Seal
The Seal is a long distance swim that consists of swimming the length of the lake. It is more than two times as long as the Loon at more or less two miles long. It is also almost never done in Lower Camp, and sometimes even Senior Campers do not get to do it. A camper needs to show real swimming skill to be allowed to swim the Seal. Seals are often swum by a camper the year before his senior camper year, this usually meaning that he will swim his Whale next summer.
Swimming a Seal
A camper is often woken up before the morning bell to swim his Seal. If this is the case then at flag pole the whole camp may be able to see the row boat out in the middle of the lake with a tiny head bobbing behind it. Most of the time a camper starts his Seal on the aptly named Seal Rock, a submerged rock at the north end of the lake. The swimmer and two counselors row out to the rock to start. Seal Rock is about ten feet tall and goes up to less than a foot below the surface. It is marked with a floating white bouy.
Seals take anywhere from one to two hours. The actual distance of the Seal may vary depending on how straight the boat goes for the swimmer to follow. After the camper gets to Waziyatah he is rowed back to camp. At the next meal the new Seal gets a standing Birch Rock Cheer and at the end of the summer, a Seal badge. The camper's name will also be put up on the plaques for the year in the Seals section along with his time.
There are a two choices for the Seal swim. A camper may swim from Seal Rock to Waziyatah (the camp at the other end of the lake) or in the opposite direction, starting from beaches of Waziyatah. A Seal can be early in the morning or in the afternoon, the Waterfront Director will decide based on the weather, personnel, calmness and temperature of the water, and of course finding a camper to swim it. Sometimes, but rarely, a whole group of campers swims their Seals together.
Facts
- Jean Hard was the first person from Birch Rock to swim a Seal.
