Polson swimmer advocates for clean water in Flathead Lake

By KYLIE RICHTER

Lake County Leader

Mark Johnston might be a little crazy. 

Or maybe he just really likes swimming. Over the last several years, Johnston has become an open water swim competitor, with a special interest in cold water. This past February, he competed in the winter swimming championship in Vermont, where they cut a hole in the ice for swimmers to compete. Johnston won two out of the four events, which included 25 and 100-yard races on a day when the wind chill was minus 20 degrees. Competitors filled out a questionnaire about why they were competing. Johnston said he laughed and put “I finally found a sport that is conducive for my body shape, since I have a little extra insulation.”

Johnston and his wife moved from Denver to Polson to help get the Mission Valley Aquatics center started. Now they have moved on to volunteering with groups like the Flathead Lakers, who work to protect clean water and healthy ecosystems. The group has over 1,500 members and was formed in 1958. “ There is synergy between open water swimming and clean water, so I’ve connected up with them to help out,” he said. “It just makes a lot of sense that if I’m swimming I should help protect the water. It goes hand in hand.”

Johnston picked up competitive swimming at an early age and continued through high school. After that, it wasn’t until later in life that he picked it up again. He and his wife Dana were swim coaches in Denver, and have both become avid swimmers. Johnston coached the United States masters team at the world championships in Sweden.

However, Johnston didn’t pick up open-water swimming until 2008, when he and a group of his friends in Denver decided to form a relay to swim the English Channel. Unfortunately, the group was never able to attempt it, as they had high wind speeds and storms the entire week they were there. 

Over the past several years, open-water swimming and cold-water swimming have picked up more followers. Johnston attributes that to the people wanting to make the most out of their time on the water. “Living here, the water is pretty cold for eight months out of the year,” he said. “People only swim for a few months, and it’s a shame, it’s such an awesome area. I wanted to be able to swim longer in the season. There are so many places that are cold, and people want to take advantage of the beauty, so they are testing the limits.”                                                                                                                                    

Johnston plans to attend the Vermont competition again next year, but has quite a few events to attend before that time. 

He’s already turned down a trip to Argentina to swim in their glacial lakes, but has a trip to Greece planned in September to be a swim guide around the area. Locally, Johnston is involved with open water swims in the Big Arm area and the first annual Paddle for Clean Water poker paddle in July. 

On June 21, Johnston plans to be the first person to swim unassisted from one end of the lake to the other. Three others have made the 28-mile trip, but according to Johnston, all of them had the assistance of either a wetsuit or fins, and some took breaks. He plans to make the trip without a wetsuit or any breaks, something he calls English Channel rules. He believes it will take him about 14 hours. While he plans to do it on June 21, Johnston said that is a tenative date. He added that the weather would play a role in deciding when to do it.

No matter how far or close he is, Johnston said he likes telling people about Flathead. “You meet all kinds of cool people and trade stories, sharing experiences,” he said. “I like talking about Flathead and showing pictures, and telling people how clean it is and things like that.”