The check in for the race and chip pick up was seamless. Everyone on the beach was friendly and helpful. However, it seemed the folks on the beach had no idea what was going on out on the lake. My main issue was with the swim safety itself. For the 5 km event there were no safety paddlers or any support boats. I recognize this was supposed to be arranged by individual swimmers, but to run a 5 km event in moderate winds with severe chop and whitecaps without ANY support was crazy. There should have been a plan in place for windy conditions. I was in the water for over 2 hours in really challenging conditions, and never once saw any support on the water. At the start of the race, the first white buoy was blown way off course. Therre were about 15 of the 5 km swimmers who ended up following the buoy off course until we yelled to each other and figured it out. There was no race official to come and let us know what was going on or even check on us at any point. Choppy water makes sighting difficult and many people got off course. At one point I couldn't see any buoy or other swimmer (there were only 25 swimmers in the 5 km spread out over large distances) While this is a beautiful lake to swim in I would never recommend this event to a beginner. Lastly, the only after swim snacks left after the whole ordeal was a granola bar or dried out pre-packaged banana bread. For the $100.00 + registration fee, I would have expected more. I would not swim this event again unless there were improvements .

I love the Osoyoos Across the Lake swim event! It's the second year I've participated and while the water was choppy and hard to swim in at times, it was a very well organized event. The volunteers and staff were very encouraging, positive and helpful. The only thing that would make this more memorable would be either receiving a finisher medal or having the option to buy one at registration. Nothing like event bling. :) Can't wait to swim in more Across the Lake events. It's going to be an annual event for me!

This is my second time participating in Across the Lake Swim and the reason I signed up this year is because everyone was so friendly, supportive and fun! I even enjoyed the challenge that the wind brought. I will sign up for another race next year. Thank you to everyone who helped out.