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Greg van Volkenburg
Greg Vanvolkenburg is an American open water swimmer from Pennsylvania. He swam competitively for Lafayette College.
Contents
Open Water Swimming Career
He completed a 24.3-mile (39.1 km) marathon swim across Lake Erie between Long Point, Ontario, Canada and Freeport Beach - North East Twp., Pennsylvania, USA on 31 July 2017 together with his brother Tom Vanvolkenburg under the auspices of the Lake Erie Open Water Swimming Association. Their record-setting 11 hour 15 minute 40 second crossing was a charity swim for the Arthritis Foundation. The duo swam across Lake Erie in Force 2-4 winds with waves that started at 1 foot, continued to build to 2-3 feet with a rogue wave of 4-5 feet on 31 July 2017, starting at 7:04 am and finishing 6:19.40 pm.
Course Details
- Start: Lighthouse @ Long Point (N 42° 54.783, W 080°.04901’)
- Finish: Freeport Beach (N 42° 14.508’ W 079°49.991’2)
Support Personnel
- Escort pilot #1: John Bauman
- Escort pilot #2: Mike Green on Bad Boys III, a 38 foot SeaRay from Erie,Pennsylvania and 23 foot Proline
- Kayaker Kevin Carmisino
- Head kayaker John Jackson
- Kayaker Gary Karminski
- Kayaker Ryan Brown
- LEOWSA Observer Josh Heynes
- Food Prep/Kayaker Megan Collins
- Food Prep/Kayaker Laura VanVolkenburg
- Time Keeper#2/ Co-escort pilot Carolyn Bauman
- Escort boat Captain Mike Green
- Escort boat Captain John Bauman
- Father-Moral Support Thomas VanVolkenburg
Rules & Conduct
- Swim Category: Unassisted marathon swim.
- Standard Equipment: traditional men’s brief, single latex cap, goggles,
- Additional Equipment: None
- Lubrication: Sunscreen/ Destin
- Exceptions to Standard Rules: None
- Feeding: Every Hour, 2 large 20 oz. water bottles : Infinite Nutrition orange flavor, After Mile 22 Flat coke and Tub of Vanilla Icing (sugar)
- Tandem swim: The men swam together the entire time, sometimes rotating who was on left and who was on right , after some feedings
- Photos at Lake Erie Marathon Swimming Facebook page
- Sanctioned by Lake Erie Open Water Swimming Association
GPS Data
Log Observations SPOT GPS. SPOT tracker was lost at 1:30pm due to a kayak capsizing. All data was hand recorded from Start to Finish (scanned copies of original paperwork are available).
Weather Observations
- Wind Speed: 5-8 kts (min) - Direction: W-SW Beaufort: 2-4
- Water Temperature: 74°F (min) – 75°F (max)
- Air Temperature: 64°F (min) - 80°F (max)
- Swells: built up as the day progressed ½ -1 foot at start built up to 2-3 foot rollers with some rogue 4-5 foot swells in middle and end of swim time
- Skies: Clear, hazy, hot, humid
External links
- Historic Lake Erie swim on for Monday
- Brothers to Swim Across Lake Erie in Honor of their Mother and to Support the Arthritis Community
- Swim For A Cure
- From Canada To America, Across Lake Erie
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Open Water Swimming
- Marathon Swimming
- Tandem Swim Success Across Lake Erie
- Erie’s Fetcko, Van Volkenburg brothers plan Lake Erie swim
- Van Volkenburg brothers bid to swim across Lake Erie
- Walk To Cure Arthritis
- Conrad Kubaney, Greg Roberts Cross Lake Erie
