Derek Neary
Northern News Services

FORT SIMPSON (Aug 21/98) - A new indoor pool with a deep end.

That's the objective Mike and Elaine Tufts want to help achieve for the village of Fort Simpson. To spur some support, Mike volunteered to swim across the Mackenzie River. Three others joined him on a sunny and warm Sunday afternoon. The water, however, wasn't quite as pleasant.

"Just the beginning was hard because it was cold, but once you got used to it, it was fine," said Raquel Cli-Michaud, 18.

She made it across the 1.5-kilometre span in roughly 38 minutes, a little behind John Legge (who also noticed how cold the 15 C water felt despite wearing a neoprene suit) and Fort Simpson lifeguard and swim instructor Wendy Reidl.

The four swimmers drifted close to a kilometre as the current carried them downstream.

Cli-Michaud said she decided to get involved because it was a challenge she had always wanted to take on, but there were never the safety measures that were in place Sunday.

"Just to say that I did it... and then you can tell your friends," she said.

The aim is to make the swim an annual event, according to Elaine Tufts, whose daughters also enjoy swimming.

"This is the first. It's a start. We just hope everybody in the community is aware," she said.

She added that a pool committee is in the process of being formed. They plan to approach village council in the near future as they look for some feedback on the feasibility of such a project.

Fort Simpson's current pool is one-metre deep, was built close to 15 years ago and was meant to be temporary, Tufts noted. It is usually open three to four months each year. She's seeking a pool where it will be possible for people to dive and to search the bottom for objects.

This year, the pool will be drained on Aug. 29, after a bubble bash. Reidl admitted that the lack of a deep end makes development of deep-water skills impossible.