Solo Swims of Ontario Inc.Solo Swims of Ontario Inc.
The Machine Men
On 6-7th September 2018, The Machine Men accomplished the second SSO-recorded Relay-crossing of Lake Ontario.
The 3-man USA team of Chris Kraus (58), Rick Gaenzle (53) and Brian Ross (62) completed the 51 km swim in 19 hours and 42 seconds.
Their swim started on Sep 6 at 9:47 am from Queen's Royal Park, Niagara-on-the-Lake (43° 15' 27" N, 79° 04' 06 W) at 9:47 am and landed at Marilyn Bell Park, Toronto (43 37'48" N, 79 25' 39" W).
Team Captain, Chris, started the swimming and they then rotated in order (Chris-Rick-Brian) at one-hour intervals throughout the swim, so that Chris also provided the finishing leg of the 51 km swim into Marilyn Bell Park.
The water temperature ranged from 21.5°C at the start to 24°C, with most of the swim being around 23°C.
There were variable winds for the first 5 hours creating 4-5' waves for the first two hours before dying down to provide a 8-hour period of calm; however, after 14 hours of swimming, strong northerly headwinds developed and produced some challenging conditions for both the swimmers and crew, with waves of 2-3'.
Regardless of the wind conditions, the exit from the Niagara River involves passing over a Sand Bar where the waters are always choppy, unpredictable, and provide the swimmer with a "roller-coaster" ride. Here's a great piece of video of Chris as he passed through that area !
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Speed Plot Swim Master: Colleen Shields. |
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Created: 9th July 2019
Last Updated: 14th August 2019