SANDPOINT — It’ll be dawn at Buttonhook Bay, on Wednesday when six outstanding athletes will plunge themselves into Lake Pend Oreille with the goal of swimming relay to Sandpoint’s Statue of Liberty before dusk.

Well, you might say, it’s been done before. Other teams have swum the length of the lake. Last year, Elaine Howley did it by herself. What’s the big deal?

The swimmers. That’s the big deal. They started competitive swimming calling themselves the Mighty Menopausal Mermaids, but quickly dropped the middle name. Perhaps, because the change of life for them was getting back into the swim of things, not enduring body functions although each of the women was over 50 at the time.

Now ranging in ages from 57 to 61, these women are well-known in long-distance open water swimming circles for winning and setting age-group speed records at several competitions including The Trans Tahoe, Around Manhattan, Catalina Channel and Across Lake Winnipesaukee relays and too many more to list. These women take their swimming seriously.

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