MILAN, N.M. - The 500 Mile Swim Club is a program facilitated by the Milan Natatorium that began around July of 2020. The goal is for club members to swim the number of laps that are equivalent to first, 100 miles, then 300 miles, and finally, 500 miles. The club now has about 22 participants, and so far, two have reached the 100- mile mark. The first was Kenneth Brown, and now, a woman named Lezlie Smith has joined Brown in accomplishing the feat of swimming 100 miles.
Lezlie Smith is 65 years young and has called the Cibola County community her home since 1996, so for about 25 years. Smith joined the 500 Mile Swim Club on August 14, 2020 because of an invitation from her husband, who was already a club member.
“And she passed him!” pool clerk Wanda Merriman proclaimed jokingly.
Like most youngsters Smith had enjoyed swimming in lakes and such for fun when she was younger, but she never imagined swimming at this level.
“I’ve never really swam laps; it was always just playing in the water, going tubing in the river,” explained Smith, who grew up in Montana.
Throughout the past seven months, Smith has maintained a routine of going to the pool four days a week, completing approximately 30-40 laps per visit. However, once Smith received news that she would soon need a hip replacement surgery, she increased her weekly swimming sessions in February from four days to six days a week so that she could reach the 100 miles before her surgery.
With the hope that the additional exercise would help with the recovery process, Smith put her mind to it and accomplished her goal of reaching the 100 miles.
Regarding how it felt Smith said, “It feels great. You know, because when I first started, I was only doing seven to ten laps a day… I wasn’t even thinking about it. And then to realize that I could swim for an hour, an hour and a half, and I feel so much better. It just feels really good that I’m at this level at this point.”
Smith is hoping for a smooth and speedy recovery so that she can continue with her swimming ambitions and reach her remaining goals.