For the past year, Danville resident Ken Harmon has been training hard. Harmon, who plans to swim across the length of Lake Tahoe on Aug. 22, has been swimming roughly 200 laps a day in his 25-yard pool.
He trains six days a week for his epic swim, which will benefit the Danville Aquatic Center, being planned for San Ramon Valley High School. He also has abstained completely from drinking alcohol to help increase his hydration.
“It’s just another little extra. It gives you that discipline to challenge yourself. These are the little tests before you do the big test,” said Harmon.
The big test will start on the south side of Lake Tahoe at Camp Richardson at 6 a.m. Harmon will swim without a wet suit in the chilly water from Camp Richardson in the south to Hyatt Hotel Beach at Incline Village in the north. Only four other swimmers, three women and one man, have ever done an open swim lengthwise across the lake, said Harmon.
“Each one started and finished at a different point. I’m trying to standardize it,” said Harmon. He has plotted his course with the help of the Coast Guard.
Swimming the length of Tahoe is certainly no walk in the park, but then again Harmon is not your average swimmer. He expects the water temperature to be no lower than 52 degrees but no higher than 68 degrees. Tahoe is also situated a daunting 6,225 feet above sea level. The water’s crystal clear qualities are beautiful to admire, but while swimming, Harmon will be able to see 73 feet below him. “It’s like being on a seven-story building,” he said.
Harmon seems calm in the face of Tahoe’s largesse. He has swum the width of Lake Tahoe three times before. He has also swum from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge and has done an ocean swim from Linai to Maui without a shark cage.
Harmon’s first priority is to properly pace himself. He knows from an experience he had swimming across the 20-mile-long Lake Washington not to go out too fast.
“I had an unpleasant experience. I went out fast, by the time I got to seven hours, I was absolutely spent. I’m going to hydrate and eat more frequently early on,” he said.
By swimming Tahoe, Harmon will also be raising money for the upcoming Danville Aquatic Center. Two-and-a-half years ago, a group of fathers whose children were involved in aquatics at San Ramon Valley High School began organizing an effort to raise money for a new pool.
They wanted a pool sufficient for deep water polo, warm-up lanes, and diving practice. The existing pool, they believe, is too small and shallow for these activities. The new pool would be for both the students and the public.
They realized the construction of a new pool could coincide with Measure A renovations already slated at the high school. They worked with the school district and Danville and made sure space was reserved next to the existing pool at the high school for the new pool.
Total design and construction costs for the new pool, which will be twice the size of the existing pool, will be $2.5 million, said Grant Finlayson, chairman of the committee to raise funds for the Danville Aquatic Center.
Close to 300 families in Danville and Alamo have already made significant pledges. Currently, pledges have exceeded $500,000, said Finlayson. The group will continue to pursue individual pledges but it also will be asking for money from the school district and this fall will ask the Danville Town Council for $750,000. Designs for the 33-meter pool are under way and they hope to start construction next spring, with the pool being ready to use in fall 2006, said Finlayson.
Their fundraising efforts will get a boost from Harmon’s swim across Tahoe. Harmon had already intended on doing the 22-mile swim when he found out about local effort to raise money for a new aquatic center in Danville. “I always knew if I were to do the length of Tahoe, I would do it for charity,” he said.
Harmon, whose son Ben swims for the Sycamore Sting Rays, believes the students at San Ramon Valley High School need an up-to-date swimming pool, especially for their water polo teams, and that the entire community of Danville will benefit from a new larger pool as well.
Harmon has raised approximately $15,000 of his $100,000 goal. He believes he will reach the $100,000 mark. “There are some people holding back to see if I can do it,” Harmon joked.
In addition to people sponsoring his swim, Harmon expects up to 500 people to be there in Tahoe cheering him on. “There will be quite an entourage,” he said. Harmon expects family from across the country and a lot of friends and family from the area.
He will also have a crew of people assisting him in his swim. Harmon’s wife, Marcia, an experienced tri-athlete and runner, will be kayaking next to him the entire time. She will keep him hydrated, feed him, and monitor how he is doing.
“She knows what to look for. She sees how my rhythm is, if I’m strong, how my arms are doing,” said Harmon.
Harmon will also have two pacers with him at all times. Craig Klasser is a two- time water polo Olympian and Dr. Mike Ennis played water polo with Harmon at University of the Pacific. One of them will swim with Harmon every other hour for a half hour. Open swimmers are not allowed to lean or rest on anything or anyone. Throughout the swim, Harmon will be surrounded by his team but will not be able to take breaks or rest.
He hopes to swim the 22 miles in less than 12 hours. “I can’t find anything faster than 12 hours, 36 minutes; 11 hours or 10 something would definitely give me the ability to say ‘try that,'” said Harmon.
For more information on the Danville Aquatic Center, visit
