Usually, if I have a long swim ahead of me, I have plenty of time to digest it because it is on the calendar a good year in advance. Well, that was not the case for my Stage 7 Hudson River Swim. Let me just give a bit of background on this swim. This was the brain child of David Barra an accomplished open water swimmer and has since been run by David and another amazing and experienced, open water swimmer Rondi Davies. It starts in upstate New York and is over 7 days, swimmers swim from bridge to bridge (anywhere from 15-22 miles) down the hudson. The final day’s swim ends at the Verrazano Bridge. 8 Bridges, 7 days, 120 miles. Since its inception, only 3 people have done all 7 stages (Rondi Davies and Grace Van der Byl and this year – Andrew Malinak). Bonnie informed me, in March, that she wanted me to do Stage 7 of the 8 Bridges swim because it would be good practice for Catalina. Stage 7 covers 18.1 miles from the George Washington Bridge to the Verrazano Bridge. Unsure exactly what to expect, I tried to approach this swim with the idea that I would focus on my feedings. I have been practicing chugging my feedings to get down 5-6 oz. in a 10 second period. This might sound easy but I typically take in only about 1-2 oz. so it has been a challenge for me.
Stages 5 and 6 were rough days for the swimmers with stage 6 only being completed by Andrew (out of 12-13 swimmers in total that day). The swimmers were fighting with wind and chop that just wouldn’t let up. I heard that toward the end, some swimmers were swimming in place because tidal shifts. This is something you never want to hear happen to any swimmer during a big event. For most, the stage that they were swimming was their big swim for the year and the thought of not being able to finish is disappointment that I know all too well. With the conditions in mind, I set off for the swim on June 25th at 6:00 AM. I received an e-mail while I was standing on the Long Island Platform asking that swimmers arrive earlier to start since conditions had been bad the two stages before stage 7. Of course, I was trying to be good the night before and go to bed early so I did not receive the e-mail in time or I would have been on a 5:00 AM train. So, with the new information in hand my concerns shifted off of the actual 18 mile swim to the more immediate–was I going to make it to the dock before the crew shipped off without me! I will spare all of you the thoughts that were going through my mind as the train slowly made it’s way to Penn Station. I will also spare you the details of the crawling subway ride to the dock courtesy of the A train. When I reached Dyckman street, it was 7:35. With about 3 blocks to run I started on my way and made it to the rest of the crew by 7:40 (hey…I’m not a runner).
As I approached the boat and everyone was getting ready to board, the nerves kicked into high gear and the stomach started to churn. My thoughts at that moment were something like, “please banana, stay in my stomach.” I met my kayaker Terry Lopatosky and immediately knew two things: 1) Terry was going to be in charge of this duo: she was batman and I was going to be Robin…fine by me, and 2) I was going to be in excellent, experienced hands. Next I met Rondi and David. Everything I knew about Rondi and David was from either what I read about them or from what I heard from people that had the pleasure of swimming or working with them on swims. I was excited to meet them and was not disappointed. The Captain of Launch 5, Greg Porteus was next to be met. He was in the middle of getting his boat ready but he was in good spirits throughout. I knew this was going to be a good ride. Meeting the rest of the crew was a bit of a blur as we were rushing to get on the boat, get the supplies and kayaks on and take off. I shook, what felt like, a lot of hands and introduced myself to a smiling, reassuring crew. Last to introduce himself was John Humenik. John let me know that they were all there to support the swimmers and make sure that this was going to be a successful, safe swim. In true swimmer fashion, after shaking his hand I asked if he would mind sunscreening my back. As I sunscreened up (my front) I had the pleasure of speaking with Andrew Malinak. Andrew was at the end of his journey down the Hudson. Having swam 102 miles leading up to Stage 7, and about to be the 3rd ever to complete all 7 stages, I am sure Andrew’s nerves were in high gear but he never showed it. Andrew was calm, funny and encouraging. There were only 4 of us swimmers in total for this stage. I wondered what my coach had gotten me into. Why only 4 for this stage? What did the other swimmers know that I did not? oh well, it was too late now. Kenn Lichtenwalter was another swimmer doing Stage 7. I knew Kenn from my Vanderbilt Y swimming days in the city and it was nice to know a familiar would be doing the swim with me. James Penrose was the last of the swimmers to round off the stage. James had also spent the prior 6 days attempting all 7 stages of the swim.
James and Kenn took off down the river to the George Washington Bridge on a separate boat then Andrew and I. They jumped in the water before us and started their long, grueling journey. Andrew and I joked around a bit prior to jumping in–Andrew at ease and me with hints of twitchiness in my mannerism. I was trying to act at ease but it just wasn’t working. I am not sure what time it was but when we approached the George Washington Bridge there was an air of excitement and lots of activity on the boat. Kayaks were placed in the water, kayakers followed and then there was the rush to get Andrew and I in because it was a bit choppy under the bridge. The idea was to get us in and have us immediately swim away from the boat. After asking Rondi, what felt like 50 times (God I hope it wasn’t 50 times), “so when I jump in you just want me to start?” and she gave the affirmative. I jumped in first and swam. I must have looked like I was swimming for my life because at the end of the swim one of the crew members kept telling me how “you were so nervous, didn’t think you’d finish and you just shot out like a rocket at the start.” I guess I swim fast when terrified.
The beginning of the swim was rough for me. Not because of the water temperature (it was a lovely 73 degrees), not because of my kayaker (we synced pretty quickly) but because of my goggles! They kept fogging up (of course they did because they never did before). At one point, I was swimming right into the shore. Terry knew this could not continue so she shouted my name and asked if I could switch out my goggles. I told her “yes! I have another pair.” She said, “ok where are they in the supplies you gave me?” I thought and then quickly realized, “they are on the boat.” Luckily, there was a smaller support boat near us and Caitlin gladly volunteered her goggles. When I put them on, I never had to worry about them the rest of the swim. She saved the day! Shortly after the goggle debacle we came upon a launch dock for a ferry. It was close to the GW but I am not sure what ferry it was. In any event, since I have perfect timing, we were right in the path of the oncoming ferry so we had to stop and wait for it to dock…1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4! I didn’t know if I was happy for the rest or anxious to get going again. I think a bit of both. My feedings were every 1/2 hour and the idea for this swim was that I was to focus on my feedings. So down the Hudson I swam, knowing the current was moving with us but getting a lot of wind chop head-on. By the time we got to the harbor I was feeling spent. Was I hallucinating or do I see heads…could it be mermaids? No! It was Rondi and John…they were swimming with me. My spirits rose, along with my stroke count, and I had new found energy. We were swimming together. Two open water swimming greats helping another swimmer along. I am not sure how long they swam with me at that point. I think it was about an hour or a bit less. Then, just like magic, they were gone but my spirits remained high. When we got to the statue of liberty, Terry pointed her out. My thoughts at that point were, “yeah yeah…great the statue (sarcasm tinged).” What I said to Terry instead was, “so we’re in the home stretch?” She replied, “well, not yet. We have a little less then 5 miles to go.” So head back down, I started swimming again and then came the big boats. Boats, boats everywhere and not a place to hide. There were cargo boats, oil tankers, yachts and some sort of military-looking boat…I am not sure what kind but it was big. the scariest part of the swim, for me, was passing by the big oil or cargo ship. It was big, it was scary and it was ready to suck us under. I was convinced of it but Terry’s face never changed, nor did her speed so I figured we were ok. Later she told me that she was a bit nervous about the ship and at the last minute we were going to try to swim around the back of it but decided it was too late. After we passed that ship and a few others it felt like the water calmed a bit and with that my steam was also fading from a steady stream to little puffs. I stopped for a feeding and Terry said, “you probably have one more feeding and then that will be your last.” She followed up with, “does that sound good?” I said, “yes, thank you” (or some sort of weird, lame, answer to that effect). Then came the mermaids again…John and Rondi…yes mermaids…they do exist. And again, my spirits rose as they swam toward me and asked if they could join me – I said, “yes, please, thank you I would love that.” Thank you thank you thank you and away we swam. Now, at this point, I had a smile on my face and maybe a bit of a lump in my throat. I was not getting choked up because of the pain in my arms and legs, nor was it because of the fact that I still was not finished, but because of the camaraderie. The three of us were swimming together toward the end. Rondi and John were pushing me, helping me along, sending their positive energy and strength my way when I needed it most.
As we approached the bridge, at first, not getting close at all no matter how long I took before lifting up my head (100 strokes- nope not there yet, another 200 strokes – still not there). Then, just as if time sped up, there was the brige, 100 yards away, 50 yards, 25 yards, 15. Rondi and John faded back. It was not their race to finish and I felt a twitch of sadness thinking, “come on guys, finish with me, we’ll finish together,” but it was my swim to finish. They brought me to the end and made sure I had that safe and successful swim that John had all but promised. And as I stroked under the bridge and looked back as I breathed, I could see them bobbing, watching me. Terry blew the whistle indicating I was finished or maybe she shouted something and there I was, bobbing in the water thanking anyone who was in ear shot or would listen and then there was the rustle of getting us on the boat, first me, Rondi and John, then Terry, then the kayak. Like a well oiled machine, the crew swept us all up to safety and we waited for the other swimmers to finish.
My facebook profile picture was taken when John, Rondi and I got on the boat if you want to take a look.
Andrew finished next and completed his epic 120 mile swim over 6 days. An accomplishement that is deserving of much praise and respect. On the boatride back I got to know the crew more, and was actually able to breathe a sigh of relief in having finished.
A last notable person on the boat – Susannah Ray. Susannah is a photographer who is working on an exhibit about New York’s water and all the ways it is used. It makes sense since we are surrounded by water. Anyway, Susannah spent the day on the boat taking, what I can only imagine to be, amazing pictures. We got to chat and spend some time together and I thoroughly enjoyed everything about her.
The ride back seemed to take forever and I had to try to close my eyes as I was starting to get a bit seasick. When we got back to the Dock, kayakers, swimmers, and boat crew unloaded the kayaks and equipment and started to, one by one, fade away. Back to the bar for a drink, back to the subway for the long journey home…just back to wherever it was we were going. As I started to walk off the dock with Susannah, Rondi said, “oh Lori wait. Since you were the first to finish I have something for you.” I opened it up and it was a beautiful picture of the bridge. After a quick two photos, I said my final good-byes and Susannah and I walked off together. Susannah then made a comment to the effect of, “it’s amazing..that’s it.” I didn’t understand and she want on, “we just spent all day on a boat, you guys did this amazing thing and now we are just walking off and noone really knows what you guys just did.” I said, “yep, that’s pretty much how it goes in marathon swimming.” We parted with promises of picture exchanges and making contact…and as I walked away, picture under my arm, ache in my muscles and queasy stomach (still), I descended down into the subway for the 1 1/2 hour trip home – big smile on my face the whole time (like I had a secret that noone else knew) thinking about the amazing day I had with the amazing people I met.