Here is the picture of success! At 7:25am on Sunday, July 26, 2009, Neil became the youngest person in the world to swim in all five Great Lakes in 24 hours! He loved it - he was the first of the team to get in and the first to dive under at all of our swims!
We are spending today slowly unwinding from the experience and the three hours of "sleep" we tried to get at the rest stop on US 90 in Angola, NY. I suspect the full meaning of the experience will take a few more days to unfold.
My first impression was the variety of the water that we encountered along the way: Stinging brisk Lake Superior... The relatively warm and inviting sand beach on Lake Michigan
followed by the glassy ice water of Lake Huron. The sadly contaminated waters of Maumee Bay were tempered by the inviting warm shoreline of Lake Erie near Port Clinton, a full 14*F warmer than we encountered in Superior the same day. Finally, sneaking into Lake Ontario -- water that was a very satisfying compromise between temperature and crystal clarity. I instinctively looked for smallmouth bass in Ontario, which is to say it was perfect water for finishing the adventure.Thanks for following our adventure and supporting our cause. If you haven't yet done so, please consider a gift to the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes Natural Resource Center. They work every day to restore, preserve and protect all five Great Lakes. Thanks!
