Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Josh Heynes, founder and director of the Lake Erie Open Water Swimming Association, announced two aspirants attempting a marathon swim across Lake Erie this summer.

“Both Norman Stark Jr. and Elliot Spaeder are local swimmers from Erie, Pennsylvania. They will attempt the standard course of 24.3 miles from Long Point Ontario, Canada to Freeport Beach in Northeast Twp. in Pennsylvania in the United States,” says Heynes.

Elliot Spaeder, a local businessman at Wm.T. Spaeder Company who swam for both Gannon University and Cathedral Prep, will attempt to swim across Lake Erie from Long Point, Canada to Northeast, Pennsylvania during the week of July 20th. This swim will be a fund-raising event to benefit the Downtown YMCA.

“Elliot has been training and swimming at the Downtown Y since he was very young,” says Heynes who has crossed Lake Erie twice himself (11 hours 53 minutes in 2006 and 11 hours 16 minutes in 2011). “In fact, the family legend his father often tells at gatherings is that Elliot could swim a length at the Downtown Y pool before he could even walk.”

It is a lifelong goal of the 30-year-old Spaeder to swim across Lake Erie. Since September 2013, he has been training at the pool where it all started, logging 4 hours a day at the YMCA pool and gym. Because he knows how important it is to have a great support team, he is giving back to the Downtown YMCA.

Additionally, as part of its commitment to the Erie community, Wm.T. Spaeder Company, has offered to match donations US$0.50 for every US$1.00 donated to the event. The company has been located in Erie for over 100 years and is proud to support the local Downtown YMCA.

For more information about Spaeder’s journey, visit www.ElliotCANAMswim.com.

Copyright © 2014 by World Open Water Swimming Association