Cape Coral police are searching for the burglar who broke into a garage on Pelican Boulevard and SW 45th Street.
The lady who lives in the home said she was sleeping on her couch near the garage when she saw a light come into the house. She said she was scared and immediately called 911, while her little kids were sleeping.
Neighbors said the burglar then broke out some swimming skills to escape around 3 a.m.
"If I were the judge, I would sentence him to some Olympic training for our swim team," said neighbor Andrew Menkes.
Menkes said detectives told him the suspect ran past the side of his neighbor's house to get to the lake, which has bricks, a tree trunk and pilings everywhere.
Menkes said the burglar then went into bushes on an empty lot on the other side of the water.
"There's never been property on it," he said. "It looks to be about three football fields away. Walking that far, I'd be out of breath. Imagine what he had to do to swim over there."
Menkes and the homeowner said the suspect left behind credit cards from the home he broke into.
Two glass panels are no longer on the door that connects to the garage and the screen has been cut.