Mark Johnston has a dream to turn Flathead Lake into an international destination for open water swimmers.
The 54-year-old Polson man has lived along the lake for two years and takes a dip almost every day. But Johnston is no ordinary swimmer. He has spent the last decade coaching and competing in open swim events across the country and just this year, he competed at the inaugural United States Winter Swimming Championships in Vermont. Johnston, who is retired now, has even taken a dip in the English Channel, although his own attempt to swim the 21 miles between England and France in 2009 was foiled by sour weather.
But Johnston’s greatest swim to date happened last fall when he followed the route of the bobbing bruin, a grizzly bear that was tagged by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park employees. The female bear swam 15 miles, from Painted Rocks Point near Rawlings to the east side, via Wild Horse and Bird islands, in September 2011. Johnston stumbled upon the story last year when he was researching open water swimming on the lake and thought retracing the bear’s path would be a great way to bring awareness to the sport.
“It was a great day,” he said of the 15-mile swim over Labor Day weekend 2014. “The stars and moon aligned and the weather was great and water temperatures were perfect.”
Johnston’s journey took nearly nine hours and he followed traditional English Channel rules by wearing only swim trunks, a cap and goggles. Johnston took breaks during the trip and had two support boats following him.
After completing the route of the bobbing bruin, Johnston decided he would swim the lake from north to south, a distance of 28 miles. He plans on making his first attempt on June 21, although he’ll reschedule the attempt if the weather does not cooperate. Johnston said three people have swam from Somers to Polson before, but no one has done it without the warmth of a wetsuit.
“There are so many things that could happen and that’s a little scary,” he said. “I could make it three-quarters of the way and then the winds might change and I may not be able to finish it.”
But Johnston said he is determined to swim across the lake this year and once he does it he is sure more will follow suit. After all, he said, it’s one of the cleanest and most attractive lakes in the United States.
“It really could be the English Channel of the Northwestern United States.”