Never too old to learn...to swim

Craig Burns during his attempt to swim the length of Lake Taupo with son Jack in rowing support. PHOTO/Supplied

Eighteen months after learning to swim Hastings man Craig Burns reckoned it was time for the sort of dip which would put his relatively new skills to work.

So he decided to swim from one end of Lake Taupo to the other - the not inconsiderable distance of around 40km.

And at the end of the day, which unfortunately turned out to be the time when the wind picked up, he very nearly did it.

It was last weekend when he took it on, and with about 35km behind him and the finish point in sight about 5km ahead, he had to call it quits as the wind and the rising white caps had become had become too strong to battle through.

"So I'm going to go back around November-December and have another go at it - I'll do it," the 48-year-old said.

Before learning how to swim properly the only previous "experience" he had was as a youngster.

"I did a little bit of swimming and splashing around then."

But it was after he started seeking ways to try and relieve back pains he was experiencing that swimming was suggested.

So he took his first tentative strokes and kicks and it went from there.

He trained at the Flaxmere Pools and began to skill up the "techniques" of strong swimming.

"It's all about the technique."

He had previously ventured out for a couple of triathlons but the swimming legs were more than he could deal with so stuck with the cycling and running.

But as his swimming skills improved he began thinking about putting them to the challenge.

He started thinking about having a crack at the great lake about six months ago.

"I don't really know why I wanted to do it except that I like a long distance challenge," he said.

"I was going to do Cook Strait but it costs a fair bit to do that and I didn't have the money."

So as well as his swimming sessions he began going to the gym and "upped the ante" by putting in two sessions a day.

Three months ago he stepped up the swimming lessons and felt ready to take it on.

His family were right behind him - in fact they would form the boat crews with his brother Darren and cousin Craig both preparing and trailering up their boats for the drive to Taupo.

Among the "crew" were his wife Debbie and son Jack, who accompanied his dad in a kayak, and they spurred him on.

The swim went well although there were periods where his shoulders got sore, but then came right again and he started feeling pretty good.

He took regular snacks of bananas, walnuts, chocolate and protein powders.

Only in the last hour of the just over 12 he was in the water did his back began to ache, but it was the rising wind and white caps which caused him to give it away.

"And it was getting dark - you just don't risk it."

He was disappointed but getting so close to his ambitious target has only made him more determined.

But he has another long-distance target to have a go for before next summer's return to the waters of Lake Taupo.

If the conditions are right he is planning to swim from the Napier Port to Cape Kidnappers in about a month's time - a distance of about 22.6km.

"And I've got some triathlons to do as well - the older you get the more you want to do," he said with a laugh.