LETTER: Ever try to swim all five Great Lakes in the same day? (10 photos)

SooToday received the following letter to the editor from Connie Hornblower whose husband Rick wanted to scratch something off his bucket list – swim in all five Great Lakes in the same day:

We travelled to Kitchener [the weekend of Aug. 10] for a wedding. We were travelling back to the Soo [Aug. 12]. My husband Rick Hornblower had a bucket list which included swimming in all five Great Lakes in the same day. I thought, well… we’re already in southern Ontario, lets give it a go and see if we can make it happen. Together with my daughter Bethany Jansen and her husband Josh we hit the road.  Each “dip” we took we posted on Facebook with pictures and it was unbelievable the amount of followers waiting to see if we would do it all on one day! It was so exciting!

Our first stop was 11:15 a.m. in Hamilton, Ont. on Conservation Beach to swim in Lake Ontario. Despite the rumour of it being a dirty lake, the lake was very clear and clean and peaceful. Once in the lake, we were committed and pumped to make it to the next one. We made the 60-minute plus a bit to beautiful Port Dover on Lake Erie. That was a beautiful experience as well and we highly recommend visiting there if you have not. We ate lunch there and left for Port Huron to cross into Michigan.

At 6 p.m. we arrived at Lakeside Beach on Lake Huron. We were excited – we had three Great Lakes down and two to go and it seemed so easy to do!!

But darkness came and it was 11:30 p.m. by the time we make it to Lake Michigan near the Mackinaw Bridge. We were determined to finish what we started, so as cold as it was, we took Lake Michigan by storm. Teeth chattering and all. Bear in mind, we had to change into wet bathing suits each time we hit a lake so that added to the cold we felt. But the feeling of accomplishment was unbelievable! On to Lake Superior!

We initially thought Lake Superior would be the easy one… actually it wasn’t. People kept suggesting to go to Sherman Park in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., but when we Googled it said it was actually the St. Marys River (we never knew that). So not wanting to make the drive out to Batchawana at 1 in the morning, we decided on Gros Cap. We arrived at 1:15 a.m. We saved the biggest, baddest and unforgiving coldest lake to the end. It was by far the hardest to get into and get under, but it happened! We really wanted to do Lake Superior in our own back yard! It was exhilarating for sure and so satisfying to know that when you decide to take a journey go all the way and make it happen. You’ll always have time to sleep.

We were all so giddy with excitement and although we all had to work in the morning, we didn’t care. We accomplished something we felt was so awesome in 14 hours. With that said, we realized just how lucky we are to live where we live. We live at the beginning or the end depending on how you see it… if you live anywhere else other than down south or northern Ontario, trying to visit all five Great Lakes in one day would be impossible to do, you would have to drive way out of your way, where as we could basically travel home and make it happen.

– Connie Hornblower