Lori Shurtleff found a season's-end dip in 68-degree water a good way to close out the summer.

The Genoa resident and two of her children, Rebecca and Riley, made their very first strokes in the fourth-annual Labor Day Swim Owasco.

Ross, the youngest Shurtleff sibling, rode in the Auburn Skin Divers Club' pontoon boat, which was charged with tracking the family in the water and bringing them back on board if they tired and floundered.

Ross worried a little bit about danger for his family.

"We don't allow dying," said boat captain and diver club president R.J. Bent with a tongue-in-cheek smile. "We're professionals. What kind of professionals are we?"

"Diving professionals!" exclaimed Diana O'Brien, the treasurer of the club.

Early Monday morning, the Shurtleffs began their swim in their watery front yard. Swimmers dipped into the chilled water from boats anchoring off Indian Cove, where the Shurtleffs have their lakeside cottage.

Safety was the watchword of the hour with boats from the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office and the Fleming, Owasco and Scipio fire departments deploying to monitor swimmers cutting westward toward their destination point: the Cascade Grill. Each swimmer had a yellow bathing cap that made their bobbing heads plainly visible to their boat minders.

About 70 swimmers entered the water this year for the swim organized by the Owasco Lakefront Owners Association.

For more on this story, read Tuesday's edition of The Citizen.