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

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Good for him!

(After asking Google "define:DNF". "Did not finish".)

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I'm impressed.

Keep a close eye on him. I got a bad case of hypothermia once when I was a Water Survival instructor doing surf survival training with Marines. I was in 50 degree water for longer than I should have been and my back was a nice shade of blue when I came ashore. I got pretty sick from the resulting shock.

[ailbhe]

I hope he's ok soon. It's kind of shocking that people can pull this kind of physical stunt off, even when they're not someone's father.

I can hardly swim a width at the local pool these days.

[lucretia-borgia.livejournal.com]

Yaasher koach to him! (And correction accepted from the earlier post/comment re wetsuits.)

As to the 15#, I'd be happy to ship him up to 20 of mine. :->

[rebmommy.livejournal.com]

I am very proud of your dad's accomplishment, and I am very proud of you! He wouldn't have been able to swim as far as he did without your support and encouragement. I know this is true because he told me: "There were a few times when I was ready to give up because of the cold, but ([Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]) was so encouraging that I kept going." You knew how to support him with encouragement, you knew how to support him physically, you knew when he had enough and needed to get out of the water, and you knew how to take care of him to warm him up physically and emotionally. I am very proud of your accomplishment! ( Read my livejournal post about the lighthouse swim, dated 14 August 2010.)

[felis-sidus.livejournal.com]

Congratulations to both of you! That's a very impressive accomplishment.

I'd be glad to help with the gaining-15-pounds part. I'm an expert at that. I could even help him do it without massive insult to his cholesterol levels.

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

Excellent swim though - and good on you for taking care of him during the swim!

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Still an impressive feat. Good for him!