Boston Light Swim

The Boston Light Swim is the oldest open-water swim marathon in the US; it has been an annual event since 1907. Race participants begin the race in the water at Boston Light on Little Brewster Island and continue past George's Island and Rainsford Island, under the Long Island Bridge, around Thompson's Island, finishing 8 miles later at the L Street Bathhouse in South Boston.

On Saturday Davis braved Boston Harbor water (which was between 59 and 62 degrees and had seas between 1.6 and 2 feet) and became, as the race organizers termed the participants, "a small, extreme, crazy, group of swimmers." Davis did an incredible job - he finished the 8 mile swim in 3 hours and 42 minutes. Not only was this an amazing time and a very respectable finish, but Davis was also the only one of the finishers who ran (most people stumbled) across the finish line and then broke into the beer cooler. We think this means he is well prepared for the Channel swim next year.

Andrew, Davis' friend and coach took a ton of spectacular pictures of Davis swimming, I've narrowed it down to a few:

Davis swimming by the Light House:

Davis with Boston skyline:
My dad greeting Davis at the finish:
Davis, Oliver and me:
The night before the swim we had a dinner at the Boston Harbor Yacht Club. In order to participate in the swim the swimmer is required to have a pilot boat - and many swimmers, Davis included, don't meet the captain of their pilot boat until the dinner. Oliver, my mom, and I were outside playing during the start of the dinner - I looked up at one point and saw a large boat towing a very small inflatable, arrive at the dock. From the big boat emerged a middle-aged man and a kid on crutches. Ah yes, Davis' pilot boat and captain had arrived -- Emmitt, a fourteen year old kid with an 11 foot Zodiac, nine stitches and a pair of crutches was Davis' captain. While many people would have been scared off, Davis was psyched - not only did Emmitt remind Davis of himself, and his brother Tim, but, with some imagination, Emmitt was a peg-legged pirate captain!

Here is a picture of Davis, Andrew, Emmitt, Oliver and me:

Davis has already contacted his peg-legged captain and secured him for next year.