Swimming across the Northumberland Strait is no easy feat, but a group of water enthusiasts will make the trip in support of Brigadoon Village.
It is a camp for kids with special needs in Atlantic Canada.
Mischka Jacobs from Moncton is back in training after 15 years.
“I competed in open water swimming when I was in high school, and I’ll be honest, it’s been 15 years. Not anything like high levels, it was just something I did with my school, and my maximum distance rate was a mile. The big swim is completely out of my comfort zone. It’s completely unknown territory, and it’s really exciting. So I guess you could say I’m coming out of retirement, ” Jacobs told our newsroom.
She says the decision to sign up was sudden, almost impulsive.
“I did the Dobson Trail in a day on my own, and the next day, when I was lying on my couch, unable to walk, I was Googling things that I could do that were just as crazy, because I was still on the adrenaline high. Most of it was running, and I’ve never done that. Then I came across, I think it was the Big Ride, and I thought, oh, this is pretty neat. Then, looking on the website, I found the Big Swim, and I was like, oh my gosh, this is it. This is the thing I have to do,” Jacobs explained.
She says she is a pretty good swimmer, but she’s really unsure if she can swim all the way from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island.
“We’ll find out on the day, but it’s such a cool and unique event, and so iconic for the region. It’s a beautiful bridge. You’re swimming from one province to another. You get to do it with a friend in a kayak. You get to swim under the bridge and alongside it. You have to train in the pool, and then you have to transition into the ocean, and you have to learn about trying to fuel and drink water, where you can’t stand and dealing with salt water for six to eight hours and the effects of that. What do you eat and drink while you’re swimming? And, honestly, you have to wear a wetsuit. Are you going to pee in your wetsuit? Can you hold it for that long?” Jacobs joked.
She says it’s also an opportunity to learn about your own body and its physical capabilities, and you can push yourself in a way you’ve never done before.
“It’s just a beautiful, magnificent event, physically, the landscape, the idea of it, and then you top it off with the fact that it supports the Brigadoon Village, which is so special because of all the phenomenal work they do with kids,” Jacobs adds.
Training began last year for Jacobs, with a couple of ocean swims at the end of 2024. She has now transitioned back into the pool and is swimming as a member of a Masters team that practices at the Dieppe Aquatic Centre.
“The coach does speed work and really focuses on techniques and lung capacity, and stroke efficiency, which is super important. Then I do longer swims on my own.”
Jacobs is 33 years old, but she says she’s no longer a spring chicken. When she first got back into the water, she thought it would be like riding a bicycle.
“It was not. I was so disoriented by the way the water moves. I would only do a mile, and then the next day, I would have back spasms. It’s a whole new journey,” Jacobs says.
The Big Swim is scheduled for July 27.
Swimmers leave from the beach at the Cape Jourimain Nature Centre.
You can sponsor Jacobs or any of the other swimmers online. Or you can donate to Camp Brigadoon directly.
