The Bulletin file photoSwimmers compete in the 5,000-meter race at Elk Lake on Aug. 4, 2014.

ELK LAKE — Hardy Lussier called it “the pinnacle of my year.”

Indeed, many Central Oregon swimmers look forward to the Cascade Lakes Swim Series and Festival each summer. In the series’ 20th running here this past weekend, hundreds of open-water swimmers competed in five different races.

Lussier, a 49-year-old from Bend, finished second overall and won his age group in Sunday’s 5,000-meter race, which served as the U.S. Masters Swimming national championship for that distance.

“It’s a fantastic venue and a terrific event,” Lussier said. “I’m delighted to do as well as I did. I just love this every year. The fact that it’s a national event this year just puts a cherry on top of the icing of the cake. It’s very significant to have a national event in your hometown.”

The races — which were held Friday through Sunday and also included distances of 500, 1,000, 1,500 and 3,000 meters — started and finished at the day-use area on the south shore of Elk Lake.

Swimmers followed a course of buoys as kayakers guided the competitors along the lake. In Sunday’s 5,000-meter race, swimmers completed three circuits around the lake on a warm, hazy morning. Dozens of spectators gathered on the sand as racers finished on the small beach.

Seattle’s Steve Sholdra, 20, won the men’s 5,000-meter race, finishing in 1 hour, 2 minutes, 39 seconds. Lussier, the overall runner-up, finished in 1:07:16.

Sholdra, a collegiate swimmer at Fordham University in New York, said he was impressed with the race and the venue.

“It’s so clear,” Sholdra said of Elk Lake. “This is as clear as a pool. I was halfway down the course and you can see the rocks right at the bottom. It was such a fun race.”

While he competes mostly in pools, Sholdra said he has recently begun to embrace open-water swimming.

“Open water is good for all ages, that’s why masters is so cool,” Sholdra said. “You can do it when you’re young, when you’re old, all the way through, and you can do it with your kids. Fordham has been taking me to some open-water races, too. It’s just so much fun. It’s such a different sport than pool swimming.”

Portland’s Hannah Cutts, 20, won the women’s 5,000-meter U.S. Masters National Championship on Sunday. The collegiate swimmer at Cal State East Bay in Hayward, California, finished in 1:11:19 in what she said was her first-ever 5,000-meter race. Cutts won the 1,500-meter race on Saturday and finished second in Friday’s 3,000-meter event.

“Wow, that 5,000 was long,” Cutts said after finishing Sunday’s race. “We do 20 hours of swim practice a week (at Cal State East Bay). But swimming it altogether in one race really takes a lot of focus.”

Cutts said she loves open-water swimming, which she called “a lot more free.”

“You don’t have to worry about counting your laps,” she said. “You’re just trying to focus on keeping a smooth stroke throughout the entire race and looking where the buoys are to stay on track. And try to stay calm, because if you go too fast at the beginning you’ll never finish.”

Cutts said she plans to return next year because of the camaraderie and the “great atmosphere” at the Cascade Lakes Swim Series.

Bob Bruce, coach of Central Oregon Masters Aquatics, organizes the swim series each summer. He even found some time to compete Sunday in the 5,000-meter race, taking second in his 65-69 age group with a time of 1:29:15.

“It was a really sweet swim,” Bruce said. “But too much energy was spent setting up the event. I was in there for my health. But it was good. I love it.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0318, mmorical@bendbulletin.com