Christine Whelan FEO, August 4, 2022, VOL. 3 ISSUE 25
Becky Yuan ended her incredible journey at the shore of Crystal Beach after successfully completing a carefully planned and coordinated lake swim on Wednesday, July 20th.
The triathlon coach and mother of twin girls from Mississauga stepped into the water at Sturgeon Point to Crystal Beach, a total of approximately 20 kilometres, bringing awareness and raising money for Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, Keeping Girls in Sports program.
I spoke with Becky the following Saturday, giving her a chance to rest up a little.
Becky Yuan, Three Days Later: Her Experience, Her Words
For me, it was the most important question, one to be asked first. How are you feeling today? “Much better. My brain isn’t as foggy.”
She touched on the raw feeling, that came to her first. “The exertion was more than I have ever experienced in my life. Coming out of the water, that water was cold, to me, it was cold after a few hours. And just the fatigue, overall, was incredible. The next day, I wasn’t speaking coherently. In my mind, I was speaking, but my words weren’t coming out.”
With a sigh and a little laugh, “So yes, I’m better today.”
The Lake, The Route
As Becky is from the other side of Lake Ontario, I was curious to know why she chose Lake Erie and the specific start and end points. The swimmer clarified, “Lake Erie is a lot shorter than Lake Ontario. Logistically, it was easier to put together. With Lake Ontario, the sanctioning body is Solo Swims of Ontario and they required four boats. With Lake Erie, it’s a smaller body of water and talking to people who have done the swim across Lake Erie, they said it could be done with one solid boat crew.”
The Training
Becky started learning to swim six years ago. “Before October, my swim was triathlon-based. So, nothing more than three kilometres.
She started to train specifically for the lake swim in November. “I went from swimming twice a week to six days a week.”
Her Support
Yuan couldn’t have made it without her support team. “The people we were able to connect with, the Orange Force Marines, are phenomenal. The amount of expertise was beyond anything I’ve ever seen.”
Talking with high regard for her team. “They were picked for their personalities. I needed a crew that could work together because they would be together in a small boat for nine hours.
“Before the event, we went over every contingency plan there could be and everybody knew the protocol if anything was to happen.” Details about her crew are on the website.
The Swim
She shared some of her thoughts and emotions during those hours in the water. Her beginning sentence spoke far more than those six words. “I did question my life decisions. The waves were more than I have ever experienced and for that extended period of time. But just knowing that people had donated to this, people who believed in what I was doing, who understand that the equality and the quality of sports and coaching for girls are just not there.”
When she first saw land, “I saw it, and it was still very far away. I saw land about six kilometres out. There was still a good two or three hours left to swim.
“When we got to the last thousand yards, I was told there were a thousand to go, I thought, I can count a thousand strokes, I can do it. But then, the storm was coming in. I could feel the wind. I could feel the currents pushing me the wrong way. I was counting and we were moving very slowly. Every twenty strokes I had to stop because the waves were crashing over my head.”
The swim across the lake was anticipated to take six to eight hours, “It took nine hours and eleven minutes.”
Becky remembers the first moment her feet touched the sand. “I thought, oh my gosh, this feels so good. We’re done! We’re done! We did it!” She described it as the most awesome feeling in the world.
They ended up at the boat launch. “I was aiming for the beach, my family was waiting for me on the beach, but the current was pushing me the wrong way. We started moving diagonally instead of straight to land.”
The swimmer managed to walk up the boat launch, but then, “I sat down right away. That was it. I couldn’t get up after that.”
When asked if she went home to sleep, “No. It felt like the world was still moving, as if I was still out, in the lake, with the waves, up and down, up and down.” This lasted until the very day.
“I was told the lake is an adventure in itself. It’s very unpredictable. It’s always choppy, always wavy. I was told to be mentally prepared for it. It was constant, from the first stroke to the very last.”
Was it worth it? “Oh, yes.”
Becky’s Motivation: Obstacles, Inspiration and Solutions
Yuan is a mom first. So, it’s not surprising where the drive to achieve this ‘Mount Everest type of challenge’ originated from. “During COVID, my girls were not able to go to the gym. They weren’t able to see their teammates or practice. And I saw them becoming depressed, and having anxiety issues. When it was time to pick up their schedules for high school this year, I told the girls they had to take Phys. Ed. But when they went to choose their schedules, there wasn’t Phys. Ed. available for girls.
“There was Phys. Ed. for grade nine for girls but that was it. There was Phys. Ed. for boys all the way up to grade twelve.”
She suggested to the girls to apply for boy’s Phys. Ed. “They did not get it. They were put into Kinesiology, but there was no physical activity whatsoever.
“There weren’t any sports programs or any teams for girls in their high school either. There were teams before COVID, but afterwards, they were gone.” Becky’s daughters attend high school in Mississauga.
“This angered me because there are so many barriers for girls. And this is another one that we have to go through.
“So, when I was researching, what can I do, how can I help, I saw Jumpstart was launching a new program this year, Keeping Girls in Sports. There was a study done. In a survey in 2021, one in four girls were not returning to sports after the pandemic.”
The idea to cross the lake came in October.
Becky explained that she is on a mission to inspire girls. “They just need one person to tell them that they can do it, whatever it is.” Turning back to her own accomplishment and reminding herself, “I’m not a pro swimmer or an Olympic athlete. This swim is to show that with proper planning and the right mindset, every dream becomes a goal that is achievable.”
Jumpstart Charities is a program to give all kids a chance to be in sports no matter their economic circumstances. A family can apply and Jumpstart may pay for all the equipment, the coaching fees, and everything they would need to be on that team, to participate. “Jumpstart opens the door for them to get in.”
Becky sees Jumpstart as an alternative and short-term solution to the programs being taken out of schools at this time.
In looking to make change for future days, Becky suggested, “It starts at the grassroots. Community sports programs. And when elections come around, elect a school trustee who would advocate for the girls.”
Yuan advocates that girls have a lot of potential, “An untapped source right there. There’s a lot of power, there’s a lot of grit in girls. Girls can achieve everything they put their heads to. As long as the obstacles are not in the way to stop them.”
And Becky’s mission carries on. “I have a slot reserved to swim the English Channel in two years.”
If you want to learn more about Becky’s story and Jumpstart Charities, check out the website, http://bit.ly/swimgirl2022 or type #swimlikeagirl2022
At the time of the interview, Becky said the donations were sitting at approximately $4,600. There is also a direct link on the website if you are drawn to donate to Jumpstart.
Photo by Miguel Vadillo
