They said they were going to do it and, by golly, they did it – in record time!
Earlier this year, brothers Tom and Greg Van Volkenburg decided they were going to swim across Lake Erie, a distance of 24.3 miles, in honor of their mom, Debbie, who has battledrheumatoid arthritis (RA)for most of her life.
Watch a video clip of Tom and Greg finishing their swim across Lake Erie.
For most folks, just the idea of swimming across the eleventh largest lake in the world is completely insane. But for Tom and Greg, former college competitive swimmers, it was a challenge they felt was achievable and a great way to pay homage to their mom while raising awareness about arthritis and support for the Arthritis Foundation.
横渡伊利湖比听起来更难。你不能随便穿上泳裤就跳进水里。除了几个月的体力和精神训练外，兄弟俩还必须得到加拿大和美国政府的许可，招募一群志愿者，从皮划艇、小船和岸上监督他们的游泳活动，安排紧急救援人员随时待命，然后选择一个不仅天气条件好，而且没有货船通过该地区的日子。
“我们有三周的时间来寻找合适的一天，”格雷格解释说。“第一周，水太冷了，我们几乎不能把脚趾伸进去。我们的游泳是被批准的，所以不允许穿潜水服。56度的水很快就会让你失去知觉，所以我们不得不等待。”
The second week was no good either. 35 mile-per-hour winds created huge waves and churned up more cold water.
然后是7月31日星期一。天气条件不太好，但汤姆和格雷格认为已经足够好了。In they went, stroking and kicking their way from Canada to the U.S.
The weather changed somewhere between shore and the half way point. The wind increased and was blowing from 12 to 21 miles-per-hour creating 4 to 5 foot waves.
“We were constantly looking out for the next wave,” explained Greg. “We would dive into or ride up and down each wave. If we didn’t time it right, it would push us back. All day we were battling the waves.”
Then, out of nowhere, came a duck. Floating an imposing 5 feet in height, it stared at the brothers as if daring them to continue.
“在伊利湖中央，我们看到了这只巨大的鸭子，”格雷格笑着说。“谢天谢地，它只是充气的。We tied it to the back of the boat and towed it the rest of the way.”
As Tom and Greg approached the shore, their body’s ached and the minds were taxed. They went into rest and recovery mode, swimming backstroke and taking it easy, hoping to take in the crowd as they neared land. Then a crew member from the accompanying boat informed them that they were very close to breaking the record for fastest time to cross Lake Erie. Reenergized, the brothers flipped over and finished strong, completing the swim in 11 hours, 15 minutes and 40 seconds, breaking the previous record by 60 seconds.
While their record setting swim was remarkable, there was a much more meaningful purpose behind this feat.
“Throughout the swim, mom was on our mind,” said Tom. “The ultimate goal was to do this for her. To give back to her. She was in our minds the entire time. All the struggles she went through while we grew up, hiding her disease so we didn’t worry. If she could do that, to be by our side from the time we were born to the time we finished this swim, then I think we both were excited to do this for her, get back to shore and give her a big hug.”
And that’s exactly what they did.
Tom and Greg set up a fundraising page as part of their swim and homage to their mom. So far they’ve collected nearly $7,000, all of which will support Arthritis Foundation programs and research. Learn more about their record setting swim ormake a donation by going to their website!
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