Was she able to complete the swim?
No update on her site.
Thanks.
Later update: She added a note to her site: She couldn't see the boat direction when glowsticks got low (and so didn't know in which direction to swim herself), and she started hallucinating. It was a very difficult stretch for her, but she agreed to terminate the swim even within sight of PEI.
What an immense accomplishment nonetheless.
That little stretch from Cape Torpentine to Borden PEI has massive rip tides. The tides run in 4 directions on a good day who knows what can happen with a major weather change. Throw in the heavy waves and anyone could get in trouble. It is the 9 mile stretch and you could be dragged all over the place and could change into a 27 mile swim.
It is one of the toughest swim I have ever swam in.
Weather Cam www.theweathernetwork.com/index.php
Jen's after swim update
Hi Everyone,
I will write more later, but I just wanted to write a brief explanation for those who were wondering. My swim ended for safety reasons at 9:20PM after 18 hours and 34 minutes.
The primary factor was a lightstick failure/shortage. We used lightsticks during the first night so the boat and I could see each other. The lightsticks had faded significantly over the course of the next day. They were next to useless after the sun set, and the boat could not see me. While I could see the boat, the lightsticks were too faded for me to know what direction the boat was pointing. (We used a series of evenly spaced lightsticks along the boat so I could tell the boat's direction.) We didn't have backup lightsticks. My crew could have put a spotlight on me, but this would have resulted in me not knowing the boat's direction or distance from me. Additionally, the boat was yawing in the wind and moving unpredictably.
Secondary to this, I was hallucinating. While I've never hallucinated before, they are not uncommon during long-distance open-water swims. I saw giant power towers that were 5-8x larger than the Confederation Bridge, giant leaf-less trees growing out of the water, and giant gray sunflowers in the night sky. I knew they weren't real, but my hallucinations worried my crew, and they really scared me. I was worried about being able to trust my brain.
Between the struggles the boat and I were having with seeing each other, and the bizarre and random hallucinations, my crew decided the safety risks were too high. My coach said he thought I should get out. I had to think about this, but after a couple of minutes, I agreed.
While I knew it was the right decision, I got onto the boat and I cried. I could see the lights of shore, and it was awful to have come so close and have to give up.
Open water swimming is unpredictable -- this is part of the reason I love it. During my double-crossing of the Northumberland Strait last year (NB->PEI->NB), I had the second-fastest known crossing of the Strait at 6h37, but the return trip took 12h40 -- nearly double -- when tides, currents and wind worked against me. The challenge of swimming between three provinces in one day is tantalizing, and I know I'll try it again at the earliest opportunity. Next time, I'll have more insight into the tides and currents, and chance of success should be higher.
Thanks for the link. Charlie Wittmack was attempting to become first American to both climb Mt. Everest and swim the Channel.
(Next up: the rules of play will call for doing both within the same season.)
Lake Michigan was balmy and smooth and he could have swum to Canada.
:bouncing:
