Woman Swims Across All Five Great Lakes

Marathon swimmer has been conquering the Lakes since '97

By STEVE BRYANT
Updated 9:30 AM CST, Tue, Aug 25, 2009

TWITTER FACEBOOK

Paula Stephanson
openwaterchicago.com

When a Canadian teacher emerged from Lake Michigan Monday night, she became only the second person in history to successfully swim across all five Great Lakes.

After a 25-hour, 35-mile swim from Chicago, Paula Stephanson emerged from the water at Washington Park Beach in Michigan City.

Stephanson, a stout 30-year-old, 5'2", 150 pound marathon swimmer, had already conquered the other four Great Lakes (Ontario, Superior, Erie, and Huron) after beginning her quest in 1997.

"Paula was not the picture of joy coming out of the water but she looked strong coming toward the beach and kept picking up the pace till it was over," read an email from Stephanson's support team, as communicated to a blogger covering the event.

Stephanson first attempted to cross Lake Michigan last Friday, but was pulled from the water after 12 miles when choppy water endangered her and her support crew, according to the Intelligencer.

First Published: Aug 25, 2009 9:11 AM CST

TWITTER FACEBOOK

  • 56% thrilled 5
  • 22% bored 2
  • 11% intrigued 1
  • 11% sad 1
  • 0% furious 0
  • 0% laughing 0
processing
      No comments have been posted yet.

      You have 2000 characters left

      processing
      So My City

      You are posting in (change)

      550/550 characters

      (jpg, pngs, or gifs allowed)

      (jpg, pngs, or gifs allowed)
      *Tip: You can also post moments via email or Twitter.

      processing

      View Your Moment in

      Posted by | 1 second ago

      Don't Miss

      local_beat

      5 hours ago

      500+ Flight Cancellations

      O'Hare cancels 500 flights, delays at Midway.

      Read It

      politics

      Feb 9, 2010

      Obama's Nuke Support Energizes Old Debate

      President Obama’s push to triple federal loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants has recharged the debate over the viability of nuclear energy.

      Read It

      local_beat

      13 minutes ago

      Man Says He Was Asked to Kill Savio

      William Green says he was contacted by Drew Peterson's former colleague about possible hit.

      Read It
      Loading...
      Birthdate:
      You must be at least 13 to sign up.
      Gender:
      invalid

      By clicking the button below, I accept the terms of use and privacy policy

      Already Signed Up? Login Below.

      processing

      Here's what we're posting:

      *Only used for verification. We do not store your password.
      processing