8 Bridges - What a wild ride
The 8 Bridges Hudson River Swim was truly an adventure. We finished the our first stage,which was stage 6 of the 7 stages, with a time of 4 hours, 38 minutes and 24 seconds. The water temperature was 67 - 70 degrees which is a very nice temperature to swim long distances in. The water was anything but calm and there was a lot of wind blowing. It made swimming at the start a little hard for us to get into our normal rhythm and you just had to allow the waves to crash over you and really focus on getting a good catch at the beginning of the stroke, keep your head down and if you couldn't get a breath on a cycle then you just spit out the water, go through the cycle again and hope that the waves don't get you in the face next time.
Unfortunately, stage 7 was cancelled the next day due to an accident involving one of the solo swimmers who was doing this event. NYOW had a safety plan in place and executed it flawlessly. NYPD was there at the end of the stage and they had a diver in the water within minutes of the swimmer going under. The swimmer's kayaker and the jet-skier who was there to pick him up also went into the water immediately to help him. They were unable to get to him and the coast guard and NYPD called off the search the Sunday following Friday's race. It was very tragic and had never happen to NYOW before. Accidents can sometimes happen no matter how safe the event coordinators make it. We as swimmers assume the responsibility that something could possibly happen. At some point Swim 4 Vets will be back to do stage 7 at a later date. We are also looking at the possibility of swimming around Manhattan Island.
Thank you to everyone who donated. We raised $1,189 for the Gary Sinise Foundation's R.I.S.E. program.
Unfortunately, stage 7 was cancelled the next day due to an accident involving one of the solo swimmers who was doing this event. NYOW had a safety plan in place and executed it flawlessly. NYPD was there at the end of the stage and they had a diver in the water within minutes of the swimmer going under. The swimmer's kayaker and the jet-skier who was there to pick him up also went into the water immediately to help him. They were unable to get to him and the coast guard and NYPD called off the search the Sunday following Friday's race. It was very tragic and had never happen to NYOW before. Accidents can sometimes happen no matter how safe the event coordinators make it. We as swimmers assume the responsibility that something could possibly happen. At some point Swim 4 Vets will be back to do stage 7 at a later date. We are also looking at the possibility of swimming around Manhattan Island.
Thank you to everyone who donated. We raised $1,189 for the Gary Sinise Foundation's R.I.S.E. program.
8 Bridges relay team
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Diana Moissonnier Alice Ma
