Swimming for a Trigger – Dartmouth College Athletics

Hayden Barry, a Dartmouth Women’s Swimming and Diving alumnae, simply achieved one thing that’s larger than swimming; she swam throughout Lake Saint Clair. Swimming throughout massive our bodies of water isn’t unusual for extremely superior swimmers, essentially the most notable being the English Channel, however to Barry’s data, this roughly five-mile swim had not been tried in about 40 years. Barry swam throughout Lake Saint Clair beginning in her hometown of Grosse Point, Michigan and ending in Windsor, Ontario.

“My coaching staff and I are so proud of Hayden for taking on this open water challenge this summer. She shows how our sport can be a vehicle for so much more than just college athletics as she honors Ted Mullin. She has taken her involvement in the Hour of Power Relay for Sarcoma; an event our team does every fall to raise awareness for sarcoma research to another level with this swim. Open water crossings provide unique challenges such as navigation and a dynamic environment that will make it an exciting event and experience for Hayden, and the cause she is supporting makes it truly special. She is a hard worker and wonderful human so we know she will do great! We look forward to cheering her on!” stated Head Coach Milana Socha.

She tried and accomplished the swim in honor of Ted Mullin, a Carlton College swimmer who tragically handed away of sarcoma in 2006. The honor isn’t unfamiliar to the Dartmouth swimming and diving groups as they’re one among lots of of groups throughout the nation who take part in an occasion known as “The Hour of Power”. The occasion is a collective effort to return collectively as a crew, each swimmers and divers, and swim as arduous as you may for one full hour. Teams from everywhere in the nation take part similtaneously a technique to really come collectively as one and honor those that are actively combating most cancers or those that have misplaced their battle to most cancers.

“Huge congratulations to Hayden for completing her open water crossing! The coaching staff as a group is very proud of her and know that this is just the first of many exciting things that we will continue to hear about Hayden doing in life beyond collegiate swimming!” stated Socha on behalf of the Dartmouth Swimming and Diving coaches.

Hear from Hayden:

How and when did you resolve you needed to aim this swim?
“About two years ago, I was at the beach on Lake Ontario in Canada, and there was a plaque on a rock that detailed all of the Canadians who had swam across any of the Great Lakes into Canada. I saw it and thought “I reside a mile from a lake that borders Canada, I can completely do this!” So that’s when I first decided I wanted to attempt it but wanted to wait until I was finished with college swimming. Then, because we had done the Hour of Power in honor of Ted Mullin during practice for a few years, I thought it would be nice to incorporate that and do my swim to support the cause.”

How did you’re feeling main as much as and on the day of the swim?
“Leading up to the swim I felt completely confident that I would finish but was most scared of seeing a really big fish or a car on the bottom of the lake. During prohibition, there was a group who would drive across the lake when it was frozen to get contraband from Canada, but cars would fall in sometimes and so there’s thought to be 50-100 cars on the bottom of the lake. I was terrified of that and totally would have flipped out if I saw one.”

What was the toughest problem through the swim? Both mentally and bodily?
“The hardest part was the current right at the end. The first few miles were great and then about a mile out from the Canadian shoreline the current turned really bad, and the last mile took me twice as long as any of the ones prior. I had a waterproof iPod shuffle so I could listen to music, but it died right before I hit the current, so I was both bored and feeling like I was making no progress at all. I kept swimming for a bit, then would look up and felt like I didn’t move at all. I would yell to my parents who were on the support boat that “I’m actually not shifting!” and they would assure me I was. But it did not feel like it.”

How did you’re feeling after the swim was over?
“After the swim, I felt so so happy. At the beach where I landed, there were Canadian flags, and it made it real that I had just swam from one country to another. I don’t know of anyone in the past 40ish years who has done the same crossing, so it felt very special. Growing up so close to Canada, it never felt special to be in one country versus another until I put in the effort to physically travel the border myself. I had to swim back to the boat maybe 50 meters and had a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon waiting for me which was amazing. By the time I got back home, it was only 11:30am and I slept basically until dinner!”