There are actually some pictures from this go-round, so you can get some idea of what the swim looks like. This was the first year with a bunch of people; It may have been the year that it got the Long Island Challenge title. Also, after the problems of the prior year, this running of the challenge featured a more organized chase boats group, with one boat for each swimmer.
These pictures were all taken by Mary McHenry, and I hope she doesn’t mind.
I recall this episode quite vividly, as it was the first one in which I participated. I was a last-minute addition, really. Andy Wanning had decided to do the same swim that Justin and Ben had, and wisely lined up Molly and David Gutcheon and … (?) to drive alongside him. Well, I heard about it at the last minute, I had just flown up the night before, and decided to give it a go.
Alice Clements had suggested bringing Crisco, on the principle that it would protect Andy from the cold water, and both of us lathered ourselves up with it. Then we jumped into the water. Blue Hill Bay is quite cold.
We started swimming, but we didn’t do as good a job as Justin & Ben at keeping together. I think we thought the boat could easily keep track of both of us, but as we swam farther and farther apart, it turned out to be nearly impossible. The lesson here is that it’s very hard to see a swimmer in the water at more than about fifty or a hundred yards, especially if the swimmer isn’t wearing a brightly colored swim cap.
To make a long story short, Andy and I grew sufficiently far apart that the current pulled us in different directions, and we made landfall at points that were more than two miles apart. Fortunately, nobody died, and the day ended in magnificent triumph!
This was the first year of the … silly idea. I’m not sure it had a name this year.
Really, Justin or Ben could tell you more than I (John Clements) could. Justin and Ben jumped in the water and swam from here to there (or more accurately, from there to here). They stuck together, and had (I believe) Matthew Semler and one other person following them. Ben suggests that he may have had to leave mid-swim to fuel up. Fortunately, they both made it.
I’m not aware of any photos from this year.
