So, Dad DNF, but he did darned well, anyway.

[xiphias]

We had to pull Father out of the water for hypothermia. At a bit shy of the five mile mark. At a bit shy of three hours.

He made nearly five miles in under three hours. In water temperatures between 59 and 63 degrees (15-17 degrees centigrade).

If Father can manage to gain about fifteen pounds over the next year, he ought to be able to make it all the way.

Edited To Add: A correction. I stated here that Father went a bit shy of the five mile mark. However, we were also taking GPS readings every fifteen minutes, and Lis and I just plotted how far he got at his final reading. At his final reading of 12:15, which was about five or ten minutes BEFORE we pulled him out of the water, he had swum 5.23 miles, just shy of five and a quarter miles. He made well OVER five miles in 2 hours 45 minutes.

Comments

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

He threw up a couple times, but he was fine after half an hour or so.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I had that thing with the throwing up too. Also found that I'd get sick whenever I got into cold water for the next few years. Apparently that's not uncommon with hypothermia.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Sounds like it might be part of the same hard-wiring that makes us dislike food that has made us throw up.