Posted: 6/27/07
Jelmeland to brave the English Channel
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Learn more about the Channel swim For more information about the 2007 Channel Challenge Relay Team, visit www.ywcampls.org/channel. To offer financial support for Anoka's own Jordan Jelmeland as she swims with the Channel Challenge Masters Relay Team, give a gift in honor of Jelmeland and send it to: YWCA Channel Challenge, 1130 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55403-2475. Call the YWCA at 612-332-0501 to learn even more. |
by Sue Austreng
Staff writer
Her red hair sparkling in the morning sunshine as clear blue water sparkled around her in the swimming pool, Jordan Jelmeland "listened to the fishies and talked to the fishies" as young swimmers surround her, watching and learning the proper front crawl breathing technique.
The casual summery surrounds at the Anoka Aquatic Center swimming pool – four-foot, eight-inch water depth, 85-degree water temperature, smooth rippling surface, 75-degree air temperature, giggling young swimmers – is in stark contrast to the surroundings Jelmeland anticipates next month when she travels across the pond to swim the English Channel.
Jelmeland, a lifelong Anoka resident and avid swimmer since her toddler years, is part of the six-swimmer YWCA Channel Challenge Masters Relay team.
The relay team departs the Land of 10,000 Lakes July 22 and will swim across the English Channel one day that week. The exact date of the Channel swim depends on weather conditions along the 22-mile stretch.
Training to swim the Channel means Jelmeland and her teammates take frequent dips in chilly 60-degree lake water, kicking, stroking and bobbing among pleasure boaters, playful swimmers and persistent anglers for up to an hour at a time.
Those conditions are needed for the Channel swimmers' training sessions in order to simulate the conditions the team expects to encounter in the Channel.
Other dangers and distractions in the Channel include the current, the tide, jellyfish, driftwood, cold water, cold air and heavy boat traffic.
The narrowest distance across the Channel between England and France is 22 miles, but with currents and tides, the team will swim approximately 25-30 miles.
Each swimmer will go as far as they can in one hour before the next swimmer takes his or her place in the water.
According to Channel swimming regulations, swimmers are not allowed to have any contact with other swimmers, they cannot wear wetsuits, stop swimming or hold onto their escort boat.
While about 25 U.S. relay teams have crossed the Channel, the 2007 Channel Challenge Masters Relay Team will be the first all-Minnesotan adult relay team to attempt to swim the Channel.
Add to those facts the dangers and distractions coming from within Jelmeland, the youngest member of the Channel Challenge Masters Relay Team, and this looks like a tough swim.
Jelmeland, just 21 years old, has never traveled overseas. She's never experienced European cultures, foods, languages and routines.
Not only that, Jelmeland has endured frequent shoulder injuries and just beat skin cancer last year.
And she still has money to raise. Jelmeland needs to raise $3,600 of the team's $20,000 goal before the Channel swimmers depart July 22.
Seems like the tide may be flowing against this young team of swimmers, but ask Jelmeland and she'll say facing the dangers and distractions is well worth the effort.
"I love swimming. I love competing and I hope to inspire people to go after their most impossible dreams and make them a reality," Jelmeland said.
"Besides, this swim has purpose."
The 2007 Channel swim is part of the YWCA of Minneapolis' Swim for a Change campaign, helping increase awareness of disparities in access to swimming among communities of color in Minnesota, Jelmeland said.
As part of the campaign, swimmers are raising money to help support YWCA programs that provide swimming opportunities for under-represented children and youth, including swim instruction, swim team participation and job training as lifeguards, instructors and coaches.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, people of color have been nearly twice as likely to drown as white people in Hennepin County. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that children of color across the nation are 2.6 times more likely to drown that their white counterparts.
The YWCA believes it can break this cycle by increasing access to swimming instruction opportunities in communities of color.
Jelmeland couldn't agree more. "Swimming is a vital, life-saving skill," she said.
"Everyone should have the opportunity to learn how to swim. In the Land of 10,000 Lakes it's very important to learn how to swim," Jelmeland said.
Jelmeland, who at three years old learned to swim at the then-Charles Horn Pool on 7th Avenue in Anoka, has served six years as lifeguard at the same pool, now known as the Anoka Aquatic Center. She's also taught swimming lessons there as a certified water safety instructor.
As a pre-teen, Jelmeland swam on the Anoka High School swim team before swimming for Andover High School during her teen years. Jelmeland finished her high school career as a member of the 2005 PACT School graduating class.
Sue Austreng is at sue.austreng@ecm-inc.com.
Information also provided by the YWCA of Minneapolis.
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