SPORTS Endurance ‘madness’ the mark of an ironman THINGS ARE going along — you'll pardon the expres- sion — just swimmingly these days for Shane Collins. If you can’t catch him at his Dundarave home. chances are you’ll find him out in the saltchuck, plowing furrows down to Ambleside and back. For varicty'’s sake, there are days he'll go over to the other side of the inlet and test the waters between Spanish Banks and Kitsilano Beach Gr take a leisurely trip among the frewhters anchored outin English Bay, stopping only to wave to the crews or play lag with the harbor seals. It's all in the Jine, so to speak. of duty...for around the end of July he plans to swim {rom Nanaimo to Sechelt. and for this sort of endurance test you have to be in good shape, especially when you're 44 and supposedly past your physi- cal peak. If he is past it, he certainly doesn't look it. Lean in a burly sort of way, tanned, close-cropped hair. energy and vitality oozing from every pore. A lot of confidence. too. Well, why not? He did the same Straits swim a year ego, but in the opposiie direction. And wearing a wetsuit to insulate himself against the 58-degree water temperature. This time. no wetsuit. And high hopes that the water will be a nor- mal 61 degrees. Why do people want to swim across Jarge bodies of water’? You might as well ask: why do they want to climb tall mountains? It's the challenge. The madness, if that's what it is, started in 1875 with an English ship’s captain named Matthew Webb. He was the first to swim the English Channel, still the favorite stretch of water for marathon swimmers. These days there are so many Queen’s Baton relay THE COMMONWEALTH Games Queen's Baton will be carried across the North Share by 80 local residents this weekend as it makes ‘ts foumey across the North Shore. The following is the schedule tor the Queen's Baton Relay on the North Shore: Saturday, June 25th - Siave | 7 aan. —Ceremony in Deer 6 (oom. --Relaw chart Cove. Route: Leave Deep Core ve. Guilam Avenue. follow Deep Cove Road then Dotlarton. onte: Vie Streets at Brooksbank Yurp oooh on Brooksbanl to Keoth Vprh ieft on Kerth and Gortintes te