August 3 was a great day for the much anticipated ILC "Making Waves For Music" swim-a-thon. Visibility was good and the water was 63 degrees - a few degrees warmer than normal. Pastor David Dahl and his kayak escort, Vince Grimaldi, arrived at the Capitola wharf area about 7:30 a.m., checked in with the USMS National Open Water Championship 2003 officials and went to work. The ILC support team donned their "Pastor David Dahl Harbor Seal Fan Club" official T-shirts and also got busy - mainly taking pictures and marveling at how many things could be stuffed into a kayak. After a brief but heartfelt prayer, we marched down to the beach.

The race officials began their briefing about 8 a.m. and as they talked about ocean dangers, hypothermia and the location of the nearest hospitals, our concern for Pastor David grew. He's 54 years old and has been a competitive swimmer for more than 30 years, but this was his first 10K open water ocean event. Perhaps we could think of a safer way to raise funds for our youth music ministry? Then the kayaks were launched (ours sported an identifying balloon) and the race was about to begin.

Within a few minutes of the race's start about 8:25 a.m. the swimmers had reached their kayak escorts and were headed out to sea - way out, about 3/4 of a mile. The ILC support team was already out of breath from running from the starting line on the beach all the way to the end of the Capitola wharf to try to get pictures of little bobbing heads and flashing arms. Good thing we weren't in the competition! Our cell phones were ringing continuously as ILC members tried to gauge how long they had after first service ended to get to the finish line to cheer in Pastor David.

Over 20 ILC supporters gathered at the finish line near the Santa Cruz wharf, peering out to sea. Binoculars were passed around, as swimmers were sighted but none with florescent green caps swimming near a blue/green kayak trailing a balloon. Then we had a sighting! Whoops, false alarm. Then the cry went up; Pastor David had rounded the end of the wharf and was slowly heading our way. We learned later that he had a mild case of hypothermia and his stroke count had dropped from an initial 66 per minute to about 57 per minute during the last hour in the cold water. The beach crowd erupted into shouts of encouragement - everybody, not just the ILC folks. Pastor David reached the shore and emerged from the water soggy, groggy but upright and victorious - he had completed the full 10K race! His official time was 3 hours, 20 minutes and 16 seconds. He placed 5th in the 50 - 54 age division, 32nd overall, and #1 in our book.

More quickly than we thought possible - about 30 minutes and a hot tub dunking later - Pastor David had recovered and went to lunch with the ILC Harbor Seals. Now we're all thinking ahead to planning the youth music ministry ... and to next year's swim-a-thon? Pastor David?

You can still make a pledge/donation for our Making Waves for Music Challenge!

Official banner at Capitola wharf	Pastor's support team gets busy
Steve greases up our swimmer...	...and provides a little 'zip'!
Listening intently to race instructions	Enjoying the day the Lord hath made
The escort kayak is prepped...	... and launched

Contemplating 63 degree water	Surf's up!
Apprehensive?	On your mark, get set...
... GO!	Pastor David is definitely all wet
Check out the guy in the green cap	Pastor, in deep water again, finds his kayak escort

Meanwhile at Santa Cruz wharf....	Are those swimmers or harbor seals?
We see Pastor David!	Vince gets the crowd's attention
3 hours 20 minutes after starting...	...Pastor David finishes the 10K!
Recovering	Our Hero!
Pastor David Dahl Harbor Seal Fan Club ...	... celebrating 10K success