Lake Michigan Marathon Man Ashore At Last
Amy Nevala and Crystal Yednak
Posted online: Saturday, 29 June 2002
After 23 hours and 31 minutes of swimming in Lake Michigan, an exhausted British man waded slowly ashore in Hammond, declaring the nearly 30-mile-long Chicago shoreline was a tougher swim than the English Channel.
"It was a Channel and a half," said Kevin Murphy, 53, who said the wind shifted, making the swim extremely difficult. Murphy had originally expected to finish in 16 hours or less.
Kayakers who accompanied Murphy overnight said he treaded water about every half-hour to drink high-carbohydrate drinks but otherwise moved forward in a freestyle crawl.
"The water [was] a little choppy, plus he's jetlagged after flying in from England over the weekend," said spokesman Terry Jinks.
By dawn, an overnight southwest breeze switched to the southeast, stirring 1- to 2-foot waves that further slowed his progress. Murphy originally hoped to finish at noon Friday, but at 1:30 p.m. he was still 2.5 miles north of his destination.
Murphy said willpower kept him going.
"That's my particular thing. I don't give up," he said. He swam the 66-degree lake clad in a brief swimsuit, a yellow bathing cap, goggles and a veneer of lanolin and Vaseline.
Murphy, whose hobby has taken him around Manhattan and across Loch Ness, holds the English Channel's world record for men, with 32 crossings. On three occasions he swam the 21.5 miles, touched France, then swam back to England.
Murphy was 10 years old when he began competing in sprint-swim races. After a series of 2nd-, 3rd- and 4th-place finishes, he discovered his talent was in long-distance events. At 15, he won a national long-distance swim, then set his sights on crossing the English Channel.
Three decades later, in his record-setting 32nd crossing, he beat his original 15-hour and 15-minute time by 30 minutes.
Asked in an interview before the swim why he undertook such challenges, Murphy's reply was like that of a mountain climber or marathon runner: "I want to show it's possible. There comes a point when people refer to you as a fat old git, and you want to prove them wrong." |
- Chicago Tribune
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