Nine open-water swimmers will attempt to complete a relay swim across the Nantucket Sound from Eel Point on Nantucket to the Edgartown Lighthouse on Martha’s Vineyard.
At 4:57 a.m., the first swimmers gathered at Owen Park, preparing to accomplish a feat that has never been done before.
Nine open-water swimmers will attempt to complete a relay swim across the Nantucket Sound from Eel Point on Nantucket to the Edgartown Lighthouse on Martha’s Vineyard. They set out before first light, heading by boat from Vineyard Haven to Nantucket. The return trip will be in the water.
The 18-mile swim will be attempted by Doug McConnell, Josh Thomson, Greg Mason, Jon Chatinover, Andy Neuberger, Noah Froh, Jason Snow, Allie Keefe and Jennifer Passafiume. Two boats set sail with two relay teams, with one safety boat and two kayakers following along.
The swim begins!
The swim begins!
This will be the fourth time the swim has been attempted by Mr. McConnell. The first three times he tried to complete a solo swim, beginning in 2019. An experienced long-distance swimmer, Mr. McConnell had successfully navigated swims across the English Channel, the Catalina Channel, the Molokai Channel, across Tampa Bay and looped around the island of Manhattan. But the Nantucket to Vineyard swim eluded him, the difficult tides proving too much, along with stinging jelly fish, weather and health issues.
The swim from the Vineyard to Nantucket has been completed by Deb Taylor Blair and James Pittar, but never the other way.
In 2024, after being diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, Mr. McConnell recruited a group of Vineyarders to form a swim relay team, but bad weather stopped the attempt even before it began.
The team regrouped this year, heading out by boat before dawn. After reaching the sister island the swim officially began at about 8 a.m. when the first swimmers hit the water. If all goes well they aim to reach the Vineyard at about 4 or 5 p.m. today, coming ashore at the Edgartown Lighthouse.
Doug McConnell is determined to complete the swim - but knew he needed some Vineyard help.
Doug McConnell is determined to complete the swim - but knew he needed some Vineyard help.
With nine total swimmers helping out, Mr. McConnell said he is confident the goal will finally be accomplished.
“Tackling [the swim] as a relay not only increases our chances of success, but also magnifies the joy of achieving it together,” he wrote in a press release.
The swim is also a fundraiser. Mr. McConnell’s family has a long history with ALS, which his sister died from in 2018, and his long swims have been a way to raise money for ALS research. This year’s swim will also raise money for the Learn to Swim program at the YMCA of Martha’s Vineyard.
Susan McConnell, Doug’s wife and an organizer of the swim, will also be on the water, helping make sure swimmers are safe and keeping proper pace.
Stroke by stroke.
Stroke by stroke.
“We keep a stroke count because if it changes and dips down, you’re like, what’s wrong, why are you slowing down,” she said on Tuesday morning, pointing at her notebook which has documented past swims.
As the sun peeked over the horizon, the group loaded up bags filled with snacks, water, signal horns and shark repellent bracelets were loaded onto the boats. Then Mr. McConnell gave the swimmers a brief tutorial about how the shark bracelets worked before everyone headed out to sea.
There will be a post-swim gather at Nomans in Oak Bluffs, which the public is invited to.
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