PLYMOUTH, Massachusetts— At 6:36 am on Saturday, August 17, 61-year-old Mo Siegel of Piermont, N.Y., splashed into the water off White Horse Beach in Plymouth, Mass. Long rays of early morning sunshine glinted off the dune houses behind him as he eased into the 63-degree F water and steadily stoked away from shore. A lobsterman loaded empty traps onto his boat nearby to drop in the Bay later that morning as Siegel set off, chasing a flotilla of dozens of stand up paddle boarders stroking towards Wellfleet as part of the annual 34-mile Cape Cod Bay Challenge. Siegel’s 20-mile challenge—a solo swim from Plymouth to Provincetown—would take many hours more than the paddle boarders and require him to dig down into his deepest reserves of mental fortitude in order to succeed.
But he made it look easy; 12 hours 32 minutes and 31 seconds after leaving land in Plymouth, Siegel waded ashore at Herring Cove in Provincetown on the opposite side. Siegel’s achievement lands him in the record books as the oldest swimmer to have successfully crossed what is sometimes dubbed the “American Channel,” and only the sixth person to have successfully made the crossing that can feature cold water, marine life, and variable winds, currents, and weather conditions.
By swimming this stretch of water, Siegel—and another marathon swimmer, Paul Rekoff of New York, N.Y., who attempted the crossing on Wednesday, August 14 but had to pull out about five hours into the swim due to untenable waves—is reviving an early 20th century swim. All swimmers who undertake this daunting challenge under the purview of the Massachusetts Open Water Swimming Association (MOWSA), a non-profit sanctioning and organizing body for long-distance open water swimming in Massachusetts waterways, must follow English Channel rules to earn an official finish. This means that swimmers may not make supporting contact with their guide boats or support crews, and they may not wear protective clothing. They may only wear a standard bathing suit, cap, and goggles while swimming continuously in the chilly waters that ranged from 63 to 69 degrees during Siegel’s swim. The swim can take upwards of 13 hours or longer to complete depending on the speed of the swimmer and conditions on the day.
According to local lore, Harry Kemp, an American writer known as the Poet of the Dunes, first developed the idea of swimming point-to-point between Provincetown and Plymouth to create a symbolic link between the first colony and the first landing place in America. Though three swimmers—Charlie Toth, Samuel Richards, and Henry Sullivan (the first American to swim the English Channel) all attempted the swim in 1915, none were able to reach the other side.
The swim fell into obscurity until the 1950s when several people made unsuccessful attempts during marathon swimming’s golden revival. Finally, in 1968 Russell Chaffee, then 41 years old and from Sayre, Pa., achieved the crossing in 14 hours and 40 minutes.
Last summer, MOWSA revived the swim course for a second time, offering the swim as a solo sanctioned event to a small group of invited swimmers. MOWSA President Greg O’Connor led the charge, completing the swim in 10 hours 22 minutes. Also swimming that same day were New York area residents Janet Harris, David Barra, Eileen Burke, and Mo Siegel. Burke, an Orleans native who now lives in New York City, became the first (and to date the fastest) woman to complete the swim, finishing in 11 hours 10 minutes. Harris and Barra swam the crossing as a tandem solo and completed the swim in 11 hours and 55 minutes. Siegel pulled out early due to injury that day. But after Saturday’s adventure, he redeemed himself and “swam home;” Siegel owns a home in Provincetown and trains all summer in Herring Cove.
Though Siegel battled with digestive issues between hours four and six, he rallied later in the swim, particularly after Burke, his main support crew, joined him in the water for an hour as a companion swimmer. Burke spent a total of three hours swimming with Siegel, broken up into one-hour segments over the course of the swim in accordance with MOWSA rules for support swimming. When Burke wasn’t swimming, she was on board Agent Orange, a 22-foot inflatable rescue boat piloted by Barra. Burke managed Siegel’s feedings and cheered for him at each stop.
Upon receiving cookies and a cup of hot tea at one feed, Siegel exclaimed, “Oh, baby! This is the life!” The life, indeed. On a beautiful, sunny day in good conditions, he achieved a great height of marathon swimming. Next on his roster? A run at the Tsugaru Channel between Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan, one of the Ocean’s Seven channels, which he will attempt in early September.
The above is a press release submitted by MassOpenWaterSwimming.org. For more information, visit www.massopenwaterswimming.org.
Mo Siegel preparing to start his crowwing
Mo Siegel taking a feed from his support boat.
Mo Siegel greeted by his daughter Simone at Herring Bay as he finishes his swim.