Dr. Charles Van Der Horst, an AIDS researcher and social justice activist, was in Stage 6 of the 8 stage, 120 mile marathon swim in the Hudson River when he was seen going down in the water. His body was found 4 days later, after his family held a funeral without his body. Reports suggest the cause was (likely?) a cardiac event.
He sounds like a wonderful person and a great swimmer at such an age. R.I.P.
nypost.com/.../
Dr. Charles Van Der Horst’s body — still wearing a swimming cap and swimming trunks — was discovered around 9:50 a.m. along the Hudson River shoreline near Dyckman Street, cops said.
Authorities were able to quickly identify the body of the 67-year-old North Carolina man because he was wearing a medical alert bracelet with his name on it, police sources said.
Van Der Horst vanished Friday near the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge while competing in the “8 Bridges Race.”
A man who was watching the race from a riverbank told investigators that he saw the internationally recognized AIDS researcher and former college professor go under around 3 p.m.
The race Van Der Horst was taking part in had started on June 8 — about 100 miles away — at the Rip Van Winkle Bridge between Hudson and Catskill.
