Cayuga

Bridgette Hobart and Claire deBoer after swimming across the Cayuga Lake in the New York Finger Lakes

Cayuga Lake is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under 40 miles (64 km) long. Its average width is 1.7 miles (2.7 km), and it is 3.5 mi wide (5.6 km) at its widest point near Aurora. It is approximately 435 ft deep (133 m) at its deepest point.

Open Water Swimming

• Russ Chaffee completed a swim across Cayuga Lake in 1965 in nearly 40 hours with swim fins.
• Claire deBoer was the first woman to complete a solo north-to-south crossing of the 37.9-mile lake on 13-14 August 1984 in just over 20 hours from the Village of Cayuga to the Treman State Marine Park in Ithaca.
• Bridgette Hobart swam across Cayuga Lake as part of her Nazareth College Finger Lakes Challenge (or The 5 Majors & The 4 Minors Swimming for a Cause), a 9-stage 167.01-mile solo swim in 2015, in August 2015 in 20 hours 33 minutes.
• Caroline Block completed a 56 km south-to-north crossing of Lake Cayuga in 21 hours 28 minutes in June 2018.
• On 9 August 2015, David Barra completed a crossing across Cayuga Lake from Cayuga to Ithaca in New York in 23 hours 26 minutes at the age of 50.

NY Finger Lakes Sampler - 10k Madness

Cayuga is site of one of the NY Finger Lakes Sampler - 10k Madness events. The 10k Madness is a 4-part 10 km marathon swim in the New York Finger Lakes of Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca, and Cayuga, organized by Bridgette Hobart.

New York Finger Lakes

There is a long history of open water swimming in the New York Finger Lakes. Bridgette Hobart completed the Nazareth College Finger Lakes Challenge (or The 5 Majors & The 4 Minors Swimming for a Cause), an 9-stage 156-mile solo swim, starting on 11 July and ending on 27 September 2015. Her course included two challenges within the New York Finger Lakes: the Majors and the Minors. The Majors includes the lakes over 11 miles, ranging from 15.5 to 38 miles each with Canandaigua, Keuka, and Skaneateles in July and 38-mile Cayuga Lake and 38-mile Seneca Lake in August. The 4 Minors includes the lakes under 11 miles that she crossed over the weekends in September 2015.

Stage 1 - Canandaigua 15.5 miles in 7 hours 38 minutes on 11 July
Stage 2 - Keuka 19.88 miles in 9 hours 7 minutes on 18 July
Stage 3 - Skaneateles 16.03 miles in 7 hours 27 minutes on 26 July
Stage 4 - Cayuga 37.9 miles in 20 hours 33 minutes on 7-9 August
Stage 5 - Seneca 37.9 miles in 24 hours 31 minutes on 28-30 August
Stage 6 - Honeoye 4.5 miles in 2 hours 2 minutes on 18 September
Stage 7 - Conesus at 8.08 miles in 3 hours 47 minutes on 19 September
Stage 8 - Otisco at 6.21 miles in 2 hours 56 minutes on 26 September
Stage 9 - Owasco at 11.1 miles in 5 hours 57 minutes on 27 September

External links

• Give A Hand To Swimming Across The Finger Lakes
• Finger Lakes Open Water Swim Festival
• Finger-licking Good On Seneca Lake
• Finger Lakes Open Water Swim Festival Registration
• World Open Water Swimming Association
• Bridgette Hobart Completes Her First Finger Lake Crossing
• Bridgett Hobart Finishes Stage 3 Of 9
• More People Have Hand In Finger Lakes
• Missing Two Fingers, But It's Still A Challenge
• Bridgette Hobart Gets A Surprise From 31 Years Ago
• Five Major Deals Done By Bridgette Hobart
• Discipline Enables Bridgette Hobart To Meet Demands
• Bridgette Hobart Goes 9 For 9 In The Finger Lakes
• Finger Lakes Open Water Swimming
• New York Fingers Lakes Sampler Swim Times Four