‘Got it done… it’s off the list’

After 12 hours of wind, waves and a painful shoulder, Jonathon Fenton has finished what he started, making it across Lake Winnipeg.

The 62-year-old two-time cancer survivor completed the roughly 26-kilometre swim Sunday, a year after shoulder problems forced him to stop 16 kilometres into his first attempt.

The swim was the second year of Fenton’s Jonny’s Big Swim fundraiser, which supports the Alberta Cancer Foundation, CancerCare Manitoba Foundation and Health Sciences Centre Foundation.

He raised roughly $48,000 this year, bringing the two-year total to about $90,000.

“It was super wavy, like all day long,” Fenton said. “It was a long one, but I finished it. Got it done.”

Fenton entered the water at about 7:30 a.m. at Gimli and reached Grand Beach around 7:30 p.m.

The wind and waves made the final stretch particularly difficult.

With about a kilometre to go, Fenton said he was actually being pushed backward despite swimming forward.

His shoulder also became a problem again during the swim. Somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters of the way through, the pain became severe enough that he switched to a one-arm front crawl.

Despite the rough conditions, he said the water was clear and free of algae.

“I did feel like tapping out, I must say, quite a few times,” he said. “But I just thought, ‘Oh, I don’t have to come back and do it again.’”

Instead, he thought about the people currently going through cancer treatment.

Fenton was first diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1999 while living in Japan. He returned to Winnipeg for treatment at Health Sciences Centre and through CancerCare Manitoba. The cancer returned 20 years later, and he underwent a stem cell transplant at Calgary’s Tom Baker Cancer Centre in January 2020. He has been cancer-free since.

“I just thought back to the time in the hospital, my two stints there, and just going through different procedures, and then thinking the people that were actually going through it right now,” Fenton said.

“I just thought, OK, just, you know, this isn’t as hard, so keep going.”

He has received more than $1,300 in pledges per kilometre, though the final amount still needs to be tallied.

“It feels awesome just to give back,” Fenton said.

Fenton never got into the accompanying pontoon boat during the 12-hour swim, instead stopping alongside it for Gatorade, bananas, oatmeal, electrolyte pills and pickle juice when he developed muscle cramps.

After finally completing the crossing, Fenton said he is ready to leave Lake Winnipeg swims behind.

“Had I not done it, I probably would have tried again,” he said. “But nope, got it done, and it’s off the list.”

zoe.pierce@freepress.mb.ca