COEUR d'ALENE - In his tight-fitting wetsuit and bright green swim cap, Bryce Kananowicz slipped through the water like a Neoprene shark.

The slender 15-year-old, one of the fastest athletes on the Coeur d'Alene Area Swim Team, led the Steve Omi Memorial Open Water Swim from start to finish on Sunday. He rounded a couple buoys, completed a roughly mile-long loop and jogged onto Sanders Beach, far ahead of the nearest competitors.

For the third year in a row, the fast young swimmer was the overall race winner. His official time was 19 minutes, 12 seconds.

"I felt good. Water conditions were good," said Kananowicz, who moved to Coeur d'Alene from Liberty Lake in April. "This year, the course was longer, I think, than last year. It felt like it."

About 130 swimmers followed Kananowicz ashore. The first female finisher - fourth overall - was 17-year-old Anna DeTar of Post Falls, another CAST athlete.

Taking advantage of the smooth water, DeTar posted a time of 21:20.

"It felt pretty good - took it kind of easy at the beginning, then picked it up a little bit," she said.

Competitors recalled the challenging, choppy waves at the 2010 Steve Omi event. Wavy water makes for tough swimming, but Lake Coeur d'Alene was much more hospitable in 2011 - calm, blue and speckled with sunlight.

"The water was perfect," said 69-year-old Ken Marker of Hayden, a first-time Steve Omi racer. "I'd probably do it next year."

Now recovered from a hip problem, Marker is preparing for the Troika Triathlon in Spokane on Aug. 7.

"My aerobic capacity is down somewhat," he said, "so this (race) will help me for the Troika."

Sunday's event was the 18th annual Steve Omi swim. All proceeds benefited the Steve Omi Foundation and high school swim programs in Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls.

Omi, a local Masters swimmer, died of cancer in 1994 at the age of 36. Friends organized the open water swim in his memory.

"You know you're swimming for someone who no longer has the opportunity to swim," said Linda Rohlinger, a Masters swimmer from Coeur d'Alene. "The community is so magical for small events like this."

Rohlinger said she will "absolutely" compete in next year's Steve Omi race.

Floating in kayaks and standing on paddleboards, volunteers watched the water carefully. They kept an eye on the competitors circling the long course.

"We have a water safety crew out there that's just wonderful," said Dee Fraser, a triathlon coach and race director who supervised the waterfront personnel.

And the cloudless weather, she added, was sublime.

"This is what you dream about. Good energy, great for the community. It's just good old-fashioned for-the-community, by-the-community."

Youngsters, teens, middle-agers and old-timers swam the Steve Omi course. They stretched in a long splashing line from buoy to buoy.

None were faster than Kananowicz, who opened a wide gap and cruised to the finish. There's more open water on his busy summer schedule, including the Long Bridge race in Sandpoint (he's the defending Long Bridge champ, too) and the CAST Classic in Coeur d'Alene next month.

During any race, Kananowicz said, "I want to go out and try my hardest."