When Pat Gallant-Charette lost her brother Robbie at only 34 years old to a heart attack, her 16 year old son Tom told her that he would like to swim the 2.4 mile ‘Peaks to Portland’ swim in his tribute. Having won it twice before, this was a rather fitting tribute to Robbie.
Upon hearing her son’s decision, Pat turned to him and said “I wish I could do that”, in which he replied “Ma, you can if you try”. That was the moment Pat turned from a spectator mum, to a marathon swimmer, living by her own mantra – You can if you try!
Training for the Peaks to Portland Swim
At 46 years old, Pat was a mother of two, as well as a full time nurse, needless to say, she had very little time to herself. After 20 years away from the pool, Pat recalled the moment she was reunited with her old friend:
“My aim was to simply gain endurance, but I remember looking at the pool and then asking the lifeguard to keep an eye on me as I was afraid that I couldn’t even manage two laps.”
Pat however did manage the two laps and continued to swim 4 times a week for about an hour a time, admitting that the first time she swam solidly for an hour, she felt like a gold medalist!
It was tough at the beginning, but as her training increased, as did her…
