ASHCRAFT’S WATERCRAFT—HERSELF

Barrington High School graduate and Barrington Middle School Prairie Campus science teacher Kate Ashcraft races in the historic Chicago River Swim.

The former “slowest runner on the Barrington High School girls’ cross-country team” swam fast enough to earn a spot in September’s historic Chicago River Swim.

Kate Ashcraft, a Class of 1993 Barrington High School (BHS) graduate and a seventh-grade science teacher at Barrington Middle School Prairie Campus, now has something in common with Tarzan.

More precisely, Ashcraft shares a bond with Johnny Weissmuller, the actor who portrayed the Ape Man in 12 movies and competed in the Chicago River Swim in 1927—the last time the event was held.

“The energy was amazing that day,” says Ashcraft of September 21, when she churned two miles with some 500 other qualified open-water swimmers.

With the river at its cleanest levels on record, the Chicago River Swim was a milestone for the City of Big Shoulders, celebrating environmental progress, community impact, and a renewed connection to the river.

The swimmers heard the start gun at the Dearborn State Bridge and finished under the Clark Street Bridge.

“To get to see the city and its wonderful architecture, from the perspective of a Chicago River swimmer, is something I’ll never forget,” Ashcraft recalls. “Plus, we raised funds for ALS research and promoted youth swimming safety.

“It ranks way up there, top three, in the experiences I’ve had as an athlete,” adds the triathlete and regular Ironman racer.

The ALS-research component of the Chicago River Swim has a Barrington connection. Barrington’s Doug McConnell—a world-class open water swimmer and co-founder of the nonprofit A Long Swim—served as the event’s organizer. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that often begins with muscle twitching and weakness in an arm or leg. Fittingly, A Long Swim and the Chicago River Swim raise money for ALS research through a sport that engages all muscles.

When Ashcraft was a sixth-grade teacher, one of her students was McConnell’s son, Gordy.

Ashcraft and her husband, David, have two daughters, Abby and Cici. Abby is a freshman at the University of Denver; Cici is a freshman at BHS.

Kate and David, a Californian, first met while shopping at the Runner’s High ‘n Tri store in Arlington Heights. They later trained together ahead of an Ironman race.

As Ironman racers swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles, the future Mr. and Mrs. Ashcraft proved to be a match made in endurance.

“I love training, especially as an open-water swimmer,” Kate says. “I get up early, see the sun rise, and swim. It’s peaceful. Life is hectic, busy. I get to escape from all that when I train.”

In 2000, Ashcraft completed her first Ironman at the oval of the speed skating venue used at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

“I remember thinking, as I finished running, ‘I’ll never feel this close to being an Olympian as I do now,’” she says.

Another feather in Ashcraft’s proverbial cap is her distinction as the student who brought back the school’s performing mascot, Bronco Billy. So, it is easy to imagine a certain mascot must be snorting and kicking for joy whenever Ashcraft crosses a finish line.

For more information about the nonprofit A Long Swim, visit alongswim.org.