Lightning and thunder are the only things that can stop the fifth annual Labor Day Swim Owasco event.

Rain or shine, rough or calm waters, swimmers will make their way along the one-mile course on Owasco Lake from Indian Cove to Cascade, said Pamela Sullivan, organizer of the swim put on by the Owasco Lakefronts Owners Association.

It's not a race.

“It's more appealing to people because racing can make you anxious, this is a very relaxed romp,” Sullivan said of the swim meant to raise awareness of water quality in the lake.

“The Finger Lakes are really treasures, and they are all being besieged with invasives,” she said. “You wouldn't necessarily be aware of that by just driving by, but when you get to the end of a dock and look down, you wonder what is going on.”

Open to anyone, Sullivan, a swimmer in the event herself, said she has had swim team members and intense swimmers who really go hard on the swim, while others swim along with families and friends.

“We've had people as young as 7 and some 72; we've had a girl with Down syndrome,” she said. “And if people decide ‘I feel more comfortable in a wet suit or with fins,' go ahead. It's really just a way to relax and enjoy swimming in fresh water with no walls or chlorine; it's beautiful.”

Like last year, Sullivan said she expects around 75 swimmers, although more usually sign up than swim.

“I enjoy swimming across the lake, but it's dangerous,” she said. “This is the best way to do it - in a large group.”

At the end of the mile swim, a pancake breakfast will await participants at the Cascade Grill in Moravia organized by Judy LeSever, co-founder of the Owasco Lakefronts Owners Association with Sullivan. All participants will also receive a commemorative T-shirt.

Staff writer Laura Boyce can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 236 or at laura.boyce@lee.net

If you go

What: Swim Owasco one-mile open water swim

When: 8 a.m. Monday

Where: From Indian Cove to Cascade;

pancake breakfast follows at Cascade Grill

Registration: $15 fee includes T-shirt,

breakfast, open water swim cap and boat escort if you don't have one; Register by

Friday in Auburn at YMCA, tourist office and Emerson Park; in Moravia at Modern

Market, Granny's Gas Station and New

Creations Hair; in Cascade at South Shore Marina and Cascade Grill, or by phone for out-of-towners by calling Pamela Sullivan at 497-2825.