and it was really great comfort to have someone swim with me for an hour and a half.

Then Dan from KTHO came out on a Jetski to give live updates! I cannot thank KTHO radio enough for all their help and all the neat updates.

Like I said, we stopped for a break every 20 minutes. The kayakers were awesome at keeping track of time and getting me across the lake. Chris Anthony, Chase Baginski, Michelle Carter, and Kenny Rutz all Kayaked and were absolutely amazing! Thanks guys!

Soon, Howie jumped in the water to pace me. It was so nice having him in the water because we really work well as a swimming team. He also provided me with great encouragement.

The swim was smooth going until I was about 6 miles out from the finish and the wind came up.

The waves actually capsized one of the Kayaks to where we didn’t use it for the rest of the swim. Then things began to take a turn…. When I was about half way into the 18th mile, we stopped to take a break and I had a huge calf cramp. They kayakers immediatly came over to help me out as i tried to rub it out. I wanted to keep swimming and forced myself to drink more water even though I had been feeling ill for the previous few miles. After being still to rub out the cramp my body was really cold and the worst part was that my lungs were cold and it was getting hard to breathe. So I decided to hop on the boat for ten minutes to take care of the cramps and warm my body back up. We were 14 hours into the swim and up until this point, I was not wearing a wetsuit. When I was trying to get on the boat my other calf cramped up so I had a calf cramp in each leg. Nurse Howie came to the rescue with the cramps and really helped me out with them. My Dad also wrapped me in warm blankets. Even though I really felt ill, I wanted to finish the swim. After all, I told people that I would swim across Lake Tahoe if they would donate to the village in Africa. The community had done their part. It was time to do mine. Everyone was so great in helping me get my wetsuit on so that I could get back in the water to swim. I swam about a mile more without kicking because the motion would cause my calves to cramp again. The boyancy of the wetsuit really helped this. i no longer wanted to stop to take any water breaks because it would only make me feel more ill. I was pushing hard. Finally, I could go no more. Though I knew my arms could make it, my chest and lungs hurt so bad and I could only breathe very shallow breaths. I told my Dad that I would hop on the boat and he could take me in to where I could swim the last half of a mile. I was devastated. A large part of me still is. While riding in to swim the last half mile, I threw up nemerous times amist tears of defeat. Everyone was still so encouraging so to all the team, thank you. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I could swim it in for the last half mile, but it was really important to me to be able to finish strong with the team. I had been dreaming of the finishing moment all day. So all the swimmers and Kayakers finished together. It was such a wonderful and moving team effort to fight for that last half mile. There were people on the doc cheering us on and I was so happy to see all the people that had come out to greet me at the finish. We finished strong. In the end, I swam a total of 20 miles. I have yet to swim the last 1.5 miles and will be doing so at Kiva beach this tuesday. I promised I would swim the length of Lake Tahoe, and I will. The most important thing however, is the money we raised for the village. I am so excited and happy to announce that not only did I reach the goal of raising $2,000 for the Athi River Childrens Pre-school, we raised $2,750! A hope and prayer completely answered. THANK YOU! Today, is the celebration party at Kiva beach. If you have been involved in anyway, I would love to see you there. We are celebrating reaching the goal of $2,000. We are celebrating the fact that 15 pre-school aged kids will be clothed, will be fed, will be educated, and will be provided with medication for a full year. Wow. God bless you all! -Tiffany PS. If you have not donated and still wish to do so, I will not be closing the donations for a short while. Tomorrow! 08-19-10 Tomorrow is the big swim! I should have been in bed an hour ago! ahhhhhhh! gotta get to bed but I first wanted to thank everyone one more time for all their donations and support. So far we have raised a total of $957.00 for the children in Africa! I am totally stoked! This is what matters most and I cannot thank you enough. Still trying to reach $2,000 so please spread the word to your friends and family. Also, donations will be accepted after the swim. KTHO has been kind enough to take donations over the radio tomorrow and give live updates so tune in to 590 am or 96.1 fm OR you can listen online at KTHOradio.com Alright, well I should get to bed and get all my sleep in… tomorrow I start at 3:30 am! Also, big thanks to our newest sponsors, Double D Upholstry, Alpine Metals, Maubis Ink, and Firewise. AND!!! a big thanks to the team!!! Chris Anthony, Michelle Carter, Kenny Rutz, Chase Baginski, Howie Neumann, Casey DelaCruz, Janet Carter, and Leonard Carter. Also a big thanks to the Abicht family for all their help with sponsors and the bannana bread! Please Less Than Two Days 08-18-10 Yesterday was my last swim before I attempt to cross Lake Tahoe on Friday! I did the width of Fallen leaf last evening and I owe a big thanks to my friend Jeremy who came out to kayak. The winds were ferocious, and there was a wind advisory on the lake but we made it across and back just fine. The thought however did occur to me as I was swimming “who in their right mind decides to jump in and swim when there is a wind advisory out?” lol Well, there is something that I learned here, after swimming in choppy water preparing for the swim it is amazing how much more I enjoy nice calm water. Anyway, today is a resting day and so is tomorrow. I will be eating a bunch of carbs to gear up for friday… so I will be accepting food donations starting now. haha jk This morning I was interviewed on the local television station here, Lake Tahoe TV. John interview both me and my sister Michelle who will be heading up the Kayaking portion of the swim. Stay posted as I may get an internet link so I can post the interview. Everything is really coming together for the swim. As I mentioned before, Ron Williams with Tahoe Sports donated a boat and I cannot thank you enough. Yesterday, my Dad and good family friend, Don Abicht, set up the gps coordinates for the swim which is pretty cool and it is good to know that I will be able to track how many miles we have accomplished by gps! Also, this week we have been putting together “the team” We will be holding a short meeting tonight as I explain how everything will work. As of right now, there will be three kayakers on the lake around me and one lead boat positioned ahead of me. I would like to thank Tahoe Outdoor Living for donating the Kayaks. The kayakers will rotate between the lead boat and kayaking. I also have two friends that will be pacing me toward the end of the swim, and I would really like my sister to finish the last leg of the swim beside me. I cannot thank enough the people that have helped thus far in the process of the swim. So thanks to everyone and to all the sponsors. As far as the fundraising update, we have raised $485 to send to the school in Africa thus far! It is my goal to reach $2,000 so please donate now. Donations are also welcomed after the swim. Also, tune in to KTHO tomorrow morning at 8am, as I will be discussing more about the swim on the morning show with Dan and Jennifer. KTHO 590 am and 96.1 fm Fundraising Update 08-15-10 Hello Everyone. I wanted to give an update about the funds raised for the children in Africa. So far, we have raised $356 dollars! I am so excited that we are getting closer to $2,000 dollars every day! Also, I would like to thank the new sponsors: Eric Thaden, Flight Deck Restaurant and Bar, Marcus Ashley Galleries, and Linda Wilkins. Please check out our sponsors page to view all the sponsors for the swim. Gonzalez Family Reunion Fundraiser and THANK YOU Ski Run Marina! 08-14-10 a big SHOUT OUT to all the members of the Gonzalez family for supporting the swim for africa with their donation tonight! All I had to do was learn a song in Spanish and sing! In return they have generously supported the kids at Athi River. I really really appreciate their donation and support. Thank you! Other news, we have a lead boat! Yay! A huge thank you to Ski Run Marina for donating a boat for the entire swim. I could not even attempt my swim this friday without a boat so thank you thank you thank you for donating a boat! Camp Rich to Cave Rock!08-12-10

What a day! I swam at least 14 miles today! I can’t believe it… but my shoulders can! We began at 6:30 this morning, swam up towards the Casinos, swam ashore to Nevada Beach, and then up the coastline to Cave Rock! Finished just before 2pm! (That is a long swim I couldn’t have asked for better weather… I thought for sure it was going to be super windy, as it has been for the past couple of days. The wind picked up around 9am but then died down again. Oh what a lovely day! I have to say a big thank you to my sis Chelle for Kayaking the entire way… not an easy task. I also would like to thank my mom for coming out to get us at Cave Rock and Pat Baginski for loaning us his Kayak. Good news! I am so excited because I tried cliff bars today and they were amazing! Favorite swim food…cliff bars and honey sticks! Try it! Also, I am still looking for a lead boat during race day. If you have a boat or know of anyone that would be willing to come help out, it is for a great cause and would be worth their time. Please e-mail me at swimforafrica@yahoo.com or post a comment on the site. Hoy y Ayer8-10-10 Today was an early swim over at Nevada beach. The water was cold! But then I started swimming and life was much better. Not a big swim as I am planning to do Camp Rich to Cave Rock on Thursday this week. Yesterday, my mom, our family friend Nancy, and I all went around town and passed out flyers/ tried to raise sponsorship funds. We got two sponsors for a total of $75 yesterday! Thanks so much to Borges Chiropractic and Lake Tahoe Pediatrics! Also, Staples donated 100 copies of my flyer. So awesome! I am still looking for more sponsors so tell your friends about the swim!

After we ladies went around town I had time to go for a lovely evening swim from a couple posts in on Kiva beach to Valhala and back. While swimming, I was wondering why more people don’t go for evening swims? The water is nice and warm, the sun is setting, and there is hardly anyone around! It is the perfect time to go…plus the lake turns glassy when the sun starts to set. Ahhhhhhhhh Crazy Hail! 8-8-10 So today I went to Fallen Leaf Lake after church and swam the width and back. Greg and Marlene were nice enough to join me on their cute little blue boat, thanks guys! The water was rippin’ and roarin’! For those of you in Tahoe today, you saw the thunderstorm blow in..or at least heard it Swimming to the other side, the water was choppy, but swimming back the sky got terribly mad and the waves were going crazy! I just kept praying that lightning wouldn’t strike the lake, otherwise I would be fried! I was imagining myself being electrocuted and then sinking to the bottom… not a pretty picture, but it sure made me swim as fast as I could to get back to the other side and out of the water! Anyway, the Lord must love me because as soon as I was out of the water, huge thunder roared and giant hail fell from the sky. I lived! I lived! Amazing though to see a summer day turn into a winter day…the hail looked like snow as it covered the ground in white. Such an adventure oh, and I have to give a shout out to my good friends that just got married tonight…Chris and Kelly Skelly! Whoooo hooooo! Congrats guys! As for yesterday, I got up early and drove over to Donner lake to join the Master’s 2.7 mile swim across Donner. I was able to meet up with my friend and swim buddy Howie, and meet his good friend who was really sweet, Megan. I had done the swim in years past, driving to the Lake nervous about the race. But yesterday was really just a bunch of fun…oodles of fun! No nerves, just excitement to get in the water and swim with 300 other swimmers. It really went super fast, and what a goregous morning it was to be on that Lake. Also, quick update on funds…we have raised $200 so far! I am stoked! Fun with Dad 08-04-2010 My Dad was able to Kayak with me for the first time today. It was really fun to have him along as we were out on the Lake for a quick couple of hours. We got out on the lake over at Kiva beach around 3:30 and the water was rather choppy, but just as we were finishing the swim, the lake was so nice and calm. It was beautiful swimming back from ski beach as the sun was setting just over the mountains. Like all swims today was an adventure…and the Lake ate another watch! I lost my first watch over by cascade just before emerald bay and today we lost the second watch! This time closer to the beach somewhere between Kiva and Baldwin. Some lucky kid is going to find a great watch tomorrow, unless the murman gets it. Thanks Dad for a great swim today! Just an update on the shoulder. It is feeling much better today and Jim Gallanty worked magic on it this afternoon. Thanks Jim! Just a quick swim 08-03-2010 Can you believe it is August already? Wow, the swim is really coming up fast. Please tell as many people as you can about it. Today was a quick swim in Fallen Leaf. Just two hours, an hour out and an hour back starting on the beach side. It was great to be back in the water. I woke up last week with a deep aching pain under my left shoulder blade and although it has gotten better it is still there, so I didn’t swim for the last three days hoping that it wasn’t something from swimming. Great news is that I talked to a Physical Therapist friend who knows exactly what is wrong! and, he is going to help fix it, so I am so relieved that it has nothing to do with swimming and I am fine to swim. Yay! I need to do at least two or more long swims this week to keep up the millage. Swimming the width of Tahoe! 07-30-2010 I can’t believe what a great swim we had today! We met at the boat dock at 6am and went over to Emerald Bay. Due to time restraint I had to change course and swam Emerald Bay to Edgewood! Still the width! The water was incredibly smooth for most of the way. The crew consisted of my mother, Janet Carter, my sister, Michelle Carter, and two family friends, Charlie Hamm and Sean Nelson. Thank you to you all! It could not have been done without any one of you! Also, thanks for all your prayers and support. Still gotta rack on more miles if I am going to complete the length in August, but I couldn’t be happier with what I have accomplished so far. Update on donations: so far I have raised $100! Just thought you all should know. Whoooo hooooo! What a swim! Preparation for the width 07-29-2010 Well, tomorrow I am going to swim the width of Tahoe. Pretty sure I am going to go Homewood to Cave Rock (12 miles) The crew consists of my mom, my sister and two family friends Charlie and Sean. I hope all goes well. Made some potato’s tonight and will be drinking Cytomax. Going to need a bunch of rest so I should get to bed! KTHO Radio Morning Show! 07-28-2010 Tune in to KTHO Radio tomorrow morning! I will be talking about the swim You can listen live on the internet at http://www.kthoradio.com/ Lake Tahoe Murman 07-27-2010 Swimming at Nevada Beach this afternoon the water was extremely choppy. There wasn’t anyone out near the bouys swimming and the waves were fairly large. Large enough for me to really feel my body roll up and down in the water. Because of the chop on top of the water, there was a slight murkiness underneath and the water was a very musky-like blue. About half way through my swim I stopped to see where I was and suddenly there was a mans face near by! We looked at each other for a second as the waves grew larger and the wind blew strong. Then I kept swimming and just as I began to swim again I saw the man dive about 15ft in front of me and dolphin kick under water. It wouldn’t have surprised me so much, but he had two huge giant fins! I stopped to look up and saw him butterfly swim away from me with his giant fins. Then he went under and I couldn’t see where he went over the waves! He vanished into Lake Tahoe! He is the Lake Tahoe Murman! Warning: The Lake Tahoe Murman is most likely very friendly. Nothing to be weary of while swimming. However, if you do see the murman of Lake Tahoe, it is best not to make eye contact and slowly swim away. KTHO Morning Show! 07-27-2010 I am so excited because I have been asked to talk about the swim and the Athi River Children on the Morning Show with Jennifer and Dan! Please tune in 8am Thursday morning! Today I am going to do an easy swim at Nevada Beach. Getting ready for the width on friday. Once I do friday’s swim I will know a bunch more about swimming across Tahoe and if I think I can really accomplish the length (22 miles!) in August. NEWS! 07-26-2010 I am so excited to announce that I will be attempting to swim the width of Lake Tahoe this Friday, 07-30-2010! I just secured a boat to lead the way thanks to a great family friend, Charlie Hamm. We will be starting at 6:30 in the morning and I believe it will take me close to 6 hours to complete the width. I still need to figure out exactly which point to point I would like to swim. I will be keeping you updated about everything. Also, great news…the website donations page has been completed!!! Please share the site with your friends and family. I also want to thank my friend Nick Johnson for helping me set up my donations page with PayPal. Feel free to check it out now. Until next time! -Tiff Kiva to Emerald Bay 7-23-2010 Well, what can I say…win some/lose some. I almost made it to Emerald Bay but had to turn around because I had to get to work. I made it to the first inlet, past the cascade houses…etc. The swim was gorgeous though. The water was so calm this morning. My “drag bag” (the bag I put all my water and food in) however, was extremely heavy. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it… I got so annoyed I left it at someones dock so I could actually swim! lol Anyway, I finally found out that I was dragging it in the upright position so I was accumulating a ton of water. Felt like I was pulling a bag of bricks. Good news is that I fixed the problem for the swim back. Bad news, I lost my timing watch. However, I remain pretty optimistic about the swim. It was a great morning, and a great workout. Also, someone likes to go boating in the area and they blast some great tunes…so when I stop for a break I get to listen to some good jams always a plus. Swimming Kiva Beach! 7-22-2010 Today was a nice short swim. Great weather too. Swam Kiva to the boat beach at baldwin and back. Props to my friend Jim who swam with me, his first open water swim! yeah Jim! It was super fun. Looking forward to tomorrow morning. Going to be swimming Kiva to Emerald Bay and back Whoo hoo! Hello World! I am so excited that the site is up and running! I now just have to tell people about it! So, please share this with your family and friends! Anyway, yesterday was the longest swim I ever accomplished and what do I have to show for it today? A nice big sunburned face!!! I feel great! Yesterday, the water was warm, I swam 10 miles…the perimeter of Fallen Leaf Lake and I would like to give a shout out to my mom for being there to give a huge “whoop whoop!” when I finished! It was a really great swim. I started at 7am with my friend Howie, who joined the first two miles (yeah Howie!) and finished at 12:18! The water was very calm, I couldn’t have asked for a better day to do something like this. I will be training more this week and I hope to do the width of Lake Tahoe in the next couple of weeks! So stay tuned!

Just after swimming Fallen Leaf!

A Huge Thank You to Chris Skelly for helping my buy the domain name and set-up the site. Thank You!