The 157er

Swimming the Islands of Lake George

By Lauren Meilhede

This past summer I finished a brand new (completely made up) swim challenge. Instead of enduring the great feat of swimming the length of Lake George, I swam around all the named (and many unnamed) islands in the lake. 

Five years ago, when my husband and I bought a boat, we started to explore Lake George from the water. With this newfound lake access, my family and I became fascinated with exploring the lake and all of the islands – most state-owned. While enjoying Picnic Island with the family one day, I slipped into the water and started swimming. I ended up swimming along the shoreline and circumnavigated the entire thing. My first island. 

I’ve always been interested in swimming but I’m not necessarily fast. I had joined the masters swim team at the Glens Falls YMCA a few years prior and met some wonderful fellow swim enthusiasts. They opened up my swim world to include open water swimming. I entered a few open water swim events, which were fun but I always felt a little nervous about the competition, the number of people swimming over one another, and no opportunity to check out the fish beneath me. 

At some point in conversations about open water swimming, my swim friends, Bob Singer and Deb Roberts, shared that they had had the idea to swim around all the islands in Lake George – reminiscent of the High Peaks 46er hiking challenge. This was a swim challenge I could do at my own pace while exploring the entire lake. I found a map online from the Lake George Park Commission and, although there are some inconsistencies (like Rush Island being submerged underwater), it served as my guide throughout the challenge.

From that point forward, anywhere we boated, I was swimming around an island. My family was on board too. My daughter brought me hot coffee to the dock after a morning swim around Turtle Island during a camping trip. My son and daughter accompanied me on multiple island swims – ask them about Gull Island if you have a chance. My husband and son would navigate the boat and help me figure out the best swim direction based on wind and where the boat could drift while I swam. We even made up the metric “ISPBT” – Island Swims Per Boat Trip. By the way, my best ISPBT was 11.

I encountered countless fish, had a few bald eagle sightings, and picked up a variety of items along the way that didn’t belong in the lake. 

Dome Island was probably my favorite swim. It was an early morning swim with few boats nearby, no docks to navigate around and plenty of nature. My family trolled along nearby – my son fishing off the back of the boat, my husband driving, and my daughter eating waffles she brought from home. 

Not all of the swims were so pleasant, however. The day I chose to swim the Harbor Island group was a cold and windy day. The lake was rough with white caps and I had more than a few mouthfuls of water during the swim. At Scotch Bonnet Island I encountered an aggressive gull that tried to bomb me – I’m guessing she may have been protecting a nest on the small island. Some of the islands were rather busy. I appreciated the boat accompanying me around Green Island, near The Sagamore Resort, given the boat traffic. 

 Long Island was by far the biggest swim clocking in at about 2.5 miles and taking me two hours. I knew that there was potential for a lot of boat traffic in that area, so I picked an early morning in September, when it was much quieter on the lake but the water was still warm. No other island was close to being that large. After Long Island, the rest of the challenge felt like more of a scavenger hunt than an athletic feat. 

On a recent beautiful September afternoon, I swam around Tea Island and crossed the final island off my list. My spreadsheet summed up my distance: 157 islands, 36.35 miles swam, with an in-water time of 29 hours and 17 minutes. Certainly not a fast swim but an enjoyable time for sure. 

I’m so grateful to have had this opportunity, support of my family and friends, and access to such a beautiful lake. Lake George will always hold a special place in my heart.

Lauren Meilhede (lmeilhede@gmail.com) is a pediatrician and mom who lives in Queensbury. When not in the water she enjoys mountain biking and hiking with her dogs.