Swimming with the Freighters

My childhood friend and descendant of the Edmund Fitzgerald clan signed up to swim leg 16 of the 411-mile relay in the Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial Swim scheduled to begin in July of 2025.

The challenge intrigued me, and in August of 2024 I added my name to the waiting list and convinced my neighbor Ed to add his name too. Miraculously, in December of 2024, two sisters dropped out in leg 16, and both Ed and I had 24 hours to decide if we wanted to participate. I already had tickets to see the Indigo Girls in Sterling Heights around the same time but thought I should really give this opportunity serious consideration. I could always drop out later. So, I do have second row seats available if someone wants to go see the show.

Ed and I paid the registration fee, and we were both selected as two of the 68 swimmers to journey from Lake Superior to Detroit. Plus, I get to swim up close with the freighters, as the shipping channel is at the narrowest point on our leg.

My next order of business was to find a trainer. As a chef, my philosophy had always been adding butter to everything and pairing my dishes with top notch French wines. Not the best diet for training. All that would have to go on the back burner and pasta and protein became my new eating focus.

I was introduced to a fabulous coach, Jackie Mall, who told me I had been swimming freestyle incorrectly my entire 66 years here. I do not believe any of this could have been possible without her coaching. After many trips to the pool, practicing and working drills, Jackie finally told me she thought I was ready to train in open water.  

This August I will experience a rare opportunity to swim safely with the freighters down St. Clair River, from under the Blue Water bridge to Algonac. It is a 30-mile stretch, four swimmers each responsible for 30-minute plunges. The current in this section is around six miles an hour, so google math calculations, even for a slow swimmer like me, we could be done in eight hours. Of course, Mother Nature has the final decision on how easily this relay will be completed. Fingers crossed it goes smoothly.

Next Time: Training in Open Water.