Father with MS and son count time together as a win in their Long Bridge Swim

Aug. 16—As he jokes about a seagull circling to land on him, it's clear Tom Peterson doesn't mark victory by the time it took to do the recent Long Bridge Swim.

The win came from being with his son, Seth Peterson, to finish the 1.76-mile race together on Lake Pend Oreille.

In 2003, Tom Peterson was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and soon lost use of his legs. But for many years since, he's turned to lap swimming with the upper body strength to stay healthy.

This year, his son asked if he would join him in Sandpoint on Aug. 5.

"The swim was amazing, people were awesome and it was fun to do it with that kid," said Peterson, 60, as he nodded toward Seth Peterson.

"I'm proud of that kid — he's got a family, kids, a new job, a house. He's busy, and he did this for me."

A former star Shadle Park High School basketball player, Tom Peterson has always enjoyed being athletic. When his legs failed, swimming — with buoyancy, his arms and upper body muscles — was something he could do.

"I walked with a cane for a few years, fell down a lot, so I decided to get in a wheelchair," he said. "I couldn't do anything running, jumping that way, so I got in the swimming pool.

"It was the easier option for me. I didn't have to have any balance, just get in there and go, go, go."

These days, he covers typically a mile or more in laps four days a week at the Airway Heights Recreation Center. His wife, Diann Brown, often swims beside him.

Seth Peterson encouraged his dad to enter the Long Bridge event with him as a bucket-list goal.

"He swims all the time, so I knew he'd crush this," said Seth Peterson, 32, who did the race solo a year ago.

Working for Daines Capital Commercial Real Estate in sales, he and his wife, Kate, have a daughter, Poppy, 3, and son, Lane, 1.

"My wife's family has a place out at Sandpoint, and last year, we're driving into town and I saw a sign for the Long Bridge Swim," he said. "I said, 'Hey, that sounds like fun.' "

He didn't train much, but shares a love of swimming with his father, so he finished the 2022 Long Bridge.

This time, he trained more while convincing his dad to join him. A recently constructed ramp down to the lake made it easy to get his dad in the water from a wheelchair.

"I started bugging him around the new year. Let's do it. I finally got the commitment about a month before the race. I just thought it was something fun we could do together."

It was fun — and funny — with a few mishaps, his dad said. They paused when he needed help to remove his Crocs, and another time to pull off an overly large swim shirt taking in too much water. Instead of a wet suit, he'd worn swim trunks, which are easier to put on and remove.

To ease a pinched nerve, Tom Peterson also alternated between freestyle and a modified back paddle, flipping over between each. Sometimes, his son swam a few yards ahead and waited, or they were side-by-side.

"We had a good time laughing," Tom Peterson said. "If you can't laugh at yourself, you've got problems. It gave us a lot of time to talk.

"Looking up at that bridge, I'd see all these cobwebs. I'm thinking, I'd better hurry up; they're going to lay eggs on me."

They finished, "in like two hours," he added, laughing.

Father and son are already making plans for next year, and for a better time.

"The bar's low — on-the-ground low," Tom Peterson joked. "Got to beat our time."

His son teased back, "It's record time for the back paddle."

Brown never worried about them in the water. They had intended to arrive early for the start, but ran a bit late because she asked for a coffee stop, Brown said.

"We get there, and all these swimmers are already lined up looking at their watches five minutes before the race, and Tom has got to get down there," she said. "People moved. They clapped. They cheered. They high-fived. They were so supportive. It was amazing."

Watching from land, she kept looking for Tom Peterson's swim shirt, then recognized him by his freestyle stroke. Other swimmers kept congratulating them, she said.

"Swimmers are a different breed of athlete — always trying to beat your personal best — but always supportive of that swimmer next to them, whether it's someone with Tom's disability, a kid or someone elderly."

Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system that includes the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve. The body's immune system attacks its myelin substance that insulates and protects nerves — slowing or blocking messages between the brain and body.

The disease can affect people differently but can cause muscle weakness, fatigue and issues with walking, vision or speech.

Peterson strives to remain active.

"I'm thinking the more healthy I stay and the more I swim, the better I'll be," he said. "I'm not trying to be the he-man, inspire and tell everybody what to do. I just did it for myself and my health.

"People notice me because I'm different, and I might be stubborn, but they notice me and say, 'Way to go.'"

Sticking with regular swims, Peterson said he quit taking medications long ago. They made him feel sick. Before 2019, the couple used the North YMCA pool, but the Airway Heights site is easier to reach from home, which is also in north Spokane.

He noticed a decline in his strength when COVID-19 restrictions shut down the newer rec center.

"I lost a lot of strength in that year," he said. "I had to fight to get it back. The strength goes away really quick. I have to keep moving, because that's the only thing that saves me."

Born and raised in Spokane, Peterson grew up playing all ball sports but excelled at basketball as a lead scorer.

In 1981, Shadle Park seniors Peterson, Mark Rypien, Scott Poole and Mark Anderson were key players. Their final championship game at the Seattle Coliseum remains the most contentious finish in state tournament history. Shadle's Greg Schmidt hit a jump shot at the buzzer to give the team a 66-65 victory over Mercer Island. Although the basket was immediately ruled good, others thought the release by Schmidt was late, and chaos erupted on the court.

Peterson said Shadle's winning shot landed "right on the buzzer," despite problems with the clock and buzzer then. "The clock went out, so they had to manually do the clock."

And officials counted it, he said. He's still competitive, although being athletic now is more about health and family.

His mother, Ellen Peterson, encouraged his youth sports. She was happy for his recent race finish.

"I have great support; I couldn't do that without angels," he said, pointing to Brown and his son. "Everybody thinks I'm amazing, but I need help all the time.

"Then, I did it for my grandkids. Maybe I can show them some character, like 'Hey, grandpa.' It's good."